Back to back-up lights: An update on currently available power failure back-up lights

Because I’ve been so busy, I haven’t posted an article since a whole 4 months ago, when I wrote about evaluating various canned goods after their expiration dates.  However, I figured that some readers might wonder if my long absence meant that my sampling of expired food had caused me to expire myself, so I’d better post this article that I have been meaning to write for a long time: an update on the latest generation of power failure back-up lights.

I’m referring to lights that are always plugged into your electrical outlet and are off as long as there is current, but if the powers cuts out (or you unplug it), the light turns on and then has several hours of charged internal battery life.

I originally wrote about this topic in 2014, and settled on a particular Greenlite model that was not perfect but that I felt was best specifically for power failures DURING an earthquake.  The nightlight was too bright but I reported that you can dim it by using a simple loop of masking tape to reflect the indicator LED onto the light sensor and trick the light into thinking it’s not in a dark room.  I also pointed out in that article that lights that have piercingly bright unshaded LEDs might be great during a typical blackout, but if everything is shaking and you are trying not to freak out, the last thing you want is to be blinded by the very thing that was supposed to let you keep seeing.  So what might be the best power failure back-up light under most circumstances is not necessarily the best for earthquakes.

Greenlite LED 3in1 Nitelite, the top pick from my 2014 article about power failure back-up lights.

The Greenlite model that I settled on, however, is becoming harder to find, and Greenlite has informed me that they have discontinued it.  This is a problem because the internal batteries and light sensors of such lights have a finite lifespan when plugged in; at some point, they become less discriminating and start getting really bright even when plugged into the wall, which is distracting in most rooms and unacceptable in or near bedrooms.  I was able to get some new ones through eBay, but they are disappearing from most other sources.  Therefore, I decided it was time to check on the current generation of power failure lights and to let you know what I think.

First, I suggest that you read the original article, because even if it is out of date, the concepts are still useful and relevant.  Also, the current article is not an exhaustive list of available options, but these three are the ones that looked most likely to be good on Amazon and are thus the ones that I purchased to try.  I have looked at several brick and mortar stores including Home Depot and Ace, and have not seen any other better alternatives to these.

All of these have one very nice advance over the previous generation.  Even though the earlier ones already had the electrical plug close enough to one end to not block the other outlet in the pair, they only allowed room in that other outlet for a cord plug, so anything bulky like a power adaptor or USB wall plug adaptor still would not fit.  In contrast, the current offerings have the plug blades right at the very end, so the entire other outlet and surrounding space is left open.  They also all have front-facing power-failure lights and separate flashlight LEDs at the top end.

Westek Night Light LED Power Failure

Westek Night Light LED Power Failure

The backup light is extremely bright but its LEDs are shaded by translucent plastic; bordering on blinding but not as bad as unshielded LEDs.  Still, it might be too glaring to eyes in a previously pitch black room when everything is shaking.  In a large living room, it might be ok.  A small red LED lets you know that it is active and plugged in.  I don’t recommend it for a bedroom because you can’t turn off the light-sensitive night light feature and that thing is bright enough to be a power failure backup light on its own!  I supposed you could put some tape over it.


Energizer Power Failure 4-in-1 Night Light

Much to like but it’s complicated.  The front facing emergency light is nice and gentle, not blinding at all.  It has two brightness settings that you can set with the on-off push button on the side, which actually cycles through off, dim front, brighter front, and end flashlight.  The problem is that the dim setting is a bit too dim for my liking, a glow rather than illumination, and if you have it set to be off in the dark, then cutting the power (or unplugging it) puts it in dim mode.  You have to press the side button after that for it to switch to brighter mode; and if you have it on brighter mode and unplug it and plug it back, then it resets and the next loss of power puts it back in dim mode again.  Very frustrating.

Energizer Power Failure 4-in-1 Night Light

You can also press the button while it is plugged into live power and it goes into dim mode even while powered, as a night light.  In this case, cutting power or unplugging it puts it in the brighter mode.  But then you would need to have that night light on all the time, and again, the night light is too bright for a bedroom.  A larger room in which nobody sleeps would probably be ok.  If there was a way to have it be off when powered and bright when unpowered, then it would be the winner for me, but I just felt the process was too complicated and I would not want to have to go to the light to push the button before it was satisfactorily bright.  The lack of an indicator LED means that when the room lights are on, or when the room lights are off but you aren’t using the nightlight, you can’t be sure the thing is actually working or plugged in securely.

The night light is supposed to be light sensitive, but while turning out my room lights made it turn on, turning the room lights back on did not make the night light turn off.  The light sensor seems to be a bit buggy.

Regardless, the thing is just too complicated; they should not have tried to jam so many features into a single button.  Here are the actual instructions, good luck getting through them:

Instructions for the Energizer model

Clearly an example of over-engineering.  I don’t want to have to think that much!


Westek Night light LED Lumi Power Failure Light

Westek Night Light LED Lumi power Failure Light

This Westek is a nice compact pod, smaller than the others and simple and pleasing to the eye when the lights are on.  This one is a little different in that the flashlight is at the plug end rather than the far end, which doesn’t really make a practical difference.  When plugged into the wall, it’s entirely off when the room lights are on, and the two low lumen LED night light setting goes on when the room lights are off.  As a power failure backup light, it’s pretty good; nice and bright with three high lumen LEDs behind translucent plastic.  Don’t put it in a bedroom though because the nightlight is WAY too bright to allow you to sleep; you’ll see it with your eyes closed!


My recommendations:

The Energizer loses; too complicated and too many issues.  The Westek Night light LED Lumi Power Failure Light is fine for rooms in which you don’t sleep, although you can’t cover that night light to make it dimmer because it’s the same light panel as the emergency light.  For bedrooms, the best I can come up with is to use the Westek Night Light LED Power Failure (honestly, can’t Westek do a better job with the product names?  Anyone see Monty Python’s The Life of Brian?  You’ll know what I mean.) with the nightlight panel covered with opaque or translucent tape.

It’s disappointing that none of these seem to have the simple combination of an optional or dim nightlight, a bright but not blinding emergency light, and a simple multi-position switch mechanism.  What have I decided to do personally?  Well, I did get that stash of new Greenlite lights through eBay and I intend to use them until they die, with the masking tape reflecting the central LED to dim the nightlight as I described in my earlier article.  When they are no longer working, then I plan to switch probably to the (deeply inhale) Westek Night Light LED Power Failure with taped nightlight in the bedroom, and either that or the (deeply inhale) Westek Night Light LED Lumi Power Failure Light in other rooms.  Perhaps by that time, there will be still newer and better options on the market, but here’s what I see are the currently available options.

I suppose a good earthquake-triggered emergency light could be created by putting a bunch of fireflies in a darkened jar so that if a quake knocks the jar over, the fireflies escape and fly around the room illuminating it.  Try naming THAT one, Westek!


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