The Energizer LED Essentials headlamp is a small, good looking LED headlamp that fits on your head with a two point elastic, adjustable strap, and features two white LEDs with lenses to focus the beam, and a red LED that uses its own body to focus its light beam.
The white LEDs are supposed to be used for general lighting for whatever you need, and the red LED is supposed to be used to help preserve night vision. The whole thing runs from three included AAA cells, and the package claims a 50 hour runtime between battery changes.
SIZE:
The headlamp will need to be fed first (see below), otherwise it's ready to go right out of the package.
It fits your head by means of an adjustable elastic strap. The strap can be adjusted with a sliding buckle and loop arrangement; there is no loose end to get in the way or hang uncomfortably.
Once you have the light adjusted and on your head, the slide switch on top is used to turn the unit on and off.
Slide the switch to the right to turn both white LEDs on, slide the switch back to the middle to turn the light off, or slide the switch to the left to get the red LED to come on. The center switch position is always "off".
You can adjust the aim of the light by tipping the LED section down or up. The ability to aim the flashlight exactly where you need it is definitely a plus.
To feed your LED Essentials headlamp, hold it by the edges where the head strap goes in, turn it upside-down, and use a house key or similar article to push in on the battery door catch. The battery door should pop free at this point. Lift it off and set it aside. Remove the dead batteries (if any) and get rid of them. Install three new AAA cells, following the polarity markings embossed into each chamber. Take the battery door, and snap it on, being sure the back end of it goes all the way into the slots for it on the flashlight body. Once that's done, snap the front end (the end with the catch) into the flashlight body. The whole battery door should now be pretty much flush with the rest of the flashlight.
Battery life is quoted as 50 hours on the package. I don't know what Energizer defines as a dead battery, so I'll have to test this for myself.
The Energizer LED Essentials headlamp is made of the type of plastic that other inexpensive household flashlights are made out of, and really wasn't meant for heavy duty use. Treat it right, and it ought to treat you right. :-)
There's a slight ticking noise when the light is shaken or manhandled; this is completely normal though, and does not indicate a problem with the light.
A foam pad on the back of the light cushions your forehead, so the light is comfortable to use. And because the batteries are mounted way back in the holder, the light does not have that odd, front-heavy feel to it like some other headlamps have.
The Energizer LED Essentials headlamp is *not* very water resistant, so you'll need to be careful around lakes, streams, rivers, tubs, sinks, toilets, or other places where water might be found. It's fine for fairweather camping & hiking and for around-the-house, but might not do so well in rainstorms. Keep it dry, and it ought to serve you well for a long time.
The light from the white LEDs is focused by lenses moulded into the protective plastic window; this allows them to "throw" farther than white LEDs with no lenses in front of them. The light is focused into a circle-shaped beam with sharp edges, not too unlike that produced by a Brinkmann Long Life LED flashlight.
The light from the red LED is not focused by a lens; but is allowed to leave the flashlight focused by its own optic. The beam is a bit larger in diameter than the beam from the white LEDs, and also has some darker spots and other artifacts in its beam. This is a result of the LED's own optics, and does not in any way indicate a problem with the light.
Beam photo (white LEDs) at 12"
Measured 52,800mcd
Beam photo (red LED) at 12"
Measured 5,800mcd
Spectrometer plot of the LEDs (white) in this headlamp.
Spectrometer plot of the LED (red) in this headlamp. Ocean Optics USB2000 Spectrometer on loan from TWO-CUBED
Beam cross-sectional analysis (white LEDs).
Beam cross-sectional analysis (red LED). Images made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.
TEST NOTES:
Unit was sent by a fan of the website in January or February 2003, and (as of 07-06-03) is in its initial stages of testing.
UPDATE: 00-00-00
PROS:
Small and lightweight
Has both red and white LEDs
Adjustable aim of LED module
CONS:
Battery change is more difficult than expected
Not very water resistant
MANUFACTURER: Energizer
PRODUCT TYPE: LED headlamp
LAMP TYPE: LEDs
No. OF LAMPS: 3 (2 white LEDs, 1 red LED)
BEAM TYPE: Focused with white LEDs, slightly diffuse with red LED
SWITCH TYPE: Slide switch
BEZEL: All LEDs protected by plastic & mounted inside a reflector
BATTERY: 3x AAA cells
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
WATER RESISTANT: Light splash resistance only
SUBMERSIBLE: No
ACCESSORIES: 2-point headband, 3x AAA batteries
WARRANTY: Lifetime
Do you manufacture or sell an LED flashlight, task light, utility light, or module of some kind?
Want to see it tested by a real person, under real working conditions? Do you then want to see how your light did? If you have a sample available for this type of
real-world, real-time testing, please contact me at ledmuseum@worldnet.att.net or send your potential victim to:
Craig Johnson
c/o The LED Museum
1090 Lakefront Dr., #618
Sacramento CA. 95831
ph. Please e-mail for phone number (costs me $0.50 a minute, use only if urgent)
Unsolicited flashlights appearing in the mail are welcome, and it will automatically be assumed that you sent it in order to have it tested and evaluated for this site.
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