About 18 months ago we reviewed the 180 LED Voltec LED Floodlight 08-00703 which was a great concept but put out a somewhat wimpy 450 lumens and sold for around $80. In comparison to the Voltec 500W Halogen Worklight 08-00609 ($12) it was pretty wimpy but it began to address the need for a safer, more impact resistant, less hassle, cordless worklight. Now that technology has continued to improve and the costs on these LED lights have come down we are starting to see all sorts of great options, we will take a look at some updated models from Voltec and the new Milwaukee M18 Floodlight 2361-20 coming this fall.
Voltec has replaced their 180 LED light with a new 24 LED 08-00705 ($57) which in LED world number of LEDs really doesn’t mean much in fact the lower your LED/lumen ratio the higher quality the output light will probably be. The new 24 LED light puts out an impressive 800 lumens almost double their previous light. At 800 lumens this light really can light up your work area especially with a whiter more natural light that the yellow tint of the halogens. The battery only lasts 2 hours so it is somewhat limited but can also be plugged in. There are also 2 corded versions from Voltec 24 LED 08-00706 ($37) and the 1500 lumen 40 LED 08-00704 ($53) which should really light up the work space very well. All 3 of these new worklights are now available.
The Milwaukee cordless M18 LED Floodlight 2361-20 will be coming this fall but will retail for around $99, without a battery. Check out the very informative video above to really appreciate this light a little more. It does seem to offer some very nice features for the investment. With only 8 LEDs and 1100 lumens the light quality is very good. As you will pick up from the video the light also puts out 1300 lux which is a great number to know but since the other manufacturers don’t publish theirs it’s kind of hard to compare. The light runs basically 1 hour per battery Ah, so 3 hours on a XC 3.0Ah and 4 hours on a new 4.0Ah and double on low setting which is a whole workday and still looks pretty bright. These items will be available shortly for pre-sale on the Milwaukee M18 page of OhioPowerTool.com and look to see these in stores September/October time frame.
It is not a matter of IF LEDs will take over the jobsite but WHEN in our minds. Our prediction is you will start to see Halogen lighting banned from large jobsites within the next 5 years as these much safer LED lights become inexpensive enough for everyone to use. Large companies concerned with safety will of course be the first adopters but as they mandate it down to their subs we can see it coming. Of course, we aren’t there yet. In addition as battery technology improves these lights will see longer and longer runtimes and it’s pretty easy to imagine these taking over some jobsites. For more questions on flashlights, worklights, light strings and light towers check out the Lighting Systems page of OPT or give the pros a call at 800-242-4424 with any questions.
