These are not bad for a spot type light. The brightness is comparable to luxeon led flashlight. The light color is bright white, not amber, not soft white. The light is bright enough to cause serious damage to your eyes if you look directly into the lit light. Since it is a spotlight your would have to try to look "dead-on" into the light beam for this to happen. These are designed as under cabinet or over countertop use. So, these should be safe as designed.
Now for some little things. These lights get warm during use. I measured the upper surface (mounting) temperature of several lights while operating on BRIGHT. The room temperature was 75 degrees fahrenheit and humidity at 45%. The surface temperature of the lights peaked at 113 degrees fahrenheit in just under 5 minutes. Temperature decreased thereafter and remained constant at about 100 degrees. I continued to monitor temps for 5 more minutes. Temperature did not increase in that time. I believe these lights are safe as designed. No further temps were taken, i felt reasonably satisfied the lights are NOT a fire hazard.
Lights have 3 states, (OFF, ON-Bright, ON-Dim). Lights are switched between these states by passing your hand within 3 to 4 inches across the red windowed sensor next to the light lens. My lights will not switch at any distance greater than 4 inches. This is a good thing. I do not want the light switching on as I reach for a paper towel. Lights auto shut off after 1 hour if you should forget to switch them off manually.
I have no idea how long batteries last. I am not up to wasting batteries for that test. Each light comes with 3 alkaline batteries already installed. Your have to open each light before first use to remove a small strip of insulator paper blocking the contact on one of the batteries. Then reclose the light for use.
Each light has aproximately a quarter-sized magnetic disc with a gel adhesive applied. You remove the paper backing from the adhesive side and stick it on your intended mounting surface. Press the disc for about 10 seconds to ensure a good stick. Wait about 5 minutes more for the adhesive to fully set before putting the light on the disc. The magnet holds the light really well. The adhesive has held well to the bottom of my wood cabinets. The bottom of my cabinets are not even sanded very smooth, yet they are holding well.
I think these are a good buy at this price. I paid twentynine bucks per pack of 3 lights at Sams.
DISCLAIMER: i am not an engineer. i am not a genius, just a regular person trying to get a decent product. i am not above telling others what i know about a product. I am not paid or compensated in anyway by anyone to endorse any product or bash any product.
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I bought these locally from a wholesale club, but so far so good. First, they're BRIGHT! I can't emphasize this enough. I've seen all sorts of tap-lights and even used some of the newer LED lights. They were all toys compared to this light! There's a warning on the back of the lights not to look directly into them and they're not kidding.
I agree with the previous reviewer's complaint that they produce a very small spotlight beam. BUT, this is very easily fixed. When you take the cover off to change batteries, look at the lens holder. There will be a slot on one side. Just insert a screwdriver into the slot and the entire lens/optic pop right out. In doing so you now have a light which puts out a perfect smooth flood of light. In this configuration it puts out a very similar light level and pattern (albeit much cooler white) as the traditional halogen hockey puck lights. I don't know why Sylvania put the optic in to begin with. This is how they should have shipped.
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I have had a set of these lights for about 2 years and can say they are great, no big deals, they work , they turn off and on just like it says. OK, the little stuff:
I had to mount mine under some wood cabinets and since it is a big metal coin like disk they adhere to this would be great on a smooth flat surface but on wood I had to add some Elmer's Glue to make it stay put. Not a big deal a knife and sandpaper will make it all disappear if I ever care to remove it (without the light its almost invisible anyway)
In a real emergency I wish it had a "stay-on" position but each hour you will have to turn it back on, saves batteries but in a power outage it is a minor pain.
Thats about it, they are BRIGHT (do not look directly into them, not safe) and the batteries last about 1 year give or take a month depending on use. That is with the no0-name batteries that come with it, I put some Ray-O-Vac alkaline batteries in them and sorry it is still running great so you get what you pay for in batteries.
Great for the use, I like the "wave your hand" idea to turn them on -off-dim, it is just a nice little thing if your hands are wet/greasy/dirty you do not have to touch them.
Almost forgot I just ordered 11 more sets for me and a couple for relatives so you can be sure I am pleased.
UPDATE JAN 2013: I still have these and they still work exactly as promised, still highly recommend them. The only thing I might mention is to add these to you check list of things once a year to make sure the batteries have not died. The ones that came with it died but I replaced them with Duracall and have never had to replace another one (I should mention that we have a week with no power so they got used a LOT during that time)
Honest reviews on Sylvania 72422 Battery-Operated LED Under-Cabinet Light
These are very solid, they have a good weight to them, unlike other cheap push-lights. They are quite bright, and provide more than adequate illumination for a cabinet, closet, or over a countertop. I actually set them up under my daughter's loft bed. She also takes one up into bed at times when she goes to sleep. The only con is when you pass by and accidentally either turn it on or off but really that isn't a problem,and if it doesjust tap it againproblem solved. I am glad I chose these, as I also bought a 2 pack from another online "helpful household products" catalouge and they are terrible. Granted I only paid a few dollars for the set, so no big deal. I'd buy them again.
I will add that they can be operated by tapping as I did in the videoor by swiping in front of them. I put two under the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and they always turn on with just a passing of my hand under the cabinet. They actually reflect alot of light from the white sink as well, making them even brighter. I don't have to wake people up at night when going in the bathroom now as I find the light they give off in there to be most adequate.
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Fortunately I'd read the other reviews here prior to putting these under my cabinets. While they looked okay with a small spotlight, they certainly didn't look as professional and expensive to me until I did what everyone else said to do...remove the plastic piece that covers the bulb. SHAZAM! Gorgeous soft white lighting that was no longer a tiny circle on one spot on the counter, but, instead, lit up the area in a soft white dramatic light like the bulbs costing hundreds more.
The best part of these is that they are a hands-free, no cord light. This means you can space them as far apart as you wish without being hindered by cord length in between the lights, but also that you don't have to have a black cord hanging down from your cabinets to plug them in. Or, worse, pay hundreds to have a new electrical outlet installed inside your cabinets leaving you less cabinet room.
There is a built-in dimmer if you read the directions...swipe your hand under it once and you get bright light, twice and you get dimmed lighting, swipe again and it shuts off. However, you have to swipe close to the bulb so if I'm windexing the counter under the light, for example, it's not going to go on and off. That's ideal. This is also ideal because I can be in the middle of cooking or rolling out dough with messy hands, decide to turn on the lights and do so with a swipe rather than having one more light switch I need to keep clean. Or, worse yet, a light switch under my cabinet I can't find so I have to stoop down below to find it.
Another bonus? With these I can conserve energy and simply turn on one rather than all of them if I just want to read a cookbook better for example and only want the spot on right over the cookbook.
This makes a kitchen look like a million bucks if people are coming over to turn off the overhead lights, and have these as well as some other focused lights in certain areas.
No installation talent needed. They stick up with a sticky tab and you can remove the bulb cover easily for battery changing via a magnet so these would even make an apartment dramatic and you could take em with you when you go!
Negatives: Be sure to clean under your cabinets well and decide where you want them prior to positioning. If you move them, they don't stay up well. I remedied that with some E-6000 glue or you could get double sided heavy duty sticky tape as well.
