Household Emergency/General Use Light

Hi all. I'm looking for a general use household light that can sit on a charger indefinitely, and be ready for use in a power outage. Auto-on during power failure would be super convenient.

==================Flashlight Recommendation Checklist================
1) How would you prefer to purchase the light?

This will be mail-order or Online (location doesn't matter).


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2) Budget: An easy question, but you may change your mind after answering the rest!

Up to $200. (But Flexible)


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3) Format:

I want a flashlight (hand held/self contained).

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4) Size:

MICRO - Keychain size.
TINY - Every day carry (2-4 inches).
SMALL - Every day carry (4-7 inches).


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5) Emitter/Light source:

LED (known for efficiency, longevity, and compactness)

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6) Manufacturer:

I want to buy a light from a large/traditional manufacturer that is ready to go out of the box.
I would like a light from a specialty manufacturer (Possibly limited run/Custom).


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7) What power source do you want to use?

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I intend to use ​

Rechargeable cells

(NiMH or NiCD) based on the usual AAA/AA/C/D sized cells common to most stores.
I intend to use ​

Rechargeable cells

based on less common formats (18500 or 18650 Li-Ion, RCR123, et-al).
I want a light with an integrated rechargeable battery pack.

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Ideally, rechargeable cells in a usual size that can be charged in body. If I have to pick, I'd rather sacrifice usual size for in-body charging.

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7a) If you have selected a rechargeable option

I want a light that plugs directly into the wall (literally with prongs built into the light)
I want a light that has a recharging adapter (your typical "wall wart")​

I want a light that snaps into a cradle (usually mounted on a wall)

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Top choice would be a cradle!​

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8) How much genuine out the front (OTF) light do you want/need?

Sometimes you can have too much light (trying to read up close up with a 100 lumen light is not a happy experience).

I want to navigate a dark room or read a map (1-10 lumens).
I want an indoor "blackout" light (15-50 lumens)
I want to confidently walk around an unlit/unpaved rural area (60-150 lumens).​

9) ​

Flood vs Throw:

Flood covers an area, Throw reaches out to a distance.

Wide Flood: I want a defined flood area for semi-close tasks like after-dark campsite tasks or working on a car.
Narrow Flood: I want a sharply defined flood area that will project some distance for tasks like trail walking.

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9a) Distance: How far away will you typically need to see with this light

(check all that apply)

Less than 1 yard/meter (reading, other close work)
Less than 5 yards/meters (looking for something inside a dark shed/garage/basement)
5-20 yards/meters (check out a noise in the backyard)

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10) Runtime:

Not over-inflated manufacturer runtime claims, but usable brightness measured from first activation to 50% with new batteries (Measured on maximum continuous output).

3 hours + (I critically need this light to run on max for extended periods in between battery changes/charges).

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11) Durability/Usage:

Generally the old phrase "you get what you pay for" is very accurate for flashlights.

Very Important (Camping, Backpacking, Car Glove-box).
Critical (Police, Fire, Search & Rescue, Caving, Survival).

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12) Switch Size, Type, and location (choose all that apply):

Other, please specify: I would prefer some sort of mechanical switch to prevent vampire drain.

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13) User Interface (UI) and mode selection.

Select all that apply.

I want 2 light levels. (Brighter/short runtime and Dimmer/long runtime.)
I want multiple light levels. (Some lights have 5-16 light levels.)


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14)Material/Finish/Coating

I don't care.

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15) Water resistance

IPX8 (Submersible to greater than 1 meter for 4 hours)

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16) Storage conditions

Emergency kit (long standby periods)
Automobile glove-box (wide temperature swings, long standby periods, critical reliability)


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17) Special Needs/extras:

Is there anything else you want or need that hasn't been mentioned? Select any/all below.​

Auto-on (low mode) during power failure would be nice.

Thanks all!

Welcome To CPF.

Might I suggest that you try Parametrek tool (uses google) to narrow down your search a bit. Even with what you have selected, there are tens of choices, maybe towards 100.

There are a couple of issues with that type of light. The cheaper ones will only last about half an hour or so. So if you loose power in the middle of the night, the odds are that when or if you get up in the middle of the night, the battery has already run down. They are only really useful early in the morning or later in the evening, when you are up but it is still/getting dark out. They give you enough light to go find your major light/lantern.
The next step up is something like the Streamlight Litebox lights or the emergency lights one sees in public areas. Still could be a problem with run time while you are sleeping. I had planned to purchase one of the emergency light systems and replace the lights with smaller low power LEDs to extend the run time significantly. This would have also allowed me to run lines to other areas of the house rather than just illuminate the immediate area.
My recommendation: Pick one or more of the plug in automatic lights for the morning/evening dark times. Keep a light by your bed, your favorite chair, easily available in the kitchen, etc. One suggestion made in a prior thread was to place a plaque/shelf on the wall where you might need a light, like a hallway or the kitchen, then place a flashlight/lantern on it. This makes it easy to find any time, rather than having to look through a drawer or around a side table trying to find a light in the dark. You will probably want some combination of small flashlights for places like a nightstand or the bathroom, and lanterns to provide area lighting for larger spaces like a living room or a kitchen. Streamlight and Nitecore both have nice lanterns usable for this purpose, although Nitecore's are more suitable to smaller spaces like tents.

Think about it, post your thoughts, and we'll go from there.

Eton Blackout Buddy

magcharger, or a streamlight

So just my two-cents. I agree that Streamlight or Maglite is probably a good choice for a rechargeable light. However, you might want to take into consideration prolonged power outages. These type of lights don't have easily replaceable batteries. Once the battery runs down, you're done. For emergencies I use AA flashlights. The Thrunite TN4A and Nitecore EA42 are my favorites of late. I use Eneloops and have spares charged up and ready to go. And worst case I can use regular AA primaries. The runtimes on the lower modes are excellent.

As far as lanterns, I use the Streamlight Seige D cell and AA cell or UST 30-Day or 10-Day lanterns. The runtimes on low lasts for literally days. And as the name suggests the 30-Day lantern can last 30 full days on low. I've tested it and the claim is real. The Streamlight run times are less, but they are more ruggedly built than the UST.

For starters I would suggest multiple forms of lights that use common battery types, strategically placed around the house for emergency type situations.

Anything else like 18650 or 26650 lights are gravy and great for everyday use. But in a real grid down situation where you might not have electricity for days, the specialty battery lights will be rendered useless in a fairly short time. I speak from experience...

Berneck1 said:

So just my two-cents. I agree that Streamlight or Maglite is probably a good choice for a rechargeable light. However, you might want to take into consideration prolonged power outages. These type of lights don't have easily replaceable batteries. Once the battery runs down, you're done. For emergencies I use AA flashlights. The Thrunite TN4A and Nitecore EA42 are my favorites of late. I use Eneloops and have spares charged up and ready to go. And worst case I can use regular AA primaries. The runtimes on the lower modes are excellent.

As far as lanterns, I use the Streamlight Seige D cell and AA cell or UST 30-Day or 10-Day lanterns. The runtimes on low lasts for literally days. And as the name suggests the 30-Day lantern can last 30 full days on low. I've tested it and the claim is real. The Streamlight run times are less, but they are more ruggedly built than the UST.

For starters I would suggest multiple forms of lights that use common battery types, strategically placed around the house for emergency type situations.

Anything else like 18650 or 26650 lights are gravy and great for everyday use. But in a real grid down situation where you might not have electricity for days, the specialty battery lights will be rendered useless in a fairly short time. I speak from experience...

Click to expand...

The maglite ml 125 uses both nimh rechargable and c batteries. Not the brightest but still serves me well. I've picked up 3 over the years. They go for as low as $40 during black Friday sales on the maglite.com site.

For area lighting I have an old Eveready D-cell lantern that does low, high, and yellow night light. It's old enough that it came with an incan bulb. I replaced it with one of the Niteize LEDs and it's much brighter and lasts longer. I also have an 'Energizer LED lantern with Light Fusion Technology' that uses either four or eight AA cells, and is infinitely variable. It's really neat. There is a clear plastic panel with a grid of holes drilled through it, and several LEDs at the pivot edge. Most of the light stays in the panel until it hits one of the holes, where it is reflected out. Makes for a very even light.
Everything runs on NiMH AAs/AAAs or 18650 cells, of which I have a bunch always charged. I also keep some AA and AAA lithium primaries around, just in case.
Funny thing is when I was taking care of my mom (small rural town in Iowa, we would lose power several times every summer. Now I live in a larger town twenty miles away, and we haven't lost power but once in the last ten years.

[h=1]Energizer LED Lantern with Light Fusion Technology[/h]

When you have time, consider reading through the power outage thread
In there we discussed lumens, flood, throw, lanterns, batteries, generators, and solar.

Regarding emergency on lights, there are usually some available at home depot, and walmart. About $10 each. They'll run for a few hours, giving enough light that you won't tumble down a flight of stairs. I recommend that you have one or more, on each level of your house. They can be located such that they'll throw light into a couple of rooms. These are primarily so that one can navigate the house without being suddenly in cave like darkness.

You can then safely navigate to your stash of other lights.

Don't get those emergency exit lights with two heads. If they are incandescent, they have a 4.5 Ah lead acid battery that lasts for less than an hour, or the LED ones use a small NiMH battery that only lasts about the same time, despite the lower draw of the LED lamps.

Some of those emergency on lights have light sensors, so they won't come on and drain the battery in the day time. OR that they activate at night to act as a night light, even when you have power.