Looking for home inspection (attic & crawlspace) light

Hello, I am looking for a light that I could fit in a pocket that would provide good light for inspecting attics and crawlspaces of homes. From what I have learned in this forum, I think a natural color led would be preferred over a cool color.

Would a a light with a mix of flood and spot be a good choice? I am not set on any particular type of battery and am open to suggestions in that department as well.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thank you, Hugh

Though I don't use it for attics, I've used the 2AAA Pelican 1920 in basements. I have several penlights and I'm impressed with this light in particular. It is built rugged and quite bright and you can use the lower brightness level for closer tasks.

There's another forum member who uses his 1920 when crawling around attics for his job. Perhaps he will chime in.

Link to Pelican 1920: http://www.pelican.com/us/en/product/tactical-dive-flashlights-headlamps/small-light/standard/1920/

Thanks for the reply. I had a hunch a super high lumen light would not be necessary and your recommendation helped confirm that. Have you used any warmer, more neutral lights in basements and, if so, is there much of a benefit?

:welcome:

A Malkoff MD2 with an M61N LMH would be your perfect beam. May seem complicated for a newcomer, but whats nice is you buy this light once and you never have to replace it although you can very simply upgrade it. It will run you about $120 for the MD2 body and a Low / Med / High drop in. May seem like alot $, but your getting twice the light for half the price and they are pretty much the most rock solid out there. If you have questions, give them a call and they'll get you setup pronto.

If you don't want a headlamp, get a light that is comfortable in your mouth? I use a Poly light (vintage Surefire) with a warm P60 drop in. Its only about 300 lumen. Plenty of attic light. This allows me to detect leaks and wire colors easily. I also wear a Nitecore HC90. It is easy to operate with a gloves. The headband is easy to remove and wash.
Hope that helps.

:welcome:

Why not a HDS? Built like a tank, programmable, primary or rechargeable perfect beam with nice flood.

The way I visualize your task I'd try my ThruNite TN20 with a head that rotates into a right angle light and can stand on its end. I'd also try my Nebo Slyde that is a flashlight that slides into a lantern. Come to think of it an LED camping lantern like the Fenix CL25R might even be useful.

If you have access to electricity and an appropriate length extension cord the LED work lights are your best best or could be too much light.

BTW - I reread your post and wonder just what your inspecting? The Neutral vs Bright White is probably irrelevant to unfinished basements and especially to crawl spaces but sufficient brightness is.

Whatever you wind up getting you should consider having a backup light and batteries in your pocket and another somewhere in the tool bag / box or car / truck.

Always make the sacrificial offering to Murphy.

I would really recommend the Eagletac D25LC2 with the Nichia 219 LED. If you want color detail and proper color rendition, this is your best option. And the Eageltac is a fine light as well. It will take two CR123As where you can find anywhere or a rechargeable 18650. Very pocketable as well.

http://www.eagletac.com/html/d25lc2rc/index.html

Another good all-purpose light would be the Seraph 6 from Lumens Factory. It uses the XP-G emitter, in either Neutral White (default) or 90+ CRI (upon request). It fives color recognition as well as the Nichia does, just a little warmer. You would want the three mode version, at 20/120/350 lumens, with memory. It will take either two CR123 primary cells or an 18650 rechargeable. To get the 90+ CRI version, place your order with Lumens Factory, then send them an email requesting that emitter. Stated run times are two hours on high and six on medium. With a spare set of cells along you should be ok for the day. Right now they are on sale for $35 + shipping. I have had one for several years and really like it.

As a backup and mouth-capable light I would recommend the TerraLUX Lightstar 80, currently on sale at Battery Junction for $16 +shipping. It is a 2 AAA light rated at about 80 lumens and 80+ CRI. I believe the lumens output is closer to 65, but the 80+ CRI claim is valid. It has a pocket clip, and a rubber ring next to the tail cap to lip or bite on. Nice, simple little lite that gets the job done.

There was a recent thread on this in the Recommend Me a Light subforum:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?411577-Flashlighs-for-Home-Inspector

If accurate color rendition is important, for instance, when examining a leaky pipe, stains, rust, or corrosion, you will probably benefit from high CRI (color rendering index) and neutral (4500-5500K) CCT.

That sounds like a job for the high-CRI Nichia 219B emitter. CRI is typically 92. CCT, around 4500K. Be aware that the 219B is not as bright as many Cree emitters are. To overcome this, flashlights that use multiple 219B emitters are available. Among others, Eagletac makes these.

Wow, I woke up this morning to find six posts made in the small hours of the night (in my time zone, anyway)! Guess this crowd likest he dark - and/or is probably spread around the globe.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. It looks like I have some lights to research, including learning more about the world of drop-ins.

My thought on a high CRI light was to make it easier to see defects. I'm assessing homes in need of repairs, so I'm looking for water or pest damaged framing, plumbing leaks, and those sorts of things. From what I have gathered, a higher CRI would render details better since it is less likely to whitewash what I am looking at - but I could have misunderstood what I have read here.

I notice the recommendations include all sorts of battery types including AAA CR123, and 18650, so I have some decision making there to do as well, but my understanding is that the 18650 and 123 batteries will have longer run times, in general. Is that fair to say? I would like something rechargeable, whatever I go with.

I also need to decide between handheld or headlamp - or go with one of each!

Thanks again CPF for your suggestions.

I wasn't thinking about batteries much. I want to modify my suggestion of lights to look at. Solarforce sells light that fits 18650s, and any P60 drop in you want. If you want to mouth carry it, you can add heat shrink tubing to the rear portion of the body.
Keep in mind the P60 basically future proofs the light. You can also easily change out "bulbs" any time you wish in seconds. Get a cooler LED and find it doesn't work, swap out to a warm led drop in. Want to find some damages that aren't easily spotted, perhaps try the Solarforce UV drop in. If you have never fired up a UV in a attic, it is quite the sight. You will see stuff you have never seen.
These are cheap enough to buy two and carry two. Plus there are a ton of accessories for these lights. Don't let the price fool you. The quality is surprisingly good all things considered.
Also learn batteries here. Get some quality cells and a decent charger. That will make you much happier in the end.

Another neat inspection tool, I am sure you have, is a FLIR. Check out the FLIR E Series.

The Sunwayman V11R is good for lots of these sorts of things: very bright with a CR123 and can be varied down to almost nothing. Also possible to carry it in your mouth or in a headband. Can use AA or CR123.

Zebralight h600 flood neutral headlamp is what i use to crawl around in my attic. Awesome color/ flood and personally i need to keep my hands free while crawling around in an attic, also i wear a respirator because of the insulation so putting a small light in my mouth is out of the question.

Jose Marin said:

Zebralight h600 flood neutral headlamp is what i use to crawl around in my attic. Awesome color/ flood and personally i need to keep my hands free while crawling around in an attic, also i wear a respirator because of the insulation so putting a small light in my mouth is out of the question.

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Seconding a headlamp.

Flavor of headlamp not withstanding, the headlamp direction is where I'd head as well. I put in one grueling year of service with AT&T doing U-verse installations and that had me in attics, and under houses in all different sized crawl spaces. Doing that kind of work, and lots of it was an inspection of sorts, I was never without the headlamp, and a backup hand carry flashlight in a pocket.

Definitely a backup light. Attics and crawl spaces are two areas where the Surefire Mantra definitely apply - "Two is One, and One is None"

I'd vote for a warm/neutral zebralight headlamp and then pick the model based on flood and battery requirements. You would probably want a non-headlamp flashlight too. I personally have a hard time seeing details with cooler LEDs - much prefer 4k-5k temperature.

I will always recommend the nitecore P12. Great mode spacing in factors of four, great special modes, battery read out feature, 1 lm moon light mode

hugh2 said:

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thank you, Hugh

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For crawling attics and crawl spaces, you want high lumen, high candela and a smooth light like the Nitecore HC4S. +1 for the Nitecore HC90 as I have both and good crawling.