While we all have been using flashlights for decades, many of us do not know how LED flashlights work or the benefits that they offer. Unlike traditional lighting solutions that rely on gases and filaments to produce light, LEDs take advantage of diodes that are capable of conducting electricity while producing light. One of the biggest differences between LEDs and traditional lighting options is that the source of light moves in a single direction while incandescent lights have gases flowing around in all directions.

LEDs are equipped with semiconductors that allow electricity to flow through a flashlight’s diodes. Whenever electrical current is produced via the batteries in flashlights, the electrons start traveling to the semiconductors that are installed inside a LED and energy is released. The energy is released in the form of photons which creates the light.

There are multiple ways to power LED flashlights. You can choose from Alkaline batteries which are extremely affordable and last you a fair bit of time. You can get about 10 hours of continuous usage in some cases which is quite impressive considering how scarcely we use flashlights. However, if you are someone who uses flashlights far more frequently, consider investing in rechargeable batteries that do not require you to keep getting new batteries. You can just get a battery charger and keep reusing them as much as you want.

If you want to go completely eco-friendly, there are hand-crank and solar flashlights available as well. Hand-crank flashlights are essentially like older mechanical watches that require winding to get some amount of usage. If you keep moving the crank, the energy used to turn the crank is stored and you get light for a certain amount of time. While it might sound a little clunky, you can skip batteries altogether with hand-crank flashlights.