Which Flashlights Get Warm? Which Stay Cool?

Which flashlights get warm?

Which stay cool?

I mean in temperature, not color.

I'd rather use ones that stay cool. Heat is generally wasted energy.

Depends what current it's being driven at. A lot of LED flashlights have multiple modes, pretty much all of them will get hot on high, while low mode will keep them cool. Of course with low you might not be able to see what you want, depending on distance and all.

In terms of LEDs and efficiency, the Cree XM-L in T6 flux bin is about the top of the line, so you might want to look for flashlights that have that, the XP-G in R5 bin is also good. That said, efficiency is still a relative term, driving either of them at 1A will result in a rather hot flashlight.

All flashlights will get warm if you run it on high. What you should be avoiding are those that run ridiculously hot. Unfortunately, I haven't encounter any flashlight that stay cool unless you are running it in the lower output. My Surefire UB3T remains cool when I run it at around 70 to 80 lumen for an hour, but at the full 800 lumen it does get pretty warm (almost hot).

Malkoff is probably the coolest running at high output. The Hound Dog XM-L at 750 OTF will run 50 minutes continuous and not get hot.

Move to Northern Canada...all of my lights stay cool, even on high! :thumbsup:

oldways said:

Malkoff is probably the coolest running at high output. The Hound Dog XM-L at 750 OTF will run 50 minutes continuous and not get hot.

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+1,
Also HDS. They will get warmish but certainly not hot.

Practically all flashlights get warm in Turbo mode or in some instances, High mode.

I own a TK35, it runs on high 345 lumens continously without getting warm. I know this coz i used it during a long power outage as an area lamp and it didnt even get a bit warm. But if it is bumped up to turbo mode (800+ lumens) well, it gets hot in a few minutes.

The good thing about high lumens flashlights is that you can run them in medium or high (for those with turbo mode) for longer hours with fantastic brightness compared to other flashlights that max out at those lumen ratings.

In short, get a TM11! hehe