The good and the bad – Choosing your Brand of LED flashlight

I received an interesting email the other day from an LED torch user who complained to me about the very poor quality of a couple of torches he had bought recently from ” Far East” manufacturers (not from LED Powerhouse, I hasten to add !!).  Basically, the LED chips in the Flashlights he bought blew up withing a couple of hours.

Unfortunately, this story is not that unusual and as such, I think it is important to remind potential buyers of the downfalls associated with buying an LED flashlight from an unknown source.

This is not scaremongering, as when it comes to LEDs, not all LED flashlights are born equal.  Let me explain:

In theory, LED chips are very reliable, with manufacturers’ rated lifespans for 50,000 hours and above ( that’s well over 5 years of continuous use !).  BUT, in practice, for an LED torch to be reliable (assuming the LED chip is from a reputable source: Cree, Nichia and some others), it needs:

driver circuit

quality design and components

1)   A good driver circuit
2)   A good heatsink
3)   To be driven within the LED chip manufacturer’s recommended limits.

Unfortunately, some unscrupulous flashlight manufacturers out there do not properly apply the 3 basic principles listed above.  This leads to some very unreliable LED torches being sold on the market today, and with the recent proliferation of LED torch manufacturers, one can only recommend to solely buy LED flashlights from reputable brands or vendors.

One other thing to look for is LED torch manufacturers that specify products according to the ANSI Standard.  More on this on our website http://ledpowerhouse.com/index.php/led-basics

A good LED flashlight is not cheap.  Well, it depends on how you look at it of course:  Over its full (and long) useful life, A quality LED torch is actually a cheap product.  Unlike its old incandescent cousin, an LED flashlight will give you many years of trouble-free lighting, making it a good investment in the long run.

I hope the above helps you sorting the good from the bad.

Go conquer the dark !