LED Reading Light

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I have been using a clip on book light for several years now to spare my wife many sleepless nights while I read next to her in bed late into the night. The lights I have found available through book stores have long frustrated me because of the very short life span and high cost of replacement bulbs. Now that I have discovered the advantages of LEDs I was wondering if any manufacturer had taken advantage of the long battery life of LEDs and designed a clip on reading light using LED's. It seems to me that combining the light weight of something like a Photon II with a normal clip on book light mechanism is a market that has huge potential. Anyone know if someone has tapped that market yet and introduced a LED book light?

Sorry if this newby place this topic in the wrong forum.

 

[John N]

Will any of these fit your existing lamp?
http://www.ledcorp.com/catalog.html#bulbs

 

[vcal]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GolfJim:
I have been using a clip on book light for several years now to spare my wife many sleepless nights while I read next to her in bed late into the night. The lights I have found available through book stores have long frustrated me because of the very short life span and high cost of replacement bulbs. Now that I have discovered the advantages of LEDs I was wondering if any manufacturer had taken advantage of the long battery life of LEDs and designed a clip on reading light using LED's. It seems to me that combining the light weight of something like a Photon II with a normal clip on book light mechanism is a market that has huge potential. Anyone know if someone has tapped that market yet and introduced a LED book light?

Sorry if this newby place this topic in the wrong forum.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Two suggestions:
The C.Crane white LED booklight from www.ccrane.com -cat. #BL ($29.95 including shipping). OR, as I remember, CPF member "jbechto" was selling about the same thing @ around $20. or so..
-I think you can still search this site for members names/Email addresses.

-DavidW may choose to move these responses to the LED section

 

[Brock]

I have a CCFT (cold cathode fluorescent tube) book light I got for my wife (well that was my excuse anyway). It uses 4 AA's and is extremely bright I got it from Sharper Image for $35? It might be too bright for what you are looking for. It is suppose to last 5 hours on a set of batteries. It has a very nice wide smooth beam. It is called the "light voyager" by Pharm. It should have a higher lumen/watt then LED's do, I thought I read that CCFT were about 30lumen/watt, Pulu?

 

[PeLu]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GolfJim:
I have been using a clip on book light for several years now to spare my wife many sleepless nights <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My usual answer: Have you ever considered using a headlight?
I'm using it for this purpose

 

[Steelwolf]

PeLu is right. Headlamps can be used in these situations, though some people may have headaches from wearing one.

If you want to try one, the best I've found for personal task illumination is the Matrix by Princeton Tec. Not exceedingly bright, but using 2 AA batteries, it gives you up to 40hours of even white light. (The output is regulated so there is no dimming until the batteries are nearly exhausted.)

Perhaps others might have better suggestions?

 

[PeLu]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Steelwolf:
PeLu is right. Headlamps can be used in these situations, though some people may have headaches from wearing one<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

For reading it is not necessary to fasten it very much, so there will be less strain than wearing a cap.

The Petzl Tikka is very small, light and not protruding far. But it uses AAA cells.

I was reading several hours with my Arc AAA on my ear (not attached at all) and it worked for me. On expedition abroad I'm reading with my hardhat and the ActionLight on 'low' a lot.

 

[funk]

The problem with Tikka for reading in bed etc - is its lack of adjustment/tilting mechanism. Otherwise it would be good.

 

[RonM]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR> Have you ever considered using a headlight? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Sorry guys, but wearing a headlight to bed is guaranteed to prevent my wife from ever having sex with me again.

She already thinks I'm a geek, but a cute geek. LEDs strapped to my head would just be too much for her.

I use a CCFT book light from Levenger. Normally $30 now on sale for $17!.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR> "A miniature, cold-cathode fluorescent bulb produces nearly 20 lumens—twice the intensity of conventional bulbs—and the batteries last a full 10 hours." <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Runs for many hours off of 4 NiMH AAs or I use the AC adaptor. An LED version would be cool, especially one with a gooseneck between the batt. compartment and the LED head.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I use a CCFT book light from Levenger. Normally $30 now on sale for $17!.


I went to their web sight and was unable to find this light. Do you have any further information RonM that may help me to locate this light at Levenger? And to everyone else, thanks for all your suggestions.

 

[Quickbeam]

Found it!
http://www.levenger.com/shop/ItemPage.asp?Title=Light+Voyager

 

[KenBar]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Quickbeam:
Found it!
http://www.levenger.com/shop/ItemPage.asp?Title=Light+Voyager<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

=======================================
I got one of these free from some promotional offer and converted it to a SatCure circuit. It worked pretty good...till someone talked me out of it.

 

[vcal]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Quickbeam:
Found it!
http://www.levenger.com/shop/ItemPage.asp?Title=Light+Voyager<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Added Info:..
That Light Voyager, (by Phorm) , I've been using for 3 years, and found it very well made & reliable. Btw-it runs close to 10 hours on 4 fresh AA alkalines.
This little gem folds every which way into a half dozen different configurations..

 

[Cyclops942]

The best reading-in-bed light I've found so far is a white CMG Infinity clipped to the bill of a ball cap. One AA battery gives you 40 hours of reading, it's lightweight, and the cost is about $13.50 for the light, if you shop well. I'm assuming you already have a ball cap.

 

[Brock]

I should have mentioned I use my older 1200mA NiMH's in the light voyager, and it usually runs about 3 hours before I recharge them. They aren't dead at that point, but I charge them anyway.

 

[RonM]

No doubt the Levenger book light is a well made and well thought out product.

I don't actually clip it to my book. I lay it on my chest as I recline in bed and it shines on the book.

 

[JohnG]

I think the Energizer folding 4AA/2LED light at Walmart for under $9 is a great reading light. 200 hour run time too!a forum thread on the folding light

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

After considering all the advice I received on this topic, I purchased a led reading light from www.ccrane.com. The $29.99 price quoted included shipping and it showed up at my door very promptly. Turns out I already owned the same light hardware with the exception that this one had been modified to hold 3 LEDs.

On the plus side it gives out a very wide light that covers top to bottom and left to right on a full size hard cover novel. The brightness of this light is greater than the original bulb and gives off a much cooler color, one that my wife finds less disturbing to her sleep. On the minus side, a book light holding 4 AA batteries is not light or compact, but then again, it is no worse than the light with the usual bulb and 4 batteries. I haven't had it long enough to see how long the batteries will last, and I am using rechargables, but I know there will be far less irritation with the long lasting LEDs versus the quick burning and expensive bulbs.

Thanks to everyone who answered my original question.