Growing up in Westmorland, we didn't have mains electricity, or central heating for that matter. So we were suitably equipped, with paraffin heaters, a calor gas fridge and Tilley lamps. Nowadays, availability of electricity is taken for granted, so households can’t cope without it. But, don’t worry, we are here to help you and your clients in these straitened times. Buy rechargeable cordless lights!
The strange thing is that, as good lighting brands bring out more and more cordless lights, sales are not increasing at the same speed. I think there are three reasons for this:
they cost more than lights without a battery in
they can't be dimmed via a pre-programmed centralized domotic system. (Most can be dimmed by the user, though.)
they are only thought of in the contexts of lights for the centre of a table, or of portable lighting to use outside.
So why don't people think of using them indoors? I don't know—we do. (Recharging them when you go to bed at night is no more onerous than recharging your phone.) Maybe the black-outs will change this! For cordless lights can go wherever you want a light when there is no plug nearby. This is usually in the centre of a room, or to light a niche, like Brokis's Ivy Battery here:
Putting this email together has been interesting because it has meant looking at cordless lights in a new way. Out go the largest category—the mushroom-shaped ones designed to sit in the middle of a dining table to cast light downwards without any glare. Estro's Alena is a fine traditional example that comes in wengé or walnut.:
Out also go the cordless lights intended for outdoor use because they are usually too large for indoors. IP44.de's wonderful Qu, for example:
So which cordless lights are suited to power cuts? From my Tilley lamp days, I can tell you that lights are required for two reasons, (1) to do tasks by—reading, for example—and (2) to be able to see well enough not to bump into the furniture.
Cordless task lights are very rare. Fortunately here are one or two that are really good.
Tobias Grau's Parrot at 800lm casts more light than any other cordless light. It is focused down onto your book, embroidery or sheet music (remember, with no power, there is no broadband or TV):
Estro's Read looks more like a conventional task light:
The table version is just about the only cordless desk light:
At least, it was until Lumina came up with a cordless version of their iconic Daphine, called Daphinette Portatile:
What was the transformer in the original is now the battery, but that cool industrial look is retained.
But most cordless lights will be casting general ambient light. I prepared a table of appropriate cordless lights ranked by lumen output. Most are between 240lm and 400lm which does not seem very much until you remember that not much light is needed. As when outdoors at night, pupils are open wide. The Estros above are 400lm, as is their simple Tubino:
The cute Easy Peasy from LODES come next, at 350lm:
LZF's Mini Chou...
...and Santa & Cole's Cestita Batería...
...are both on 315lm. They have carrying handles. Circ from Estiluz has a handle which can act as a hook:
This is really useful. When you are reliant on very few light sources, you'll be carrying one around with you. And if you need to use both hands, you may want to hang it on something.
A very fine collection comes from the cordless light specialists, Voltra. The designs, by Arnold Chan, are clean, strong and simple, with frosted glass diffusers. There are four metal finish options: this is antique bronze.
We use one of these to add light to a corner of our drawing room.
Voltra do similar designs in alabaster, so going cordless does not mean having to abjure luxury materials! This is Lladró's Ice Cream (porcelain and leather):
Windfall's ultra-luxurious Jack is crystal and leather:
Jack is overtly a lantern and, of course, the lantern shape is the best if you want the luminaire to be as efficient as possible. But Jack isn't the only luxury lantern!
Tekna have teamed up with the luxury Italian brand Giobagnara. They send their Blakes cordless lanterns from Belgium to Italy, so that the craftspeople at Giobagnara can cover them in mango, bordeaux, ultramarine, "mud" or pistachio leather with contrasting stitching. The results are flawless:
Clients of more modest means will be pleased to hear that the standard metal Blakes can come in a number of bright colours—not just dark bronze:
Clients of more modest means will be pleased to hear that the standard metal Blakes can come in a number of bright colours—not just dark bronze:
Nor does buying cordless lights mean no design icons. Besides Lumina's Daphinette above, Martinelli Luce have brought out a cordless version of Gae Aulenti's Pipistrello, called Minipipistrello: And, like the Mini Chou and the Blakes lantern above, there are several colour and finish options. The metal base can be: white, golden, satin brass, copper, purple red, dark brown, titanium or agave green.
I actively disliked Pipistrello when I first saw it. But over the years, as it has popped up all over the place (it is particularly popular in France), keeping good company, I now find I actively like it. I can't say why, though—I certainly haven't mellowed. Oh no.
Maye the most endearing cordless lights are those based loosely (but not too literally) on candles. Besides Wick from Graypants...
...and Glim from IP44.de (recognize that chair?!)
...Santa & Cole have produced a cordless version of Jordi Garces' Sylvestrina of 1974. The design is kept clean, and the operation playful, by arranging for it to be turned on and off, and dimmed, by pushing the outer tube down, like so:
Finally, cordless lights are not just for power cuts. Everybody should be thinking about what they can do to reduce the amount of energy they are using, and thereby depleting the country's limited stock of gas &c. For example, we have tended to leave the lights on our stairs on all evening. Now, they are off because we have on a landing (where there is no power point), Arturo Alvarez’s Hipatia:
It only produces 247lm, but that has turned out to be quite enough.
So cordless lights can be used anywhere, at any time—not just during power cuts! For example, you want lights around you bath? You can. IP ratings are irrelevant, because the luminaire is not connected to the mains.
All that having been said, whatever else you do, for when the power cuts do come, at least make sure everybody has got a head torch. Here is a well-priced one from market-leader Petzl.
