Thank you very much for your contributions, GreySave—your earlier comments/suggestions and the ones you just posted are definitely appreciated!
I tried some of the Candle Impressions ones, but found they didn't quite look real. They tended to twinkle and glimmer, not quite capturing that authentic flame effect I desire. In an attempt to find out what brand Brookstone is selling, I ventured to the local mall this afternoon. Before making my way to the center of the mall, I stopped in Sears and saw a gentleman and his young daughter browsing the flashlight aisle. It is difficult to suppress your inner Flashoholic when you see a fellow human being about to leave with a pair of cheap 2D plastic flashlights. After engaging him in conversation and explaining Rebel and Cree emitters to him, and giving him the name of our website, I continued on my way to Brookstone.
I expected to see the "AA" version at $40 each, but instead found a large version, taking a pair of "D" cells, marked two for $70. A much larger footprint, and certainly longer runtime. I can now confirm that the brand Brookstone is selling is indeed the Luminara Dream Candle. Here are my thoughts on it:
1) Some of the candles had gentle fissures running through them. Since they claim to be made of real wax, I would take that at face value, and treat them gingerly.
2) There is a light source beneath the aperture where the "flame" sits. The "flame" is a piece of plastic/paper in an oval shape, where the light source shines up through the opening. On the bottom of the "flame" is a weight or magnet, and probably an electromagnet which repels the permanent magnet in the base, causing the plastic "flame" to swing about. The fake flame sits on a thin copper wire, which appears very fragile.
3) The tint of the light source looks absolutely incandescent, under or equal to a max of 3000k. In my opinion, they came close to nailing a candle's tint.
4) When switched on, the oval plastic "flame" bobs about, while the light, presumably a 5mm LED, shines on it. I left my glasses in the car after driving to the mall, and can confirm that from three feet away, the candle comes close to looking real, without quite getting "it." It does come closer than the Candle Impressions candle by a significant margin.
So would I buy one? Two comments about that:
1) If you look at the reviews for the Luminara candles, again and again people report the candle flashing or blinking after some time. While it is possible that those candles are defective, it is quite likely that the batteries are simply low. Were I to purchase one, I would simply wire in a 3 volt DC power supply and never worry about batteries again.
2) $40 a candle is way too high. At the current sale price of two for $70, $35 each is better but not enough to empty my pocket. I'll wait until the inevitable post-holiday sale, when they will be $30 or less.
As it is, the candles that hide the light source beneath the wax shell remove the light source from view, and therefore eliminate it as a possible way of detecting that the candle is a fake. However, these candles tend to twinkle or blink, and therefore don't look as real. The Luminara candles as observed this afternoon in Brookstone do an excellent job of simulating a real flame, with the tint, movement, and brightness all looking right. Does it look perfect? No. But it's very, very close. Instead of manipulating the light source, it manipulates that object which the light source falls upon, in this case, a plastic, oval shaped surface which receives the rays of light from below the aperture.
My final reservations would be cost vs. build quality. The thin wire the artificial "flame" sits on which enables it to bob about freely looks fragile, and even $35 seems far too high. If/when Brookstone has a sale and they are $25, that might tempt me. Be that as it may, these are definitely contenders, and if money slips out of your pocket more easily than mine and you have a place to rest them where children and pets won't knock them about, I think they would be a cool addition to your stable. I definitely agree that placing a couple of these on a windowsill by a curtain, flowerpot, drapes, etc. will absolutely give passersby the impression you are home, as the visibly dancing flame from more than three feet away looks like the gift of Prometheus itself. 3 volt DC adapters are plentiful, and it would be trivial to snip off the barrel connector and wire up the candle to run off the AC/DC transformer without permanently harming the candle's guts.
If anyone else lives near a Brookstone, I'd love to hear their (your) impressions.
Enjoy!
LEDAdd1ct
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With respect to the candle in the RED5 video, after emailing RED5, they refused to disclose the OEM for the candle, stating that it was not their policy to reveal vendor information. I hate it when companys do that! They also stated that:
1) You can now only purchase the candles in their physical stores. This makes it difficult for someone in the United States to obtain a sample.
2) The brand they now carry is not the same as that depicted in the video. The candle depicted in the RED5 video is yellow, not white or red as the Luminara Dream candles are. I would still very much like to know what brand they are. If a member or someone stopping by from a Google search knows who makes that yellow candle posted in the RED5 video, please let us know! If you purchased one from RED5 in the past and still have the box, that would be an easy and accurate way to determine what company makes it. It sure looks real!
