The problem with flashlights is that they’re so easy to lose. If you’re anything like me, you have one stashed away somewhere, but you’re just not exactly sure where that is. Maybe it’s in the basement, or maybe it’s stuffed into a drawer. Who knows. And even if you are able to find it, there’s no assurance that it actually has working batteries. Moral of this story? When the lights go out, we’re pretty much screwed. For the chronically unprepared, Lin Guo Hui’s Bulb Light for the MoMA Design Store is a godsend. Not only is the battery rechargeable, but its dock is as obvious as it gets: your lamp. “I experienced a blackout and the battery in my torch had gone flat, and I had nothing else to light up my house that night,” says Guo Hui. “So that was when the idea struck me to create an emergency light source using something we use everyday.”
Guo Hui built a tiny rechargeable battery into the extended base of a 40 watt LED bulb, which allows it to charge whenever it’s screwed into a standard socket. Then when you need to use the bulb as a flashlight, you simply extend its plastic neck into a handle and switch it on for up to three hours of emergency light. “The bulb had to be long-life and light as possible and give out as little heat as possible so we can carry it as a normal flashlight,” Guo Hui explains. “Even though the design was quite simple in theory, the technical processes were really difficult.”
Though the base of the LED bulb can be produced to fit the socket of various countries, Guo Hui says this light has a current regulator that allows it to be used with AC currents that can range from 85-235 volts. “Essentially, the same bulb can operate with 110-volt household current in the United States and with 220-volt current in China, Europe and other markets,” he explains. At $45 apiece, it’s not cheap to outfit your entire home with Lin’s bulbs, but think about it this way: The money you spend here is money you save on never buying a replacement flashlight again.
