Friday, April 10, 2009

Eco-I-Lite


All of the appliances in my home are Energy Star compliant. In fact, the house itself has features built in that designate it as an Energy Star home. What better way to light an energy efficient Energy Star home than with Energy Star night lights. But wait, a night light that doubles as a flashlight? Get outta’ here. The Eco-I-Lite is a flashlight that doubles as a night light. During a power failure, the flashlight automatically turns on!

The Eco-I-Lite comes in a two-pack for thirty to forty dollars. Not an inexpensive price for small LED flashlights. When considering the price, the features should also be considered. The Eco-I-Lite produces light from six LED lights, which means no bulb replacement. The lithium ion batteries will remain charged for a long time and are rechargeable…so no batteries to purchase, either. The flashlights consume very little power because of the LED design, allowing them to provide constant light for up to seven hours after they are fully charged. Not bad at all.

Eco-I-Lite consists of a base-style charging unit that plugs into the wall. There are no exposed conductors on the base because the Eco-I-Lite uses induction charging. An interesting concept that was previously foreign to me. The flashlight simply sits in the base, recharging as necessary. The base has a small light connected which can act as a nightlight if turned on (with two levels of brightness). Regardless of whether the nightlight is on or off, the flashlight will automatically turn on if removed from the base or in the event of a power failure. That feature would make this light easy to locate when needed most.

The flashlight itself is extremely lightweight. The flashlight has three modes which are all activated from a single click switch. One click turns the unit on (or removing the unit from the base). The next click places the flashlight into strobe mode. A final click powers the unit off. The beam created by this flashlight is sufficient for indoor use on a limited basis. Outside, the light will create ambient type lighting without any concentration of light. If you were searching for something, the light would probably be useless. The flashlight does not have a bezel to help concentrate the light.

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