High-Quality Work Lights
These two flood lights aren't cheap, but they have a strong battery life and impressive capabilities.
Even if you don’t think you need another battery-powered work light, you should really check out the elegant designs from Ledlenser, a German manufacturer of portable LED lights of all types. For several months I’ve been using the iF8R and iF4R Music flood lights. Their designs are similar, with the LED light surrounded by a sturdy plastic handle that doubles as a stand. You can orient the lights horizontally or vertically, and strong magnets hold them on steel surfaces. Both are rated for outdoor use, so they can handle a splash of water from any direction. The battery life for both lights is impressive. During a four-day power outage, we lit our small living area for hours every night and the batteries lasted the whole time on the lower settings. Both lights charge with AC adapters that can run the lights when power is available. These lights are not cheap, but they are sturdy and have a smart design.
iF4R Music
The smaller and lighter iF4R Music has a Bluetooth speaker with great sound and surprising volume considering its small housing. Because it’s lighter than its bigger brother, it sticks to finished metal corner bead, providing many opportunities for mounting the light in finished spaces. I found its Bluetooth pairing to be fast and reliable and the range is far enough that you can control the volume from anywhere you can reasonably hear the speaker.
Light Output: 200 to 2500 lumens
Battery life: 1-1⁄2 to 15 hours depending on output
Size: 1-3⁄4 in. by 4-1⁄2 in. by 9 in.
Weight: 2.3 lb.
Price: $250
iF8R
The brighter and larger iF8R trades the speaker for a USB charging port, which turned out to be a reliable way to charge all of the family’s devices during the power outage I described. The light can also be controlled via an app and Bluetooth. I was able to download the Ledlenser Pro Connect app to my smartphone and start controlling the light in minutes. I didn’t really use it, but it seems handy if you have to put the light out of reach.
Light output: 400 to 4500 lumens
Battery life: 1-1⁄4 to 12 hours depending on output
Size: 1-3⁄4 in. by 5-1⁄2 in. by 12 in.
Weight: 3.8 lb.
Price: $280
Patrick McCombe, senior editor
Photos: Courtesy of the manufacturers
From Fine Homebuilding #296
