LanternLover
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 88
Greetings All!
I have been lurking in these forums for a couple of weeks and finally decided to take the plunge. I am from India but currently in the US pursuing my education. I find myself fascinated by lights of all kinds but I am particularly interested in lanterns.
I have had a long association with lanterns. I grew up in India where there is an acute power (and water) shortage. Until recently, all utilities were owned and run by the government, and were badly mismanaged. Power cuts are an everyday occurence, and in summer these cuts can extend to 2 days! The supply voltage is nominally 220 volts but it is often as low as 170 volts and in summer it can be much lower! As a kid, I spent my evenings in the light of kerosene lanterns and candles. As you can imagine, these are not the best solutions when you are trying to light up a hot summer evening. Later, when I was a teenager, rechargeable fluorescent lanterns came to the Indian market. These were cheaply made but expensive, poor quality Chinese imports whose working life varied greatly from one unit to the next. Nevertheless, these were a welcome upgrade as I had to spend many hours studying in the light of a lantern.
When power was available, the low voltages meant that the incandescent bulbs gave poor light. Fluorescent tubes would not light up under such low voltages. When compact fluorescent lamps first came to the Indian market, I was impressed by the claims of high light output and immediately got some for my home. As it turned out, the first generation of these had poor lifetimes and didn't work very well with the low voltages. Later generations last longer and have less of a drop in output under low voltages. The light was such an improvement that I have replaced all the incandescents in my home with CFLs despite the higher cost.
For the past few years, I have lived in a city where I have not experienced a single power cut, so I have not had the need for a lantern and have not kept one with me. Nevertheless, when I first stumbled across an LED lantern for sale on a website and saw the advertised runtimes, I was very excited. After reading articles about how LEDs are the future of lighting and are a major step forward, I came across these forums. I was disappointed to know that those claims about the runtimes are absurdly false but liked the fact that runtimes are still quite long and "bulb" replacement is never needed. Yesterday, I went out and got my first LED lantern - the Sylvania LED Mini Lantern from Walmart. It is a compact, good looking unit; not rugged but should be okay for indoor use. At first I was unimpressed with the light output but after my eyes adjusted to the light, I found that I could see across the room with the light. I put in a fresh set of alkalines in it and found that the light was usable for up to nearly 8 hours. At 10 hrs and 25 mins, it is still glowing but the light is not useful for anything except locating the lantern.
I am fascinated with lanterns that have long runtimes. I suppose this is not surprising since I have spent many years in the company of one. I request all of you to provide me with recommendations for lanterns. I suppose there would be some that use D cells and run longer or are rechargeable. Your suggestions will be highly appreciated even though I may not buy them right away because I have a limited income. Thanks.
I have been lurking in these forums for a couple of weeks and finally decided to take the plunge. I am from India but currently in the US pursuing my education. I find myself fascinated by lights of all kinds but I am particularly interested in lanterns.
I have had a long association with lanterns. I grew up in India where there is an acute power (and water) shortage. Until recently, all utilities were owned and run by the government, and were badly mismanaged. Power cuts are an everyday occurence, and in summer these cuts can extend to 2 days! The supply voltage is nominally 220 volts but it is often as low as 170 volts and in summer it can be much lower! As a kid, I spent my evenings in the light of kerosene lanterns and candles. As you can imagine, these are not the best solutions when you are trying to light up a hot summer evening. Later, when I was a teenager, rechargeable fluorescent lanterns came to the Indian market. These were cheaply made but expensive, poor quality Chinese imports whose working life varied greatly from one unit to the next. Nevertheless, these were a welcome upgrade as I had to spend many hours studying in the light of a lantern.
When power was available, the low voltages meant that the incandescent bulbs gave poor light. Fluorescent tubes would not light up under such low voltages. When compact fluorescent lamps first came to the Indian market, I was impressed by the claims of high light output and immediately got some for my home. As it turned out, the first generation of these had poor lifetimes and didn't work very well with the low voltages. Later generations last longer and have less of a drop in output under low voltages. The light was such an improvement that I have replaced all the incandescents in my home with CFLs despite the higher cost.
For the past few years, I have lived in a city where I have not experienced a single power cut, so I have not had the need for a lantern and have not kept one with me. Nevertheless, when I first stumbled across an LED lantern for sale on a website and saw the advertised runtimes, I was very excited. After reading articles about how LEDs are the future of lighting and are a major step forward, I came across these forums. I was disappointed to know that those claims about the runtimes are absurdly false but liked the fact that runtimes are still quite long and "bulb" replacement is never needed. Yesterday, I went out and got my first LED lantern - the Sylvania LED Mini Lantern from Walmart. It is a compact, good looking unit; not rugged but should be okay for indoor use. At first I was unimpressed with the light output but after my eyes adjusted to the light, I found that I could see across the room with the light. I put in a fresh set of alkalines in it and found that the light was usable for up to nearly 8 hours. At 10 hrs and 25 mins, it is still glowing but the light is not useful for anything except locating the lantern.
I am fascinated with lanterns that have long runtimes. I suppose this is not surprising since I have spent many years in the company of one. I request all of you to provide me with recommendations for lanterns. I suppose there would be some that use D cells and run longer or are rechargeable. Your suggestions will be highly appreciated even though I may not buy them right away because I have a limited income. Thanks.
