When I first heard about Rechargeable Led light Bulbs, it was a company called Boundery (yes, it’s really spelled like that), and their “Ebulbs.”  If you want the “cream of the crop,” you can buy from them.  (They have some other cool-looking stuff, too.)  But at almost $30 a bulb, I’m not rich enough for that, so I went looking for alternatives.

Turns out, there are plenty of similar products on Amazon, and I just had to take my pick.  Although I did check star ratings to make sure I was choosing a well-rated one, what ultimately decided me was (were?) a daylight white range, and hooks for all four bulbs in the package.

(Some of the others had, say, four bulbs and two hooks.  Which, in hindsight, is probably adequate, but I’m not sorry I went with what I went with to start.)  Now, I don’t know how long these will last compared to Boundery’s bulbs, but for only a dollar more than one Boundery bulb, I got four of these.

BESLAM Rechargeable Emergency LED Bulb with Battery Backup, Self-Charging Camping Light Bulbs for Power Outage Hurricane 60W Equivalent(8W), Daylight 5000K, 850 Lumens, E26, 4 Pack with Hook

What Are Rechargeable LED Light Bulbs?

If you’ve never seen these before, you may be wondering what in the world rechargeable LED light bulbs even are.  What is a “rechargeable” bulb?

Well, these actually charge themselves as you use them.  You screw them into a regular light fixture and they work just like regular LED light bulbs — and they charge themselves during use.

If the power goes out, the bulbs recognize this…and come on!  So you aren’t left in the dark in a power outage.

They can also be removed from the regular fixtures and used manually as flashlights, or screwed into their special hooks and hung as lanterns.  Details vary by brand, but most of them say they run for somewhere between 4 and 8 hours on a charge.  These that I bought are on the short end, at 4 (although I think we’ve seen them run longer than that; I didn’t think to time it).

Plugging the Bulbs In/Charging

There has to be a catch, right?  Well, kind of.  If you plug these into an ordinary fixture, they work pretty much as expected, except that they tend to flash back on just for a quick moment when you turn the switch off.  If you’re not expecting that, it can throw you, but it’s not that big a deal.

What is more of an issue, though, is that you generally can’t plug them into any “special” fixtures or circuits, like those with two-way switches and dimmers.  I’m guessing timers and remote controls might be iffy, too; you may have to experiment with those.

Why?  The bulbs are wired to “know” the difference between an interrupted circuit (i.e. you’ve flipped the switch to “off”) and a circuit that isn’t getting electricity (i.e. the power is out…or, I’m guessing maybe if the circuit breaker is flipped).  If you introduce the complexities of these “fancier” circuits, it may introduce confusion, and the bulb may not turn on and off at the appropriate normal times.  (Homeschoolers, that’s also an opening to talk to your kids about how circuits work! )

In general, though, when it comes to just using these as regular bulbs, they’re just as simple to use as everything else.

(One more tip: I like to ensure at least one of these is somewhere readily accessible, in case I want to take it out to use it).

What About Once They’re Charged?

Once they’re charged up, besides being able to count on them to come back on if the power goes out, these bulbs can be used as flashlights or lanterns.  There are a few simple ways you can do this.

See this contact on the end of the bulb?  (Looks like a silver circle right in the middle of the end.)  You can hold onto the metal grip and simultaneously make contact with that metal dot, and use the bulb as a flashlight that way.

The hooks provide another way to make contact with…well, with that contact.  If you screw the hook onto the end of the light bulb, that will enable you to hang it up.

But the outside of the hook “base” also has a push-button switch.

Click that button (it’s the kind you press in and release to turn on, then press and release to turn off; you don’t have to hold it), and the bulb will come on.  Then you can either carry it around and use it as a flashlight, or hang it back up and use it as a lantern.

The light fixtures in our living room are currently broken (it’s a long story), so we’ve actually been swapping a couple of these bulbs out — one in a lamp, charging, and one in use, lantern-style, and it gives a surprising amount of light.

Like I said, I’m pretty sure these particular rechargeable LED light bulbs last longer than four hours once charged.  I’ve forgotten to turn off the one pictured when going to bed, and found it still lit when I got up in the morning.  However, the degree of light does fade pretty quickly.  It’s a lot less bright just two hours after turning it on.

(Let me make sure I’m being totally clear: I’m talking about when it’s running on its own battery power.  When plugged into a socket like a regular bulb it just works like a regular bulb and there’s no fading or time limit.)

My Takeaway

I’ve only had these light bulbs for somewhere around a month, so I can’t speak to the longevity of the bulbs.  But I’ve been very pleased with their actual performance so far, and consider them to have been a smart investment.  I definitely would recommend these as an option to have on hand in case of power outages, etc.