Candeloo Portable Lights Full Review
Posted: 14 January 2008 by Adam Vaughan
Kids and candles, as any parent knows, don't mix. That's where safe electric night-lights come into the equation -- in this case, a ridiculously cute and incredibly energy-efficient pair.
Designed to persuade kids that their dark bedroom isn't home to gurning goblins, the Candeloos use energy efficient LEDs to cast a surprisingly bright blue and green glow across a room. And we do mean an entire room: the brightness was sufficient to help our parent testers find their way at night, but low enough to allow children to sleep.
They're also much greener and more economical, which is good news if you're using them daily. Each one gobbles just 82 milliwatts -- a fraction (1/125th, to be precise) of the electricity used by a typical 10w energy-saving bulb. That means the batteries are small, the Candeloos are light to carry and you get an impressive eight hours illumination from one charge.
It's worth noting, however, that you'll need to plonk them on their charging station for a lengthy 14 hours to get the full battery life. And you can't light and charge simultaneously, meaning you need to be organised about recharging. On the plus side, the charging station has no exposed electrical contacts -- all the powering up is done through the magic of electromagnetic fields. Generally, that's a pretty inefficient and wasteful method of charging, but in this case the Candeloos use so little power the waste isn't significant.
Our kid testers loved the lights, taking them to bed to create a psychedelic light show under the covers. Because they use little power, they don't run hot, and they're manufactured to be very kid-friendly, with rounded edges and corners as the order of the day.
On greenie points and performance, then, the Candeloos score highly. When it comes to ethics, things aren't quite so easy to rate -- like most electronic gadgetry, the lights are made in China. The designers have visited the Chinese factory and report that "staff are treated well and management follows government rules about hours and condition". Ultimately, as with most China-made technology, a lack of independent confirmation means you'll need to take this at face value.
The only other bummer is the price. At £50 a pair, they're roughly double the price of even the snazziest rivals. Still, due to the LED technology, they're also cited as good for 10,000 hours of life, which redeems them on long-term value for money. By our maths, you could run a pair for eight hours a night, 365 days a year for 3.4 years -- long enough for the lights to continue eradicating gurning goblins right through to child number two. Should you go for baby number three, the Candeloos can still live on thanks to replacement batteries at £4 a pop.
Our Candeloos were kindly loaned by Love Eco.
Quality
Value
Ethics
Green
