Room lighting during power outage?

We lose power a lot around here, if it rains, if it gets too windy, if it's too hot...

What I want is something around $20 that will light up a room so we can play a board game or read a book close to the light. I have six 7.2V 1500mAH NiCad battery packs that I would like to use and I am good with a soldering iron, if something has to be mod'ed. I want to leave the battery packs as is so I can still use them with my RC stuff. One of the packs is now a 6v so I can use it with an electro magnet. It makes the car sloooow when I use it in that way.
Thanks in advance

Got -

Try finding a couple of cheap Lux1 stars and just put them in series with one of your 7.2 NiCad packs (might want to check what the V REALLY is on those when freshly charged - might need to add a resistor to keep the stars at a safe level). That's about the simplest solution I can think of that *will* light the room.

I've got one of these that I keep on my dining room table. It throws a fair bit of light, has a runtime of roughly 2 days, and is definitely in your price bracket. Also, I've got a few off-brand (but similar to a product from the same manufacturer a few years back, but not currently on their website) wall-mount units with reflectors. They've got a somewhat shorter runtime (only around 1 day), but they're perfect for hallways.

I'd say get a fluorescent lantern and wire up those nimh cells somehow.

Measure the voltage of those battery packs if they are 7.2v actual they probably would work fine with a 6 or 12v flourescent light. There are lanterns that use 4D and 8D and you can buy battery lights that take 4 or 8AA cells that should work fine with them.

Personally, I have a small fleet of Milky Candles and variations thereof that take care of us in power outages. Also have a Rayovac kids lantern modded with one of georges80's microflex boards, that runs off 4AA NiMH and seems to last for a bunch of hours as long as the brightness isn't cranked up all the way.

If you've got those 7.2V NiCd packs, I'd get a couple cheap, junky low dome Luxeons, put them in series with one another, and limit the current flow to something in the 80-100mA range. Luxeons don't need any heatsinking below 100mA! And believe me when I say that two of them at that low current drive will still generate quite a bit of light. Since the NiCd packs should stay pretty stable as far as discharge voltage over time, even a resistor ought to do the trick for the current limiting, or of you want to get a little fancy, install a Downboy board and maybe a single Luxeon, driven at 100mA. Then for a nice, classy touch, find some interesting antique jar or box at a yard sale, and install the whole thing inside it... functional art! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Very Kewl

I would lean towards pointing a luxeon at the ceiling. My Micra on R123 lights up a room at least twice as brightly as a 2 tube 4D fluorescent lantern.

I like Darell's idea. Just make sure you use a large heatsink.

I use a 3500 watt generator...
To charge my batteries.
I love when the power goes out, my wife finally stops asking why I am carrying a flashlight around.

I like the generator idea to charge the batteries.

I picked up one of those fluorescent 4D U-tube lanterns from Wally world for $10.

What would be the run time on something like this with 4D batteries?
Where can I get a schematic for any 4D fluorescent light?

The bulb apears to be similar to the lights in our hallway that use 13W U-bulbs... the wheels are turning...
http://www.msnusers.com/RayzStuff/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=4