LEDs to Replace Coleman Lanterns

[CanadaG]

Hi everyone, amazing forum here.

We have an old cottage in Canada without electricity where we've used Coleman Lanterns for the past 50+ years. We are renting the place out to more people lately, and for a number of reasons we'd prefer that guests not use the Coleman fuel lanterns (this became more of an issue after a guest filled one of them with Kerosene last summer).

We are looking for an LED solution that will get us a lot of light. Typically we use 2 or 3 Lanterns in the cabin which from what I understand throw about 1,000+ lumens each? (they are 2 mantle lanterns, 20 years old...)

How do the new LED lanterns compare? Obviously they are much less bright on an individual basis, but If we had 6 or 8 of the 400 Lumen battery powered LED lanterns would that compare? We would be happy to spend $100 or $200 on good LED lanterns to generate equivalent light and have guests bring their own batteries.


I'm not a "light guy" so thanks in advance for any advice.

CanadaG

 

[Poppy]

Yes, I think that it is safe to say that lumens are additive.
When selecting a lantern, you may want to look at their output curve, if it available.

IE A lantern may start at 400 lumens but only maintain that for a few hours, and then run for 20 hours at 50 lumens.

How long of a stay will the batteries need to last?

 

[CanadaG]

Some of the lights would probably run 3-4 hours per night, the others would probably only run for 2 hours.

Thanks re: the output curve - very good to know.

Any other opinions out there would be appreciated.

G

 

[Poppy]

Yes, I think that it is safe to say that lumens are additive.
When selecting a lantern, you may want to look at their output curve, if it available.

IE A lantern may start at 400 lumens but only maintain that for a few hours, and then run for 20 hours at 50 lumens.

How long of a stay will the batteries need to last?

Some of the lights would probably run 3-4 hours per night, the others would probably only run for 2 hours.

Thanks re: the output curve - very good to know.

Any other opinions out there would be appreciated.

G

Your answer doesn't answer the question

2 nights? 14 nights?

I'm not a big fan of lanterns for indoor area lighting, but for that purpose, I like the energizer lanterns with "Light fusion technology" look for a review in this section.

BUT... I don't like the fact that they take so many AA batteries.
For longer run-times I'd prefer that they take 3-4 D cells.
OTOH, you could set the people up with rechargeable NiMH batteries and a USB charger that they can plug into the car's power port. The down-side is they are slow charging, and you may only be able to charge 8-12 cells a day, in a four cell charger.

I do like 18650 batteries for their recharge-ability.

If you have white sheet rock ceilings, you might consider tail standing flashlights, if OTOH they are wood, that may not be as good an option.

I'd consider getting a pair of Fenix CL25R lanterns at about $60 each, and then a few Ozark Trail $15 3D lanterns. You can see the output curve for the OT 300 lumen lantern in the review I posted in this section. It gives a declining output, so the people will not be suddenly surprised when it is no longer putting out any light. And should they run through all of their batteries, at least they'll have the option of recharging the CL25R lanterns for the following night.

2000 - 3000 lumens for any period of time, by way of battery will be expensive unless rechargeables are used. That level of light is probably a bit over-kill.

You may want to read through this Power Outage How many batteries thread for a discussion you may find helpful.

 

[CanadaG]

Thanks for the info, very helpful!

To answer the original question, the lanterns will be used for about 10 weeks during the summer. We could either a) have each renter bring along x# of D batteries for their stay, or set up a charging system and bake that into the price.

 

[Poppy]

Here is the OT 300 review
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?390278-Ozark-Trail-300-Lumen-Lantern-Review

here's a review of the energizer lanterns I mentioned above.


review of the CL25R

I can't comment on the quality of the lantern in the thread below.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?407547-Fenix-CL25R-alternatives