An Emergency Light is a Must Have Gadget for Your Home's Safety and Security. Check out the Top Emergency Lights for Home and Important Features to Consider When Buying One (2020)

Your house becomes a home only after it is deemed safe. Without safety, a house is just a shelter! It is your presence in that structure and the sense of security you feel inside it is what makes the structure your home. A house doesn’t become safe on its own. It has to be made safe. Nowadays, you get many tools and objects with which you can make your house safe. You can install security cameras, intelligent door locking, barbed wire fences, etc. to keep you and your family safe from any untoward situation, but emergencies can crop up any time and the most common emergency is a power failure. To counteract a power failure there are emergency lights and in this article we are going to talk about them.

First and foremost you need to understand what features an emergency light should have. There are 5 things that every effective emergency light must have to be useful against emergencies. They are as follows:

There are many different types of light available. There are incandescent lights or what are commonly known as light bulbs, fluorescent lights or tube lights and CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Light), LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights in the form of LED bulbs, tungsten-halogen lights in the form of said bulbs and HID (High Intensity Discharge Lighting) lights in the form of HID lamps. Among all these variants, the most energy efficient and feasible light is the LED light. It requires a low voltage power supply and a simple circuit to function. It lights up instantly, operates silently and is affordable. As emergency lights must be high in performance and low-maintenance, LED lights make for the best emergency lights. So make sure that the emergency light that you are buying is an LED one.

There are two things that you have to check regarding the battery of an emergency light. The first is how long does the battery take to reach full charge and the second is how long will the battery last while it is in use. Battery backup is defined as the duration for which a fully charged emergency light will give luminance without fluctuations. It is better to have an emergency light that has a battery backup of 10-15 hours and such a light shouldn’t take more than 9 hours to reach full charge.

It is important that you check what charging options are available with the emergency light. It can either support grid charging or solar charging and some even support both. You need to first assess what type of place you are living in or going to before you can decide which type of charging option your emergency light requires. If you live in a place or going to a place that is prone to power failures (or has no power source) but receives direct sunlight for most part of the day then it is better if your emergency light has a solar charging option. Otherwise, opt for grid charging. But to be on the safe side, choose an emergency light that has both charging options.

LED lights come in varying intensities. There is a common misconception that larger the number of bulbs in the light, the stronger is the intensity of light, but that is not so. The unit of measure of intensity of light is lumens. A typical study lamp has an intensity of 450 lumens while 1700 lumens can light an entire room. So check the lumen statistics of the light before you are buying it.

An emergency light must have indication features that inform you about how much charge is left, low voltage, when it is charging and when the charging is done. If you overcharge the light, it will damage the battery. Similarly, if the light enters into deep discharge, the battery will be affected to. Besides indication features, the light must have some protection features too, like protection against voltage fluctuations and current surge. The body of the emergency light must also be waterproof.

An emergency light can be used in situations other than emergencies as well like the power going out. The numerous street-smart features that an emergency light has makes it highly useful in camping trips as well. Follow this BP Guide to know about the 10 best multi-purpose emergency lights:

This heavy duty LED emergency light from Wipro is a must have if you have large grounds to cover in an emergency. It is fitted with a lithium-ion rechargeable battery that can be charged with a USB power cord. The light is voltage surge protected, a very important feature as it means this piece of electronic device is protected from any unexpected fluctuation in the power supply and thus has a longer life. This light can effortlessly illuminate a garden path during a power failure or similarly a large house or area. If you live in a suburban area and your house is surrounded by large swaths of empty space then you should definitely have this light. The battery backup is 8-10 hours which means it can assist you in long hours of power failures. This emergency light can be bought for ₹ 1,490.00 from Amazon.

This two-in-one lamp cum torch is a handy piece of equipment to have during an emergency. It is fitted with one 1W bulb and twelve 0.5W LED bulbs. It has a rechargeable lead acid battery that takes 12-15 hours to reach full charge. The battery backup for the lamp is 3 hours and for the torch is 4 hours. This emergency light gives off a bright luminance that is more than useful during a power failure. Besides, it is a portable light that can be taken on camping trips too. This two-in-one emergency light from Syska is priced at ₹ 599.00 on Amazon.

This is a multi-functional emergency light from Idoleshop that has a host of features. To begin with, it has 2 charging options – grid charging and solar charging. The light takes 4 hours to reach full charge and has a battery backup of 7 hours. It has a switch to alternate between low intensity and high intensity luminance, a retractable handle for carrying it, an eye protection glass and a wall mounting pin. The special feature of this emergency light is that it has a charging socket for smartphones. This emergency light is ideal during a power failure and while camping. It can be bought for ₹ 1,899.00 from Flipkart.

This rechargeable emergency LED lantern from Wipro provides a bright, 360° ambient glow. The battery takes 6 hours to reach full charge and gives a backup of 20 hours. There is both grid charging and solar charging options available. It is ideal for camping and other outdoor adventure trips. You can buy this lantern for ₹ 2,790.00 from Flipkart.

This is a convenient headlamp that will be very useful while cycling, riding scooters and bikes or in any situation when both your hands are engaged. It has a 60° tilt mechanism with which you can adjust the beam, overheat protection and night vision. The body is made of aircraft-grade aluminium. It is also protected against sweat. The intensity of this light has 5 modes which are turbo, high, medium, low and economy with lumen/runtime of 200/1.5 hours, 70/4 hours, 30/12 hours 30 minutes, 4/37 hours and 0.2/75 hours respectively. The maximum beam distance is 50 metres. You can buy this headlamp for ₹ 2,600.00 from Light Men.

This is an inexpensive, powerful and compact torch. This high power LED light requires a single AA battery to run. The intensity of its light has 3 modes which are high medium and low. High intensity equates to 130 lumens and a runtime of 1.5 hours, medium means 50 lumens and a runtime of 6.5 hours and low means 8 lumens and a runtime of 40 hours. Besides, the torch is dustproof, waterproof, resistant to impact and is ideal for evening walks and everyday usage. It costs ₹ 2,350.00 and can be purchased from Light Men.

You may have many useful trinkets like bottle-openers, Swiss knives, nail-cutters dangling from your keychain so why not have a mini emergency light dangling from it as well. This emergency light keychain can be powered with 3 AAA batteries and emanates a light of surprising intensity considering its size. It is easy to use, just switch on and off as per your need. The light intensity is of 3 modes – high light, middle light and strobe. It might not make a powerful first impression on you but upon further reflection you will realise that this keychain emergency light is a brilliant product. You are careful with your keys and have it with you when you are outside. That way you are unconsciously carrying an emergency light with you which is a great thing. Also if you do not to carry your housekeys with you outdoors, you can have this keychain light dangling from one of the chains of your bag. You can buy this light with ₹ 599.00 from Amazon.

This is a unique emergency LED light. It is a foldable light shaped like a disk and “pops up” in to a mini lantern of sorts. When folded, it acts like a torch. It has a compact design that makes it possible to be carried around in a pocket. It is also waterproof. The light intensity of this lamp has 3 modes which are low, high and blinking. One of the drawbacks of this light is that it does not have a rechargeable battery. The ambient glow of the lantern and the strength of the torch light also do not inspire much confidence. But it is a good source of light to guide you through the house when you are going to fetch your heavy duty emergency light from the storeroom during a power failure. Its compact size allows you keep it handy. Or you can use it as a night lamp during camping, popping it up whenever you need some illumination in your tent (like for fetching the water bottle). This light can be bought for ₹ 1,199.00 from Flipkart.

This LED lantern from Philips is fitted with 32 LED lights and gives an illumination of intensity clocking 250 lumens. The body of the lantern is plated with reflectors to ensure a larger illumination area. The battery is rechargeable and takes 9 hours to reach full charge. The compact design of the lantern makes it easy to carry around. It can be bought for ₹ 1,595.00 from Amazon.

During a power failure after dark, the staircase becomes the most dangerous place in the house. Accidents can happen there in a jiffy with irreversible consequences. So if there is one part of your house that must have an emergency light backup, it is the staircase. These lights from Shop Comfort have been manufactured just for that purpose. They are small square pockets of LED lights powered by rechargeable batteries. You charge the batteries easily with a USB cord. The installation of the lights comes with no hassles. You do not need any tools or wiring for that. The package comes with double sided adhesive tapes. Just apply those on the back of the lights and stick them on the wall at the end of each step. That is not all, the light also has a motion sensing feature and lights up as soon as it detects movement in the dark so you don’t have to stumble and trip on the staircase. This useful emergency light comes in a pack of 3 and is priced at ₹ 2,199.00 on Amazon.