Home light

Hi there,

I was playing around and window shopping few lights recently and had this idea that I actually need kind of versatile home (duty) light I can carry around, keep in the car, take to the woods or walk around the fields in the countryside. Don't get me wrong - this is not meant to be an EDC light. I have one already.
So far it looks that the best light I've found is the Jetbeam DDR30-GT. Powerful but has lower modes as well, quite compact, rechargeable, waterproof and orange peel reflector. Seems ideal household light... I was just wondering if there is some more choice on the market. I was also looking at Nitecore's flagship, but it looks to heavy and ugly for me. Fenix lights are too long. I don't need another baseball bat. Some other competition to Jetbeam's light...?
Thanks...

I guess it all depends on your definition of "House Light"
That JetBeam seem to have a LOT of lumens and needs 4x18650s to run.

If house light means "A light to use when fixing plumbing, looking in the car trunk, looking in the back of the closet, walking the dog down the block, then that is probably overkill. But if house light means checking the 6 acres to see of a fox is prowling around the chickens, then maybe that light would be good.

For me a "House Light" is something that has a couple settings, with nothing over 500-1000 lumens on the top end, and a couple choices in the 25-250 range for inside the house work.

I don't think that there is necessarily a wrong answer. A house light can be anything thing from a "AAA" penlight to a Turbo-Monster-lumen projector. All I'm saying is: Ask yourself how you plan on using the light (types of tasks) and then buy a light that best matches the need.

OP my "house lights" are all the new XML2 LED C and D cell Maglites. I live in a large very old house on an acre of land backed up to woods. The 600 lumens these new Mags put out is more than enough for house duties. That and they are designed to run best on cheap alkalines and they do.

I have a couple 2-4000 lumen monsters sure but unless I am on a camping trip they are sheer overkill and PO the neighbors. I am sure many more will jump in with countless suggestions but here I will list 4 off the top of my head.

1.Maglite ML LED you choose the cell count
2.Olight SR52UT-micro USB rechargeable, bright as heck and throws farther than I can even see
3.Fenix TK20R-this is one of Fenix new IP68 rated lights. My copy is an awesome 1x18650 tank is also micro USB
4.Zebralight SC600 MkIII HI-read around the forum enough it gets nothing but heaps of praise and deserves it. The little light is incredibly capable and has stunning max output

Hehe...as I was reading your first couple of sentences, I was thinking - that's exactly how I use my Thrunite Archer (1xAA).

Then I looked up that Jetbeam and realized we have very different ideas of the amount of light appropriate for walking around and general home use.

For me, after figuring out how many lumens I need, ergonomic considerations are my next priority in this class. Since it doesn't need to disappear in my pocket, it should be a size that is comfortable to hold, tail stand well, and have easy to find buttons. I've got a couple 3xAAA bargain lights I dislike everything about except their size, which is about perfect. That just so happens to be the size of most 26650 lights.

Combining my opinion on ergonomics with your obvious desire for high output, I think the Olight R50 and Acebeam EC50 or EC60 are worth considering.

If you really want another pop can sized super-high output torch like that Jetbeam, the Olight X7 is one of the most popular. Zebralight is also planning to introduce a competitor soon.

Honestly its on the big side, seriously look at 26650 sized lights like mentioned above with built in charging, acebeam, olight, Klaus do them so does jetbeam now I think its the t4 could be wrong .
This size has good power, good size to fit in hand who out getting tiresome on a walk with good runtimes too.

Thanks for your replies. Olight x7 looks nice - small monster with good modes settings. It is not rechargeable, though, and this is and imperative for me these days. I cant' be asked for playing around with chargers any more once I've tried the bliss of an USB luxury...
I will need this light to use in the following conditions, more or less every day. Imagine that scenario: I can go to the basement to check some stuff then I would need something up to 100 lumens. more or less. A minute later I will go to my backyard and check if somebody or something is not messing around 250 meters away from my home (this is approx. my yard's length). This is where I will need power and EDC is not powerful enough to cope. Next thing I might go to the shed or garage and look for something I need and this is where I would need low / mid lumens again.
Also, I think, I don't really need a thrower, OP reflector would be preferable on this one, assuming closer distances to lit as well like mentioned above a garage or a shed inside.

The Nitecore TM28 isn't quite as bright as the Olight X7, but has an AC adapter to charge it, as do the incrementally lower power TM26 and TM15. I suspect they went AC instead of USB due to the long charge times with USB for that much battery capacity.

Since you have an EDC already, I'd personally use that or another similar light kept around just for household use for the closer range use, and keep a dedicated thrower in a handy location when needed for the long range viewing. Among other reasons, a broad beam that is useful for close up can make objects near you dazzling bright when you're trying to see far, and a nice tight beam that is great for seeing long distances just doesn't illuminate a very large area at close distances.

You can also get by with a lot less power with a dedicated thrower. The TM28 takes 6000 lumens to get 655 meters of ANSI throw. A moderately throwy light like the Acebeam EC60 gets 603 meters -almost as far - from 2000 lumens. Why? Simply because the beam is more focused. I think the Olight SR52-UT is over 700meters from even fewer lumens. Meanwhile, the X7 is extremely floody, with 313 meters rated distance from 9000 lumens.

To me a "house" light is one with 10-25 lumens to see my way to a "yard" light hanging on a nail by each door.

Every potential exit point in my home has a flashlight near it. And a few scattered in between in case one konks out.

But in a case of only having one flashlight I'd have to say a zoomy would fit the bill so you can slide it to flood in the case of less brightness in a focused area or slide to spot for the time when distance or intensity is required.

Maglites fit that bill very well. Lux-Pro and Coast products do as well.

Przemo(c) said:

... light I can ... keep in the car, ...

Click to expand...

I don't know what kind of temperature range you encounter in your area but the one downside of any Li-ion flashlight is that they don't handle extreme temperatures well.

Each of my family have their own personal flashlights (all AA). In addition to that I have purchased a number of Thrunite TN4A' which have become our go-to all-purpose house, walk the dog, check the backyard, vehicle glove box, etc., flashlights. So far I find them perfect for our uses. I've discovered that my wife likes the TN4A so much that even though she has a perfectly adequate edc flashlight, she drops a TN4A in her purse before going anywhere after dark.