Any experience with LED Lanterns (long-lasting room light)?

[moolie]

Yeah, I had wondered about those mantles. Plus the high cost of Alladin lamps, even used ones, has also always put us off.

Joel, if you can get one of the dynamo lanterns (one that is bright enough) I think you'll be laughing for what you need, as I said the Lee Valley model looks great

 

[~gd]

Yes I can recommend them too. what they don't sell hard enough is the fact that you can recharge them from a 12 volt DC [auto] system. I had one of those jump start systems and after I realized that I could recharge from that I never cranked again.for the 5 days our power was out.

 

[Icu4dzs]

I also have two of the LED lamps and I keep them in my travel gear. I have not had to use them in the house or for chores yet because I bought them early on before I got my wind turbine/solar panel hybrid system up and running. I don't worry about light or special power in the house either, nor did I back then because I built a small solar panel/charge controller and a deep cycle marine battery and bought some 12v LED bulbs which, while they were rather spendy, put out enough light and drew so little charge that I could light the entire first floor of my house with them.
I do have some kerosene lamps and have bought all the LED bulbs I could get here in SDAK, but they are limited to 110v so I can use them but reserve them for a time when power will be less available...maybe not long from now.
I even have a Faraday flash light that you shake 50 times and it powers a LED. Nice to have and never needs batteries.
but then I am a radical when it comes to power and light. Less power, more light...

 

[Joel_BC]

Yeah, I had wondered about those mantles. Plus the high cost of Alladin lamps, even used ones, has also always put us off.

Joel, if you can get one of the dynamo lanterns (one that is bright enough) I think you'll be laughing for what you need, as I said the Lee Valley model looks great

I wonder about getting just 5 hours of service off of a car-system charge. I mean, that's not bad, but it's not great either.

Also, I suppose a half-hour of light (if it's fairly bright room light) is not so bad from 2 minutes of cranking.

I think you said you did not yet own one. But have you borrowed/tried one?

 

[moolie]

I've tried it out in the store, and it seems perfect for our purposes (light around the campsite, in the tent, etc.) but I haven't put it through its paces to see how brightly it could light a room or how long it really goes on 2 minutes of cranking.

I did have a solar/rechargeable fluorescent lantern for a number of years that worked comparably and did ok lighting a room (say 10x10) and worked well as a task light (reading etc. if close to the lantern) but this past summer the bulb went and we were unable to find a replacement, so it went to e-recycling. We had that one for about 12 years. It never really charged well in the sun, but came with a 12v wall charger so we just plugged it in preparatory to camping.

We do have the Lee Valley dynamo flashlights as I mentioned above and they are quite bright and definitely last a long time on two minutes of cranking--I can find my way in total darkness on the trail and it will adequately light a 9x9 tent (although being a point source, even when I hang it from the tent roof it isn't the same as a lantern). I can use it for a whole weekend at Girl Guide camp (I'm a leader) on one or two cranking sessions. But I don't always use it if the moon is out.

 

[Joel_BC]

Thnaks, Moolie.

 

[~gd]

I also have two of the LED lamps and I keep them in my travel gear. I have not had to use them in the house or for chores yet because I bought them early on before I got my wind turbine/solar panel hybrid system up and running. I don't worry about light or special power in the house either, nor did I back then because I built a small solar panel/charge controller and a deep cycle marine battery and bought some 12v LED bulbs which, while they were rather spendy, put out enough light and drew so little charge that I could light the entire first floor of my house with them.
I do have some kerosene lamps and have bought all the LED bulbs I could get here in SDAK, but they are limited to 110v so I can use them but reserve them for a time when power will be less available...maybe not long from now.
I even have a Faraday flash light that you shake 50 times and it powers a LED. Nice to have and never needs batteries.Does it infact have a battery to store power produced by shaking it? If so that battery WILL fail! I am a fan of rechargeable dry cells but with repeted charge/discharge cycles they lose storage capacity [a fact that is never mentioned when they are hyped]~gd
but then I am a radical when it comes to power and light. Less power, more light...

 

[Joel_BC]

Yes I can recommend them too. what they don't sell hard enough is the fact that you can recharge them from a 12 volt DC [auto] system. I had one of those jump start systems and after I realized that I could recharge from that I never cranked again.for the 5 days our power was out.

I think I'm a bit behind the times, in this little topic. The only "jump start system" I know consists of jumper cables. If you didn't want to start you car/truck all the time, you'd be running your vehicle's battery down.

Tell me what you mean, ~gd. (Jump start system?)

 

[~gd]

Yes I can recommend them too. what they don't sell hard enough is the fact that you can recharge them from a 12 volt DC [auto] system. I had one of those jump start systems and after I realized that I could recharge from that I never cranked again.for the 5 days our power was out.

I think I'm a bit behind the times, in this little topic. The only "jump start system" I know consists of jumper cables. If you didn't want to start you car/truck all the time, you'd be running your vehicle's battery down.

Tell me what you mean, ~gd. (Jump start system?)

well here if I call AAA and tell them that I killed [discharged] the auto battery by leaving my lights on all the time I was at work they dispatch a guy in a regular car with a jump start system a portable pack with a sealed charged auto battery and two relatively short heavy electrical cables. He connects to my battery and flips a switch so I can start it using his battery. advanages over jumper cables is that you don't have to move something so the cables can reach between the dead and active battery. There is no dangerous arc to cause an explosion. The units are cheap with consumer versions costing about 50 bucks and the pro model with a heavier battery going for about 90. from the pro view he isn't investing in a truck to handle minor service. Around here many comuters take off in fog or drizzle and when they get to work the sun is shining and they forget the lights. Heck I did it so many times that I went and bought one to carry in the car. I guess most newer cars have auto lights off to deal with the problem. Did that clear it up? I had a fully charged jump start pack in my car so I used it. Of course I could have recharged from my car but gas was in very short supply in the area [all those service vehicles and people with emergency generrators]~gd

 

[moolie]

So I got the Lee Valley crank lantern for Christmas from my sister-in-law

Going to give it a run tonight to see how it works as a room light in our family room.

I'll check in tomorrow as to how long it lasts on a charge (the instructions recommend 14 hours of plugged-in charging for the first charge, we did that last night) and how bright it is for tasks such as reading. So far just based on trying it out briefly last night on its factory charge, I'd say you'd need more than one to light a room for more than one person.