24 WHITE LED Lantern

Has anybody tried out this light yet?
http://www.alfenterprises.com/sporting_goods/led_torches_microlights.htm

you may be interested also in this one, it's flourescent, but totally tough and watertight: http://www.jademountain.com/lightingProducts/solarislantern.html
...now if THIS one were converted to (new high efficiency) LEDs...

I hate to break it to most people but compact fluorescent's are more efficient then even the best LED's (at least right now). So if you want a good area light I would suggest one of the true compact fluorescent lights or the new really compact ones, like the one in the Eveready ArcWhite. I can't remember what those are called, but they are very efficient.

Brock

Brock,
Just got an Eveready Arcwhite
mini-fluor @ Walmart ($16.33)
and it's really WHITE and
POWERFUL!

------------------

Doug

I forgot to add that the ArcWhite uses a"cold cathode"
-only drawing 285ma.(my test)
and the tube is not nearly so
damaged by low batteries compared to other
small fluorescent lights.
-according to Don K.


------------------

Doug

That's what it is called "cold cathode", My light was pulling about 300mA after it warms up. I have been told these are the same tubes used in laptops for lighting the screen. Low battery levels damage regular fluorescents, while these lights can tolerate it much more. It would take at least 500mA of LED's to equal these lights and at least 1000mA of incandescent.

I should add though on the side of LED's (since I like them so much) that they are MUCH more durable and should last 50 times longer than the CCFT (cold cathode fluorescent tube). So for a long life of the light source and good durability, LED's still can't be beat.

Brock

I agree completely - while LEDs have been getting better all the time, they are still not the most "efficient" source in lumens per watt. Now someday that may change with the news I was reading, and we will no longer be a society that uses a hot wire to produce light.

When I measured my batonlight at 1/4 A (well - after adding a few more LEDs) - I realized that these things really do draw some power to get the brightness people expect out of a light. Most surefire incandescent lamps only draw 1A - with tons more light! It's clear that in the lumens per watt category, the xenon/halogen lamps have LEDs beat hands down. LEDs still beat most of the vacuum miniature lamps, with better color too!

Today - my biggest "plus" for LEDs is that they can be beaten, dropped, smacked, etc - and you still KNOW they will work - same can not be said for filament lights, or CCFLs for that matter. This is why I buy LED lights - especially those made out of metal - it doesn't do any good to have a working LED after the plastic case is broken and full of water.

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by hmmwv on 01-27-2001 at 08:59 PM</font>