Thursday, April 3, 2014

For Normal Or Emergency Lighting, The Meridian LED Work Light Works!


The Good: Bright, steady light, Durable, Inexpensive
The Bad: Not rechargeable, Does not come with batteries
The Basics: As a basic emergency or project light, the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light fits the bill!


A few months ago, power at my apartment went out and while I had an out – yea, night job! – my wife was going to be stuck in a dark house. This was not a tenable position for us, to be without power indefinitely and for her to be stuck without light, and I was very grateful for two things at the time. The first was that we had not yet started watching Doctor Who (the vashta narada do not make life easier!). The second was that we had enough money for some portable, emergency lighting to fill the apartment with illumination after the sun went down. In addition to the Coleman LED lantern (reviewed here!), we picked up a Meridian 11313 LED Work Light.

The Meridian 11313 LED Work Light is an electric touch light, much like the “tap lights” advertised on television. The battery-powered disc light was a good basic light that had some features that made it more comforting during the crisis than a standard flashlight. In addition to a powerful magnet and mounting holes, that allowed us to us to use the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light for hands-free operations (which came in handy when cooking at the stove in the otherwise dark apartment!), the light was brighter and had better dispersion than a standard flashlight. Locally available at a $5.99 + tax, purchasing the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light during our emergency was a good way to supplement the more expensive lantern we purchased at the same time. Part of the reason for the low cost, though, was the fact that the light does not come with the four AA batteries it required to operate.

The Meridian 11313 LED Work Light is a simple disk light only 2” thick at the peak of the dome by 5 1/2” in diameter. Colored in simple, sleek and futuristic looking silver and white, the LED work light features an apparently flat (or slightly curved) LED light. The back of the LED Work Light is black, flat and has the battery compartment, two mounting slots and a decent magnet that allows the Work Light to be positioned at any angle (including upside down).

Activated simply by pressing the white button on the face of the light, the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light is very easy to use. With the press of the button, the LED Work Light bursts to life with bright, soft light. According to the package, the LED Work Light produces light in the 50 Lumen range. In practical terms, that means it produces a field of light bright enough to read in approximately five feet in diameter by four feet tall. Beyond that, the lantern illuminates, but with a softer, weaker light that does little more than dispel the darkness. The LED Work Light remained lit constantly for two full nights (thirteen hours each night) during our emergency diminishing at all.

Installing the 4 AA batteries is simple as the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light has a standard battery compartment on the back. The magnet is strong enough that it allows the LED Work Light to stick reliably to any steel surface (and there was, apparently, enough steel in our refrigerator to allow the light to stick to that). At least as importantly, the LED Work Light seems durable (we knocked it around in the dark several times) and because it fits in small places it is a decent portable light source for projects in dark corners of one’s house. While we use ours more for emergencies, the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light is a good portable light source for work projects, camping, or automotive use and is enough to keep the vashta narada at bay!

For other battery-powered electronics, please visit my reviews of:
Fuji FinePix A200 digital camera
Sony RM-YD002 remote control
SONY ICD-BX700 Digital Voice Recorder

7.5/10

For other home and garden equipment reviews, please visit my Home And Garden Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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