If you plan on spending much time traveling in your motorhome, there will eventually come a time when you need battery-powered lighting. It could be a sunset trip to the lake that lasts a little longer than expected or an outside dinner at a roadside picnic table. Although flashlights are a common item in most travelers’ arsenals, they are not very good at lighting a large area and they usually require you to hold them in your hand. In those circumstances nothing replaces a freestanding battery-powered lantern.
If you are a longtime motorhome enthusiast, you will likely remember the old fuel-powered lanterns of the past. Not only did they provide a lot of light, they also lasted a long time on a single tank of fuel. The performance of these fuel-based lanterns has been the standard for decades, but recently the lighting industry has made great strides in replicating the performance of fuel-based lanterns without the danger and hassle of carrying fuel in your coach.
The new battery-powered lanterns are a reasonable competitor to the old fuel lanterns in terms of lighting and battery life, and they offer a lot of choices with regard to battery type as well as light source. Many of these battery-powered lanterns use energy-saving fluorescent or LED lights instead of the old, inefficient incandescent bulbs of the past. Some offer built-in rechargeable batteries while others stick to conventional disposable alkaline batteries for their power. Some even allow the use of both, making them quite convenient.
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