Best work light 2018 – [Buyer’s Guide]

Last Updated September 1, 2023

Best work light of 2018

After carefully examining the reviews and ratings of the people who have used them earlier this listicle has been made. Here, I will review 3 of the best work light of 2018, and we will also discuss the things to consider when looking to purchase one. I hope you will make an informed decision after going through each of them.

Not all work light are created equal though. The table below summarizes features, and below you’ll find more detailed reviews of each good.

Test Results and Ratings

Rank	№1	№2	№3
Product
Total	4.8	4.5	4.3
Style	5 points	5 points	4 points
Size	5 points	4 points	4 points
Construction	4 points	5 points	4 points
Price	5 points	4 points	5 points
Awards

 

 

 

 

 

 

№1 – Gear Aid FLUX 20

Why did this work light win the first place?

I am very happy with the purchase. It is definitely worth its money. The product is top-notch! I also liked the delivery service that was fast and quick to react. It was delivered on the third day. The product is very strong. Its material is stable and doesn’t crack. I really enjoy the design. It is compact, comfortable and reliable. And it looks amazing!

Style 5

Size 5

Construction 4

Price 5

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№2 – LED Work Light

Why did this work light come in second place?

Seems that the material is good. It has a very beautiful color but I don’t really like the texture. This is a pretty decent product that perfectly fitted the interior of our office. I recommend you to consider buying this model, it definitely worth its money. I really liked it. It is amazing in every aspect. It did even exceed my expectations for a bit, considering the affordable price.

Style 5

Size 4

Construction 5

Price 4

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№3 – T8

Why did this work light take third place?

It doesn’t squeaks nor bents. Looks great in my apartment. I liked the design. We’ve been using it for 2 months and it still looks like brand new. It is inconvenient to use due to the size. I am going to get something different next time. A very convenient model. It is affordable and made of high-quality materials.

Style 4

Size 4

Construction 4

Price 5

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work light Buyer’s Guide

Color temperature

After lumens, the next concept you’ll want to understand is color temperature. Measured on the Kelvin scale, color temperature isn’t really a measure of heat. Instead, it’s a measure of the color that a light source produces, ranging from yellow on the low end of the scale to bluish on the high end, with whitish light in the middle.

An easy way to keep track of color temperature is to think of a flame: it starts out yellow and orange, but when it gets really hot, it turns blue. You could also think of color temperature in terms of the sun — low, yellowy color temperatures mimic the tone of light at sunrise or sunset, while hotter, more bluish-white color temperatures are more akin to daylight (sure enough, bulbs with color temperatures like these are commonly called “daylight” bulbs). This is also why a lot of people prefer high color temperatures during the day and lower color temperatures in the morning and evening.

Generally speaking, incandescents sit at the bottom of the scale with their yellow light, while CFLs and LEDs have long been thought to tend toward the high, bluish end of the spectrum. This has been a steady complaint about new lighting alternatives, as many people prefer the warm, familiar, low color temperature of incandescents. Manufacturers are listening, though, and in this case they heard consumers loud and clear, with more and more low-color-temperature CFL and LED options hitting the shelves. Don’t believe me? Take another look at those two paper lamps in the picture above, because they’re both CFL bulbs — from the same manufacturer, no less.

Sylvania often color codes its packaging. Blue indicates a hot, bluish color temperature, while the lighter shade indicates a white, more neutral light.

Bulb shape

As you’re probably aware, light bulbs come in a fairly wide variety of shapes. Sure, it’s easy enough to tell a hardware store clerk that you want “one of those flamey-looking lights,” or “just a normal ol’ bulby light bulb,” but knowing the actual nomenclature might save you some time.

Watch this

Let’s start with the base of the bulb, the part that screws in. In the US, the most common shape by far is E26, with the “E” standing for Edison and the “26” referring to the diameter of the base in millimeters. You might also see E2bulbs from time to time, which is the European standard. Those should still fit into common American fixtures, but keep in mind that voltage ratings are different in the two regions, with American bulbs rated for 120 volts compared to 220-240 volts in Europe. For smaller sockets, like you might find with a candelabra, you’ll want to look for an E1base.

As for the bulb itself, the typical shape that you’re probably used to is an A1bulb. Increase that number to A2or A23, and you’ve got the same shape, but bigger. Bulbs made to resemble flames are F-shaped, which is easy enough to remember, as are globes, which go by the letter G. If it’s a floodlight you want, you’ll want to look for “BR” (bulging reflector) or “PAR” (parabolic aluminized reflector). Those bulbs are designed to throw all their light in one direction only, which makes them useful for spot lighting, overhead lighting and the headlights in your car.

Your automated-lighting options

It used to be that if you wanted your lights to turn on and off automatically, then you had to rely on a cheap wall socket timer, the kind you might use to control a Christmas tree. These days, with a modest boom in smart lighting currently under way, it’s easier than ever to dive into the sort of advanced automation controls that can make any home feel modern and futuristic. Use the right devices, and you’ll be able to control your lights in all sorts of creative ways, and make your life a little bit easier in the process.

The most obvious way to get started with smart lighting is with the bulbs themselves. You’ve got plenty of intelligent options from brands both big and small, and to find the one that’s best for you, you’re going to need to understand what sets them apart.

The first thing to look at is how the bulbs communicate with you. Some offer direct connections with your smart phone via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, which makes setup as simple as screwing the thing in and following in-app pairing instructions.

Others transmit using a distinct frequency like ZigBee or Z-Wave. Bulbs like those might be a better fit for bigger smart home setups, as it’s typically a little easier to sync them up with things like motion detectors and smart locks. Setup can be slightly more advanced, as you’ll need a separate hub or gateway device capable of translating that distinct frequency into a Wi-Fi signal your router can comprehend.

Some smart bulbs come with their own gateway. Others, like the Cree Connected LED, require a third-party control device, like the Wink Hub.

Color control

If you’re looking for a little more color in your life, then be sure and take a look at a product like the Philips Hue Starter Kit. Aside from being fully automatable via a mobile app and control hub, the Hue LED bulbs are capable of on-demand color changes. Just pull out your phone, select one of millions of possible shades, and the light will match it. And if you’re into voice control, Hue bulbs hit the compatibility trifecta — they’ll work with Siri, Alexa, and the Google Assistant.

Because Philips opened its lighting controls to third-party developers, you’ll also find lots of fun novelty uses for Hue bulbs, like changing the color of your lights in rhythm with whatever music you’re playing. There’s even an app that’ll sync your Hue lights up with certain TV programming.

Hue lights are also directly compatible with the popular web service IFTTT, with recipes already available that will change the color of your lights to match the weather, or to signal a touchdown from your favorite football team, or even to indicate when your stocks are doing well.

Rating: ★★★★☆

This pushed our winner hard. Both are really bright, and we had to scrutinise their beam patterns repeatedly before giving the Ring the nod. Light aside, the Laser isn’t quite such a great all-rounder. A single rotating hook, albeit with a fierce magnet, ensures it can be easily positioned.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

While Draper’s 43080 is a slightly newer version of the 2436we featured last time, this rather similar Kennedy model appears exactly the same as before. Positioning is catered for by two rear-mounted hooks and magnets, plus a further strong version in the front-to-rear hinged base. But as with the Draper, the beam pattern is very centre heavy with a noticeable drop-off away from the bright centre circle, which means plenty of realignment to get the best of the light on the job. Despite the obvious similarity, it’s also a touch behind the Draper’s light output overall.

Pros & Cons of LED Light

CFL stands for compact fluorescent lighting, which is simply a smaller version of a fluorescent tube. CFL bulbs contain a mercury vapor that lights when it is energized. Because CFLs contain mercury, they must be disposed of carefully, at designated drop-off site (Home Depot, Lowes, recycling centers, etc). An average CFL bulb should last 7,000 hours.

Pros & Cons of Incandescent Light

Incandescent light is an electric process that produces light with a wire filament that is heated to a high temperature by an electric current which runs through it. This is the type of lighting which was the standard in homes up until the 1990’s.  Due to its poor energy efficiency, it is being replaced with the newer technology of LED and CFL bulbs. Incandescent bulbs last roughly 1,000 hours.

Pros & Cons of Halogen Light

Similar to incandescent light bulbs, halogen bulbs use a similar electric-filament technology with one important difference; with incandescents the filament degrades via evaporation over time whereas, with halogens, filament evaporation is prevented by a chemical process that redeposits metal vapor onto the filament, thereby extending its life. Halogen bulbs have a lifespan of roughly 3,000 hours.

Color Temperature & Lighting  Color temperature is a characteristic of visible light. The temperature of light refers to its warmness or coolness, or hue. This temperature is measured using the Kelvin scale, which for most use ranges from 2,700°-7,500°K. Incandescent and halogen lighting are the most limited in the temperature range at 2,700°-3,000°K. LED and CFL have each expanded their color range to now offering warmer options. Most task lighting, however, benefits from cooler lighting options which include LED, full spectrum, and CFL.

The distribution of light on a flat surface is called its  illumination  and is measured in footcandles. A footcandle of illumination is a lumen of light spread over a one square foot area.

The illumination needed varies according to the difficulty of a visual task. Ideal illumination is the minimum footcandles necessary to allow you to perform a task comfortably and efficiently without eyestrain or fatigue. According to the Illuminating Engineering Society, illumination of 30 to 50 footcandles is needed for most home and office work. Intricate and lengthy visual tasks — like sewing — require 200 to 500 footcandles.

1,000-1,400 Lumens is a commonly accepted range for most applications of task lighting. An average of 50 Lumens per square foot is a common measure. efficacy. Efficacy is the ratio of light output from a lamp to the electric power it uses and is measured in lumens per watt.

Demystifying LED Light

The reading area should have a bright task lamp. A bright desk lamp can prevent eye strain which is helpful in preventing eye damage in the long run. With bright task lamps in the reading area, you can keep headaches away. Thus, you will surely enjoy reading as well as other activities like writing letters or completing puzzles.

Kitchen

Your kitchen is another part of the home that requires task lighting. The dangerous nature of the activities you do in your kitchen is reason enough to get additional task lighting. More importantly, you need enough light to read recipes and to see the ingredients as they cook as well as other practical things. For kitchens, common task lighting fixtures are under cabinet lights that provide extra illumination to supplement the ambient light.

Vision X Shockwave Industrial Light

The bulbs are very energy efficient, and the light has a low power consumption. The Shockwave 1inch double row light weighs just a little under pounds, and two offset rows of bulbs give you a total of 150 degrees of bright, white illumination. The Shockwave lights are some of the most popular choices today in the realm of great LED work light bars.

Tuff LED Lights Work Lamp

The Tuff LED Work Lamp is another extremely affordable lighting option. Along with being low-cost, this light pod is also incredibly durable, coming with a shake-proof, rustproof, and temperature resistant housing. The inch light is able to produce a total of 2,150 lumens of bright white light, all while being very energy efficient.

The kit comes with all of the hardware necessary to get your light up and running, and the Tuff LED Work Lamp weighs just pounds in total. This light pod is the complete package for a great LED work light, all while being affordable on anyone’s budget.

To LED or Not to LED

Today we are living in the midst of a shift in technology. Just like the CFL is replacing the incandescent light bulb in the home, the LED is replacing the incandescent light bulb in other applications. While there are still a number of different work lights on the market which use incandescent, fluorescent, or halogen bulbs, they are gradually being replaced by LEDs.

Long Lasting

LEDs also last much longer than any other type of light currently available. The average life-expectancy of an LED is 50,000 to 70,000 hours, much more than even CFLs can offer. Additionally, they’re virtually impervious to breakage, traditionally the bane of any work light that’s been dropped on the ground.

LED vs. CFL vs. Halogen

Now that most incandescent lightbulbs are pretty much a thing of the past, consumers now must choose between LED (light-emitting diode), CFL (compact fluorescent), and halogen bulbs to light their homes. But which is the best option? It all depends on your needs. We’ll take you through the various kinds of lighting, and the benefits that each offers.

LEDs vs. Incandescent Bulbs

Traditional incandescent bulbs measured their brightness in watts; if you wanted a brighter bulb, you bought one with a higher wattage. However, with the advent of LEDs and other types of lighting, that yardstick has become meaningless, and as a result, a bulb’s brightness is now listed as lumens, which is a more accurate measurement of how bright it is, rather than how much energy it consumes. Below is a conversion table which shows how much energy, in watts, an incandescent bulb and an LED typically require to produce the same amount of light.

Other Lightbulb Alternatives

EISA will also stop the manufacturing of candle-and globe-shaped 60-watt incandescent bulbs (the types used in chandeliers and bathroom vanity light fixtures). However, the law doesn’t affect 40-watt versions of those bulbs, nor three-way (50 to 100 to 150-watt) incandescent A1bulbs. So, those will continue to be an option for you, as well, in fixtures that will accommodate them.

LED Lightbulb Options

Traditional bulbs for table and floor lamps are known by their lighting industry style name “A19,”while floodlight bulbs made for track lights and in-ceiling fixtures are dubbed “BR30.” Your best long-term alternative to either style is extremely energy-efficient LED technology.

Moreover, an LED bulb’s lifespan is practically infinite. Manufacturers typically estimate a bulb’s lifespan based on three hours of use per day. By that measurement, an LED bulb will be as good as new for at least a decade, manufacturers say. Under the same conditions, an old-fashioned lightbulb may work for only about a year before burning out.

For example, GE’s equivalent LED bulb has a rated lifetime of 15,000 hours or 13.years. Philips’ equivalent LED bulb has a rated lifetime of 10,000 hours or 9.1years.

LED bulbs will continue to light up even after their rated lifetimes expire; however, brightness may drop or the color cast of the light may change.

GE, Philips, Sylvania, Cree and other brands (including IKEA) all offer LED bulbs that output the most popular “soft white” light, at retailers including Home Depot, Target and Walmart. In addition, GE ‘s Reveal lineup of color-enhancing lightbulbs (a coating filters out yellow tones to enhance colors lit by the bulb) with LED replacements equivalent to 40-watt and 60-watt A1bulbs and to a 65-watt BR30 bulb.

Lamp body (head unit): This houses the LEDs, the lens in front, the reflectors behind, the circuitry that makes it all work and the fins or ribs that radiate away as much heat as possible.

LEDs: Most lights now use LEDs (light emitting diodes), because they produce more light for less power than a conventional bulb and are far less fragile than HID lamps. Technological advances mean performance has leapt forward in the past few years and each new season brings significant upgrades.

Optics: The reflector and lens in front affect how the light is thrown down the trail. Focused spot beams are great for seeing a long way for a given output; wide flood beams give good peripheral vision.

Mount/bracket: How you attach the light to your bike. Most mounts use clips and spacers but O-rings are a great simple solution. If you are thinking of using a helmet mounted light, you need a lamp that’s light enough to be comfortable and secure on your lid, rather than a neck snapper. You’ll need an extension cable and helmet mount too, so check if that’s included or an optional extra.

Battery: The bit that powers the light. Lighter, tougher, far more random charge resistant lithium ion (Li-Ion) chargeable batteries have revolutionised mountain bike lighting compared with older lead acid and NiMH batteries — but battery and lamp efficiencies still vary dramatically. Most brands sell extra batteries (often at a discount if bought with the light) so you can always swap halfway. Check your batteries are properly prepared for maximum performance (this should be in the instructions) and take a back-up until you know you can rely on their run times.

Switchgear: The switch not only turns the light on, but also lets you change power output levels. It needs to be easy to operate while riding, even with gloves on, but hard to operate accidentally. Many lights now use backlit switches that double as mode and/or run time indicators using traffic-light-style colour changes. Switchgears now range from a simple push button sequential mode switch with low battery warning light to wireless bar-mounted units or switches that can also change the different output levels and menus.

Head or bars

Most lights come with both bar and helmet mounting options. Which is better comes down to personal preference, but here are the pros and cons of each.

The result — it’s a draw! In reality the best solution is to use helmet and bar-mounted lights, even if you have to buy lower powered units to afford both. It also means you have a backup should one battery die.

Jargon buster

Being stuck on a wet winter’s night, miles from anywhere with a failed light or everything suddenly going pitch black halfway down a technical descent is a really serious matter. That’s why we take our lights testing extremely seriously.

There’s no substitute for time on trail in all weathers to find out this crucial stuff — and we’re not just talking about lights used in the past few months. We also reference the sets we’ve run long-term to get in-depth, worst case use feedback that’s directly relevant to the riding you do.

The science side

As is often the case with mountain biking, the scientific part of the testing is the easiest bit. Lights (lamp body plus handlebar bracket) and batteries are weighed on our scales.

We then measure the useful maximum power run time (to when the output fades and low battery warning lights come on) with pre-conditioned (used and recharged) batteries in the highest power setting on an air cooled rig to mimic the cooling effect of riding at night. We also measure the maximum casing heat of the lights with a thermal probe to see if any get dangerously hot.

This method does favour spot beams over flood beams, but it’s still a more trail translatable measurement than the lumen potential of LEDs. The coverage, density and other specific characteristics of the beam are often more important than the peak brightness though, so we also take beam photos to make it easier to compare the lights.

The practical side

It’s the feedback we get from real world usage that really sorts out often very similar lamps in terms of trail performance. When it comes to our test conditions we’re talking serious sorties, often two or three times a week all year round in every trail condition imaginable. Baked hard river bed runs that’ll shake a poor bracket or fragile circuit board apart in seconds or leave a badly bagged battery hanging by its lead; sub-zero tundra trudges that freeze a battery to horribly low maximum power run times; drownings in downpours and hip-deep bog crashes.

Most of our lights have seen it all and, if the most recent versions have only been hammered through summer, we’ve certainly put the models preceding them through the most testing ride schedule possible. Repeated group riding, bike switching, recharging and battery flattening gives us the perfect comparative testing cluster too, so any failures or fading is immediately obvious rather than going unnoticed in isolation.

In other words, if a light scores well, you know it’s gone through some proper optical and electrical purgatory to prove itself. For that reason, for all of our latest lights testing we’ve deliberately stuck with established (at least a year old) lights manufacturers to ensure anything we recommend is a fully supported product.

Streamlight 44900 Waypoint Spotlight

The Streamlight is clearly designed for usage on boats and similar crafts, since it offers IPXwater resistance and an ability to float if dropped in water.

As far as power is concerned, this is a slightly different option when compared to the other more common lithium battery powered options. This rugged black and yellow colored spotlight is powered by alkaline batteries, the “C” size ones. You need four of them to keep light running for up to 8.hours. There is also an option of using a 12V DC power cord. The batteries are not included with the package.

As for the LED in use, it emits 2lumens at high beam and 20 at low beam. That should be more than enough in a nautical setting, especially when you take into account the highly effective, long range parabolic reflector on this spotlight. The rugger device has a tough polycarbonate body and lens designed to withstand severe impacts and shocks.

Cyclop Sirius 500 Lumen Handheld Spotlight

As its name suggests the Cyclops has high power Cree LEDs taking care of the long range lighting while leaving weaker LEDs to handle the illumination when looking at nearer objects.That obviously implies that this spotlight has modes, off, long distance and short range lighting. The rechargeable battery offers hours of run-time on the more powerful Cree LEDs while the dimmer LEDs can last for around 1hours max on a full charge.

The battery is a 6V lithium polymer SLA with 2.5Ah. For more subtle usage, you even get a detachable red lens. And at 1.5lbs, this is a very lightweight and compact spotlight that is very easy on your hands.

Sirius Cyclops CYC 9WS Thor Watt LED Spotlight

Sirius spotlights tend to have a separate LEDs for high and low beam and this model is no different. It has Luxeon high power LEDs, three of them, for the high beam.

The weaker low beam functionality is handled six Nichia LEDs of a standard configuration. The high beams throws 300 lumens, which is a bit on the lower side when compared to the competition. But the high power LEDs are capable of producing adequate lighting for all but the most demanding users. The spotlight uses rechargeable batteries, and you get a home charging option as well as a car charging option, making this a fantastic choice for a flashlight to keep in your car, especially if going on long trips.

The grip is rubberized and easy to hold, and the gun-like trigger has an always on feature. The spotlight uses up all the battery in hours if used in high beam setting. There is also a discreet detachable red lens.

Requires AA batteries

With almost 750 lumens at high beam, this is one of the more powerful units we have reviewed.

But despite all that power, it weighs in at a measly 1.5lbs. The pistol grip has comfortable grooves that offer extra grip, and there is an excellent trigger lock for always on function. For power saving, you also get a dimmer light switch which reduces the light to 400 lumens.

This spotlight uses an in-built lithium ion battery pack capable of reaching full charge in hours. It will give you close to hour of run-time on high beam, and around hours on the lower setting. It can hold charge for up to 1months and can be charged using either AC or DC power sources.

TP-Link LB130

Best of all, the TP-Link bulbs don’t require any sort of smart hub to function, so there’s no need to buy a starter kit or pay extra for a hub – once you buy a bulb, that’s it, making these an especially good choice for anyone who only wants one or two smart lights, and not a whole house worth.

All of the bulbs other than the cheapest LB100 model also come with energy monitoring, so you can see how much energy you’ve used and plan your usage accordingly.

Connectivity is reliable, with only one brief network drop in our testing time, and our biggest complaint is that at just 800 lumens these aren’t the brightest bulbs around – but they should be enough to suit most uses.

LightwaveRF

Lightwave is a smart lighting solution that’s a bit different to the others in this round-up, since it requires you to replace your light switches rather than the light bulbs themselves. It is ideal for homes with multiple spotlights that would otherwise be incredibly expensive to individually replace, and also means that when one bulb blows you can just buy a regular replacement.

To set up Lightwave you need to purchase the £89.9Web Link hub, which manages your various Lightwave kit, and you can then add on as many or as few Lightwave devices as you like. Each light switch costs from around £3(see the full range at Maplin, but shop around for best prices).

The Web Link will also manage other smart home devices from the company – you can set up devices that control your hot water and individual room heating, motion detection, and the opening and closing of blinds or curtains. You can also install smart switches on your plug sockets that allow you to turn on and off power when required.

Lightwave has a companion app through which you can turn on and off the switches from your phone or tablet, and through which you can set up schedules or timers that are ideal if you are going on holiday.

Hive Active Light

The Hive Active Light Colour changing bulb is an easy and smart way to introduce lighting into your smart home environment.

The coloured bulb is arguably more of a gimmick and something you might not use day to day, but the Cool to Warm White bulb is easy to recommend, as being able to change the colour temperature of the light is a very handy feature.

Elgato Avea

You create ‘rules’ for the lamps to work and these can be for them to turn on and off at sunset and sunrise, or at times you choose. They can be individually named and controlled, and you can even set a dimming period so the lamp fades in to your set brightness over a few minutes (or even up to 30 minutes). You can also define a sleep period, so the bulb will turn off after a set time, just like a TV or radio.

Power Consumption

Work lights will typically either be powered electrically or using a battery. The advantage of battery powered work lights is that they will not necessarily need a cord and can thus be placed or moved anywhere anytime.

On the other hand, the advantage of electrically powered work lights is that they have unlimited power supply. Either of the two can do depending on your lighting needs. The most important factor to consider is the power consumption of the bulb in your work lights. LEDs are the most efficient types on bulbs when it comes to power consumption. Most LED bulbs produce up to 600 lumens providing you with amazing illumination for you to work efficiently. This is all will consuming very little energy and that is why they are able to last for so long. Some LED bulbs can last up to 100,000 light hours.

Unit Cost

Work lights with LED bulbs will definitely be more expensive to buy when compared to other light bulbs. However, at the end of the day you will end up saving money because one they will use less energy and, therefore, your power bills will not be high and two they are long lasting and if you have to replace them this will probably be after ten years. If you get the other types of light bulbs be prepared to pay high electrical bills and replace the bulbs every couple of months. So generally the unit cost of an LED work light, over time, becomes cheaper than say a CFL work light.

Corded vs. Cordless

You can choose to buy a corded or a cordless work light. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. The one you will settle on will majorly be determined by how you intend to use the work lights. Work lights with a cord mean that you have them connected to an electrical source and you have to drag the cord around. The advantage of a corded work light is that you will never run out of power as long has you have it connected to an electrical source. The disadvantage though is that the cord may sometimes be too small to be convenient.

Cordless work lights are normally battery charged and are more convenient if you need to move the light around. The disadvantage of a cordless light is that you may have problems if the battery runs out in the middle of work.

Brightness

When it comes to lighting a workplace brightness is very important because what use is a light if it cannot offer you the ample illumination that you need to do your work efficiently? The amount of brightness that is good will, however, depend on what you intend to use the light for. Some lights may be too bright while others may be too dim so pick wisely. When buying a light remember that the brighter the light the more expensive it will be. But do not substitute efficiency for a cost.

Physical Configuration

When you are buying a work light you should consider where you will be installing the light. This aspect is important because it will determine the type of light that you will buy. You will sometimes find yourself working in areas where you might have to crawl or the workspace is too small that you do not have somewhere to place your light and instead you have to drag it with you. In such an instance, you are better off buying a cordless light instead of a corded one. If your workplace is varied, you might want to buy different types of work lights instead of going for just one type.

Aennon LED Work Light Flashlight

This light is quite handy and it will be good to use around the house as you clean or fix things. You can also carry it during your outdoor adventures such as camping or you can have it in your emergency kit for those emergencies that require a light.

When you are working, this light will be good for those times you need to see details up close. The light has a hook that rotates at 360 degrees, two base magnets so that you can place it on surfaces and it also has a pivot that is adjustable so that you can focus your light at any point you want. The light has LED bulbs and is bright with an illumination of 150 lumens.

Snap-on LED Work Light

This is probably one of the brightest work lights that you will find in the market. The light has an LED light bulb with an output of 2000 lumens. If you have a big work place such as a garage or a construction site, this is the light to go for.

Due to the LED incorporated technology, the light does not overheat as the bulb will not radiate heat. It is also safe to use as you work because it remains cool and therefore there is no risk of getting burns when holding it.

This light is also small and light making it easy to carry around if need be. This light is lightweight and provides easy mobility making it extremely easy to transport to job sites and move around when in use. The light is corded and comes with a feet cord.

Designers Edge L130Workshop Lighting

This light is especially useful for workshops. The light is portable and comes with LED bulbs and therefore you do not need to buy them separately. The light is corded and has a feet 18/power cable. The light can be used both indoors and outdoors. The LED bulbs are very durable and can last up to 50,000 light hours or an equivalent of 30 years. The bulbs produce an output of upto 350 lumens which is quite good for both commercial and industrial use. The light’s cord is green in color making it highly visible and safe. The light is cool to touch and thus safe as it cannot cause any burns when held during use.

TEKTON 747LED Work light Set

If your work place is dimly lit and you need something to brighten it up so that you can work more efficiently, you should get the TEKTON 2-Piece work light set. The light comes with 2LED light bulbs and is suitable for people who do Do It Yourself projects, technicians, mechanics as well as contractors who most of the time need to focus on details as they work, meaning that good light is paramount. The set comes with a in 24-LED light and a flashlight with LED light bulbs.

The light has a hook that you can use to conveniently hang the light on a surface such as a wall and as well as a magnet so that you can place the light on metal surfaces. The light is powered by triple A batteries that are included in the package. This means that you can start using your light immediately you unpack it. This is quite a handy set even for homeowners who need a compact light to find or fix things around the house.

Doug Mahoney

After spending over 70 hours researching Christmas lights, interviewing experts, and testing 20 strands of lights side by side, we’ve found that GE’s Energy Smart Colorite LED Miniature Lights (available in multicolor strands of 50 bulbs or 100 bulbs and in warm white strands of 50 bulbs or 100 bulbs) are the best all-around indoor Christmas lights. This is the fourth year we’ve named these GE lights as our pick, and we can’t find any lights that match their color quality and their ready availability at Home Depot.

For the fourth straight year, the best Christmas lights are the GE Energy Smart Colorite LED Miniature Lights, due to their combination of quality, availability, and durability. Our runner-up and also-great picks remain the same as well. We’ve also added our thoughts on smart Christmas lights; we would like to recommend some, but so far we haven’t yet found a strong enough model.

How we picked and tested

We concentrated our research and testing strictly on nonblinking miniature lights, the traditional, small, stranded Christmas lights with a clear or semiclear bulb and a candle shape.

An article at DIY Network says that even though larger bulbs are growing in popularity, “mini lights have been by far the most popular during the past decade.” They’re the standard, and we wanted to focus on the lights that most people will be using, rather than those with a lesser following. Still, we do have some thoughts on the larger-bulb lights, and on other bulb sizes that didn’t make the cut. During our research, we also found that blinking lights are a very small minority of available lights, so we stayed with the type that remains lit at all times.

Once we dug into our options, we soon realized that our recommended lights would be fully rectified LEDs and not traditional incandescents. As Northern Seasonal’s Ben Orr, the lighting installer, told us, “LED lights allow you to do more with less.” They’re more durable, they’re safer, and you can connect together a much higher number of strands without any risk of tripping a breaker or a GFCI outlet. They also just plain ol’ last longer and use a fraction of the electricity that incandescents use.

In an article on the Christmas Designers website, Jason Woodward writes that “the benefits offered by LEDs are almost as significant as the benefits that incandescents provided over candles.” There’s no question that LEDs cost more than incandescents (they’re at least twice the price), but we believe that the long-term benefits are worth that added cost.

Some LEDs are better than others, however. All LED Christmas lights blink on and off many times per second, like a fluorescent light. The ones that are fully rectified, or full-wave, light up at a rate of 120 times per second, which is faster than the eye can detect. Lights that are known as half-wave, sometimes called non-rectified, blink 60 times per second, which can create a dizzying flickering effect. Orr told us that when a non-rectified strand is moving, the flickering becomes more apparent, and we confirmed this effect during our testing: Just by giving a non-rectified strand a slight jiggle, we made the lights take on a strobe effect that was very unpleasant to look at. In our tests, even when they were not moving, those lights seemed to have a harshness, an electronic feel, that the rectified lights didn’t have.

But as with regular LED bulbs, the color of the light is a concern. We figure that if you’re reading this guide, you’re probably interested in replacing an old set of incandescent lights—but even if you want something more efficient and durable, you don’t want to give up the traditional lights’ familiar warm glow. Unfortunately, that is an issue with LEDs.

Both Orr and Woodward warned us that LEDs simply do not look like incandescents. Due to improvements in the technology, many companies manufacture a “warm white” color that, depending on the quality of the LED, can closely mimic, but not fully achieve, the pinpoint sparkle of an incandescent. Orr stressed that “LED technology varies throughout the industry, and a warm white from one supplier can vary in hues and color drastically from another.” He even suggested buying strands from a few different manufacturers to compare them and see which hue you like best before making a large purchase. Once you find something you like, he said, buy from only that manufacturer. Our testing confirmed that there is a tremendous variety in LED color hues, from the fantastic to the terrible.

We dismissed companies that had overall poor reviews (Holiday Time), strange or incomplete bulb selections (EcoSmart), or suspiciously low pricing (Home Accents). Other companies, like Hometown Evolution, AGPtek, and Deneve, fall more into general exterior decor and don’t have a very good selection of Christmas lights. AGPtek, in particular, deals only in solar-powered or battery lights, which are more of a specialty item, and we wanted to concentrate on general tree and exterior lighting.

Our original testing consisted of 1sets, including colored and white mini lights, both LED and incandescent. We also tested a number of mm wide-angle conical LEDs, since our experts recommended them for exterior use. Then, in 2015, we looked at two new sets from Christmas Designers, the TSmooth LED Lights in both warm white and multicolor.

Ready to begin testing.

To evaluate the lights, we wound and unwound them, draped them over and into Christmas trees and rhododendrons, and tucked them in and out of deck railings. Basically, we tried to use the lights how they’re intended to be used. We tested the weather impermeability of the exterior lights by plugging them in and sinking the strands of lights into a 3-gallon bucket of water. While this test was a bit extreme, it’s certainly possible that any set of exterior lights will end up in a puddle or draped in a gutter.

Overall, we found that the wire quality has a lot to do with the success of a strand of lights. Some of the tested lights had tidy, close-knit strands of wire, while others were loose and messy. Some wires needed untwisting before use, like an old phone cord, and still others continued to accordion back on themselves no matter how we tried to stretch them out and lay them flat.

We also assessed each strand for color quality, using the incandescent strands as a benchmark, with the input of Susan Moriarty, executive creative director and founder of The Soapbox Studio. She’s a die-hard fan of the warmth that incandescent Christmas lights emit, so we asked her to compare the classics against new LEDs. Even though Moriarty did her evaluations in a blind fashion, she consistently chose along brand lines, a result that backed up Orr’s suggestion to select a single manufacturer and stick with it.

Long-term test notes

After three seasons of having the GE Energy Smart Colorite LED Miniature Lights on my tree, I have no complaints. Just recently (fall 2017) I took them out of storage for the holidays, and all of the bulbs work fine. I’ve noticed that the wire stranding has loosened a little, but the lights are still fairly well organized, and I don’t foresee any issues with putting them around a tree.

The competition

GKI/Bethlehem’s LEDs are nice lights, but we found that their color and wire quality didn’t match that of the GE or Christmas Designers lights.

The multicolor LED lights sold by Noma (known as Holiday Wonderland in the US) had a nice hue in our tests, but they’re non-rectified, so they have the potential for flicker—and if you merely jiggle them, they produce a dizzying strobe effect.

We also tested the now unavailable Noma mm wide-angle multicolored LEDs. Like the other Noma lights, this set is non-rectified. And because these lights employ a two-piece bulb and socket design, there is a chance of water infiltration, making them less than ideal for exterior applications.

GKI/Bethlehem’s wide-angle LEDs, also no longer available, had a tidy wire but lacked the color quality of the wide-angle LEDs from the specialty stores. The whites had a far whiter hue. Even though this strand is sold as a warm white, in our tests The Soapbox Studio’s Susan Moriarty didn’t see a whole lot of warmth to it.

Wide-angle conical lights from Christmas Designers (top) and Christmas Light Source (bottom). Notice what a disaster the wiring is on the CLS lights. The best of the tested lights had nice, organized wires like the ones from Christmas Designers.

The wide-angle LEDs from Christmas Light Source had the most frustrating wire of all the lights we tested. Each bulb needed twisting and turning for the strand to lie flat, and even then it kept trying to spring back to how it was. The individual wires were loose from one another and had uneven loops. It was a nightmare to feed them through a tight spot like a railing or even between two branches.

While the Brite Star incandescents were a success in our tests, the company’s LED Mini Ice Lights were a total failure. Everything bad about LEDs was on display with these lights. When we plugged them in, the result was like having 50 small computer screens lit up on a wire strand. It was just awful. They’re non-rectified, and the effect is not a positive one. The light that these LEDs emit is about as natural as the ingredients list on a Twinkie.

Important notes before getting your project started

Power consumption is one of the reasons we as a society have begun switching to LEDs. Wattage tells us how much power we are consuming while these lights are on, and in turn how much we’ll have to pay at the end of each month. Once again, be sure to verify the wattage per foot, meter, or reel before you buy.

Some may read “2watts” on a reel and then get home and realize this is per meter or per foot, meaning the whole reel actually uses much more. Making matters worse, they have bought a power supply that covers 30 watts, thinking that would be enough. This often occurs when a seller doesn’t properly list important information in an easy to read format.

Light Bar Applications

Night Driving – Light bars can produce a dramatic difference in road visibility over the brightest stock headlights.

Emergency Lighting – A light bar is indispensable for lighting accident or breakdown scenes. Their brightness also alerts other drivers to trouble ahead.

Backyards – A light bar will illuminate an entire yard for parties or cleanup activities. They make an excellent prowler deterrent.

Boats – For increasing marine visibility and lighting landing sites or docks, light bars are ideal.

Off-Road – When taking your 4WD or ATV into the backcountry, a light bar is a must-have for hazard spotting or setting up campsites.

Courtesy of Tudor Barker

Halogen, or quartz-halogen, headlamps are the most common type of lamp found on cars today. They achieve a higher filament temperature than ordinary bulbs. They save fuel and manufacturing costs since wires, switches and alternators can be smaller.

Courtesy of Kukdide

High pressure sodium lamps are commonly used for street lighting. They are highly efficient because nearly all the light produced is within the human visual spectrum. Most lamps augment the sodium with mercury and use neon or argon for faster starting.

Why We Recommend LEDs for Light Bars

If you can pardon the pun, LED lighting outshines its competition in many ways except for initial cost. For road and outdoor lighting, it offers long life and efficient light production, but there are additional advantages.

LED Light Bars for Trucks

A truck LED light bar is an important accessory whether you use your truck for pleasure, work or both. A light bar mounted across the cab is perfect for illuminating any road on dark nights or lighting up a construction site past sunset.

Mount one on the tailgate for a super bright backup light. A red LED brake light bar significantly increases your visibility to drivers behind you.

Courtesy of Zach Dischner

The best off-road lights brighten the terrain ahead, but must be rugged enough to withstand the bumps and shocks of the trail.

LED light bars are ideal, since the lamps are solid-state.

See the LED light bar reviews later in this guide to compare build quality and their ability to resist dust and water penetration.

Courtesy of Onus Technologies

A long, curved LED light bar producing 24,000 effective lumens will consume less than 300 watts and draw 2amps, which is less than most headlight systems. It can flood a large work site with bright light.

Smaller light bars on a truck rack can provide spot lighting or illuminate a truck bed. Add a backup battery or generator, and they are completely portable.

Full-size Light Bars

These are rectangular, enclosed arrays of up to 9LEDs in a single bar. The LEDs may be arranged in single, double or quad rows.

The best LED light bar used for road or job site illumination has LEDs with a color temperature of 5000K, which simulates sunlight on a clear day. Custom reflectors or lenses spread, focus or diffuse the beam. Two or more beam angles are created in combo bars.

Light Bar Length

Enclosed LED light bars typically come in the following lengths: inch led light pod, inch led light bar, inch led light bar, 20 inch led light bar, 2inch led light bar, 30 inch led light bar, 3inch led light bar, 40 inch led light bar, 50 inch led light bar.

Efficiency

Lumens per watt, or lm/W, measures the efficiency of a single LED or an entire LED light bar. This is a good, though not perfect, indicator as to the quality of the LEDs in the light bar. Higher efficiency LEDs have a longer life and resist fading. Manufacturers can fudge this number by measuring lumens at a voltage lower than the normal 13.VDC found in most vehicles.

LED Color Temperature

Since the sun on a clear day produces light in the range of 5000K to 5400K, that range is excellent for night driving because human eyes evolved to work well in that range. Above that, around 6000K, the light may appear brighter, but your eyes work harder to recognize terrain, which induces eye fatigue. However, LEDs running at higher CCT are more energy efficient than at lower color temperatures.

Electrical Connectors

Two types of waterproof connectors are used on quality LED light bars, which are referred to as ATP or DT connectors. Both types are made from thermoplastic and have IP ratings of IP6or above. They operate within a wide temperature range and use corrosion resistant contacts and silicone seals. They accommodate several wire sizes.

Other Features

With so many manufacturers of LED light bars, evaluating your options can be confusing. Hopefully, through reading this guide, you will come to understand the various electronic, mechanical and operating features common to most light bars. The next question is how to determine which LED light bars will give you the best service over their lifetime.

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That is a question without a definitive answer due to the multitude of customer preferences for specific price points, features and applications. This guide has selected seven well-known makers of quality LED light bars to help you decide who makes the best LED product for you.

Black Oak LED

Black Oak LED is challenging the status quo in the high-end LED light bar industry to the benefit of consumers. They are proving to everyone that building a top quality, durable, reliable LED light bar with exceptional performance can be done without charging sky-high prices.

Single-Row – 

Double-Row D-Series –   features two stacked rows of ultra-bright 5W OSRAM LEDs in a 3.3-inch housing. Seven sizes range from four inches up to 50 inches with luminosities of 4,400L to a blazing 55,000L and power ratings from 40W to 500W.  and Marine-grade D-Series light bars are available also.

Pods – 

Every Black Oak lighting product comes with a turnkey, IP69K wiring harness that includes cable, relay, fuse and switch. No other maker of LED light bars makes a better product at the value prices that Black Oak offers. Most products receive a further 1percent discount for military, police and fire organizations.

Rigid Industries

Rigid Industries began producing LED light bars in 200and have since become an industry leader with top-rated lighting products made in the USA at their Arizona plant. Their lights are well-rated among off-road enthusiasts. With their acquisition by Penske, they have entered the heavy-duty equipment and commercial vehicle market segments as well.

Rigid produces 1product lines including courtesy lights, scene lighting products and vehicle light bars.

E-Series – This is   designed to project long-distance beams. Included in this category are their Eand M-Series marine LED light bars in lengths from four inches to 50 inches. E-Series lights come in spot, flood or combo patterns, whereas Elights utilize Hyperspot and Specter lighting configurations.

Rigid also offers Hi/Lo function light bars, infrared lights and dual color light bars in their ever-expanding catalog.

Vision X

Vision X LED light bar products are produced in two locations. Design and engineering takes place in the USA, while manufacturing is done at their Asian headquarters. They have built a reputation for the high-quality lights that have been tested by NASA and are in use by military organizations due to their uncompromising solutions. They also make HID and halogen lighting products.

KC HiLiTES Light Bars

KC HiLiTES has been offering high-performance lighting for off-road vehicles since 197and are one of the better known brands for halogen, HID and LED lighting.

They operate out of California and offer a full-range of light bar sizes including many made specifically for Jeeps.

Lazer Star Lights

Lazer Star Lights is a division of Weekend Concepts, Inc. They have made LED light bars since 199for automotive and power sports enthusiasts.

Their products are used in marine, UTV, motorcycle and construction applications too. Their LX LED line of light bars are manufactured in their Paso Robles, CA plant. Each light product line is named after a Space Shuttle: Atlantis, Endeavor and Enterprise.

Cosmoblaze is an Australian light manufacturer and distributor that develops extremely tough LED light bars. They are one of two manufacturers reviewed here who have lights that achieve IP69K.

Federal Signal Light Bars

This dual-row inch LED light bar from Black Oak LED is the most energetic, assertive illumination you can buy anywhere. The build quality matches or exceeds that from any other manufacturer on the planet. If you want the brightest, toughest LED light bar that is budget-friendly, this is it.

This D-Series 10-inch light offers three beam patterns: Spot, Flood or Combo. You control flight output by choosing either ultra-bright 3W or ludicrous-bright 5W OSRAM LEDs. The latter delivers an industry-leading 11,000 raw lumens of night-to-day 6000K illumination.

Regardless of how you mount this power-packed light bar and the jolts and environmental conditions to which you subject it, it keeps on shining. It owns the highest moisture and dust intrusion rating of IP69K.

The nearly indestructible aluminum housing withstand harsh impacts, while the optically clear, scratch-resistant, polycarbonate lens is virtually unbreakable. A custom neoprene seal and generous application of stainless steel fasteners ensure no moisture penetrates even during submersion.

Aquaponics is one of the most interesting systems used to grow plants. It is also one of the simplest. By using an aquaponics kit, an aquarium is easily converted into a living ecosystem, where plants and fish co-exist in symbiotic bliss.

Device Tests.

The lights on this page produce relatively high amounts of visible red and invisible near infrared A (NIR) and have low blue and UV output. Blue and UV wavelengths act to oppose some of the biological effects of red and NIR, light sources with peaks in these regions, such as CFL and many fluorescents should be avoided. Below are some good resources on the topic.

Red NIR on EM Spectrum

Red light and the sleep quality and endurance performance of Chinese female basketball players.

Wavelength output curves of light sources on Kelvin scale.

These incandescent and heat bulbs use E2size screw,the clamp lamp fitting is E27, these are almost always interchangeable. Fittings for these bulbs should be suitably designed for high temperatures at this wattage, even when not using specifically designed heat bulbs. Fittings should have reflectors to focus light where it is needed, some bulbs (heat bulbs generally) also have their own internal reflectors. Where possible I would choose to pair 3-Bulbrite Clear 250W Heat Reflector Light  (or equivalent) with 250 Watt Clamp Lamp  or above. If purchasing from a different country pay attention to the voltages as there are different requirements. The tripod sets will be easier to set up unless you have somewhere suitable to clamp the clamp lamps.

CLAMP LAMPS

Cable
: Lengthy cables are a pain in the neck to keep under control, so the best options have short cables for bar mounting with optional extenders used to make the light helmet compatible. Better still look for a cable-free all in one option for the ultimate in convenience.

Beam Pattern
: In bar mounted light, spreading the light evenly across and up the trail with no hard lines, shadows or hotspots to distract your eye is, if anything, more important than raw power. We have noticed during years of testing that as soon as you lose peripheral vision and add distractions like bright lines or dead spots, your ability to read the trail suffers and consequently speed does too.

Remote
: Remotes are a superb way to encourage power management and extend your battery life. When the power switch is right at your thumb without needing to change or relinquish grip on the bars, it is easy to flick the power up and down according to trail conditions. Wireless remotes are especially useful for helmet mounted units.

Bar Mount
: Rubber O-ring bands are our favoured way of attaching the light to the bar; easy to fit, adjust and remove they expand to fit most bar sizes easily and leave nothing behind for day rides. Heavier lights such as all in one units need something more secure, so bolted clamps are necessary to take the weight. Most, but not all, allow for oversized 35mm bars so double check if you need that size.

Fuel Gauge
: A must for displaying your remaining power, allowing you to make decisions on power management. Most are simple green/amber/red lights, but more recently lights are filtering through with accurate time countdown displayed.

Charger
: A very welcome development has been the increase in USB charging available. Not only does this mean you have one less dedicated charge adaptor cluttering your life, but it also makes charging in the car possible at 2hour races or similar.

Upgrade Bikes

An 84-degree beam angle illuminates everything before you, and it can operated via a wired remote control for easier on-the-fly access should you desire.

A day flash mode and urban auto mode also feature, for when 900 lumens in a bit OTT, while mode memory and a light sensor help keeps thing simple.

Website

We’ve dubbed previous iterations of the Exposure Sirius light the ‘perfect commuter light’, and the fourth generation light found a place in the RCUK100 for that reason.

Also new is an upgraded CNC aluminium bodywork, making an already tough little unit even more durable for commuting or road riding.

Website: 

The Cateye Volt 800 sits in the middle of the Cateye range, and comes in just under £90.

So, with all that choice, why the 800? Well 800 lumens will be more than enough for the darkest of night rides, for starters, and the robust casing means it feels more than resilient enough for your winter commutes.

 

 

 

 

 

Final Word

First of all thanks for reading my article to the end! I hope you find my reviews listed here useful and that it allows you to make a proper comparison of what is best to fit your needs and budget. Don’t be afraid to try more than one product if your first pick doesn’t do the trick.

Most important, have fun and choose your work light wisely! Good luck!

So, TOP3 of work light

• №1 — Gear Aid FLUX 20
• №2 — LED Work Light
• №3 — T8