Klighten outdoor wall light: what the 3 to 5 metres really mean

Which documents exist for this light at all

With a branded light you can normally look at a data sheet and an instruction manual, but not here. We could not find a technical data sheet or installation manual from Klighten. The brand site klighten.de is a promotional site with category texts and customer quotes, it has neither a download area nor a service area, and it links exclusively to Amazon. klighten.org and klighten.fr are identically built sales sites, klighten.com does not resolve in DNS to a usable server address, and klighten.net does not exist. The listing itself does not help either: the user guide section contains only the two attributes mounting type and mounting location, and no document is attached. The Amazon block for the responsible person, where the details of the EU responsible person should appear, shows a loading error instead of the data.

What does exist is a single but reliable document: the EU product data sheet under Regulation 2019/2015 with the model identifier A310/2-3000K and the EPREL number 2269366. Klighten is registered as the supplier via GAVIMOSA CONSULTORIA in Madrid, ERP EUROPE LTD is named as the authorised representative, and the document gives 14 November 2020 as the date from which the model was placed on the Union market. This data sheet is a mandatory item for energy consumption labelling, and it describes the light source only. It says nothing about the sensor, the housing seal or the mounting. For everything to do with the motion sensor, the listing text remains the only source. This separation is the key to this page, which is why it appears here as a table. We do not measure in a lab, we compare documents and name where a figure appears only in the listing text.

Whatever appears in the right-hand column only in the listing text is not automatically wrong. It is, however, not backed by any manufacturer document, and you cannot look it up anywhere before buying. It is precisely in this column that the three details that matter for a light with a motion sensor appear.

24 W and 1,500 lumens: for one housing or for two?

The first bullet point of the listing words the brightness unusually openly. It says that the light consists of two wall lights of 12 W and 750 lumens each, so that the total brightness reaches 24 W and 1,500 lumens. Amazon, however, lists this item number in the variant matrix as a single unit, while the same product family explicitly also includes twin packs that carry the same 24 W in the title. The EU product data sheet helps only in part: for the model identifier A310/2-3000K it gives a power consumption of 24.0 W, a consumption of 24 kWh per 1,000 hours and 1,500 lumens, but it gives the external dimensions as 210 by 110 by 110 millimetres, that is, the size of a single housing.

This contradiction cannot be cleanly resolved from the documents available. In practical terms: if you need a particular brightness, assume in the worst case 750 lumens per housing and ask the seller before buying which value applies to a single unit. Do not read the 24 W in the title as a secured property of this one item, but as a figure used identically for single units and twin packs in this product family.

A second point in the same feature text is generous in terms of the arithmetic. There the light is compared with a standard incandescent bulb of 120 W. 1,500 lumens is below that: in a lumens-to-watts chart this value lands closer to an incandescent bulb of around 100 W. In addition, the manufacturer data sheet expressly states the 1,500 lumens as useful luminous flux in a wide 120 degree cone, whereas an incandescent bulb radiates in all directions. The two figures therefore do not describe the same thing. If you want to know how much light should reach an entrance or driveway, the question of how many lumens an area needs is a better starting point than an incandescent comparison.

Range and detection angle of the motion sensor

This is the point at which this light either suits you or disappoints, and it is exactly here that the details are weakest. The listing text says the light switches on at night when it detects movement at a distance of 3 to 5 metres. Whether this means a radius around the light, a diameter or the lateral range across the viewing direction is not stated anywhere. No detection angle is given for the sensor at all. The 120 degrees that appear in the text belong not to the sensor but to the light cone, which you adjust between 0 and 120 degrees using eight louvres. This adjustment changes the shape of the light, not the sensitivity, the run-on time or the detection area. The mounting height is also missing, although a passive infrared sensor reaches completely different distances depending on height.

Well-documented sensor lights show how much this assignment changes the meaning of a distance in metres. For the Steinel XLED ONE S the manufacturer lists radial and tangential range separately: the advertised 12 metres apply to movement across the sensor, and for a frontal approach the data sheet gives 3 metres. For the Steinel RS 20 S the manual expressly defines the range as a diameter on the ground at a mounting height of 2.5 metres, so 8 metres becomes roughly four metres in each direction. The same bare number can therefore mean many times the area or only a fraction of it, depending on how it is read. For this light the assignment is missing entirely, and so no area can be calculated from 3 to 5 metres. We do not do so either.

A look at Klighten's own sales page klighten.org is revealing. For a different 24 W model with a motion sensor it gives 3 to 8 metres, a 120 degree detection angle and a switch-off time of 30 seconds to 3 minutes. These values belong to a different housing and cannot be transferred to this model. They do show, however, that the brand does give such details in principle, but not for this item. If you want to cover a wider driveway and need a documented range with angle and mounting height for it, you are better served by a floodlight with a documented detection diagram.

Run-on time, dusk and what you cannot adjust

The listing text states a switch-off after 20 to 40 seconds. That is short, and it is worded as a fixed property, not as an adjustment range. On the dusk threshold it says only that the light switches off automatically during the day and on automatically at night. No lux value at which the sensor enables is given. It therefore remains open whether the light already responds at dusk or only in complete darkness.

It is equally unclear whether there are any controls at all for sensitivity, light duration and brightness threshold. Without a manual this cannot be clarified, and the difference shows on installation day: for the RS 20 S sensor light, the manufacturer's data sheet gives a continuously adjustable run-on time of 5 seconds to 15 minutes and a dusk threshold of 2 to 2,000 lux, together with a detection diagram. Here there is no document for either, only one sentence in the listing text.

Two things, by contrast, are clearly documented. The EU product data sheet says No for dimmable and also No for colour tuneable. You therefore cannot change either the brightness or the colour temperature, and a dimmer in the supply cable is ruled out. If you are looking for a light that still gives you two minutes of light after unlocking the door or while unloading the boot of the car, 20 to 40 seconds is tight. Allow for that, or look for a model whose adjustable run-on time is stated in a manual.

IP rating, fixing and the 230 V connection

The title and feature text give the IP rating IP65 and describe an aluminium housing with a three-layer seal design. The origin of this claim matters: IP65 appears only in the listing. The EU product data sheet has no field for the IP rating, and the Amazon attribute table says only waterproof in general terms. IP65 means dust-tight and protected against water jets from a nozzle. It does not mean that the light may be submerged, or operated in permanent wetness or in damp soil. Of the two wordings, plain waterproof is the more misleading.

On the electrics the situation is clear. The attribute table lists the power supply as wired, no plug is provided, and the light is connected by terminals directly to a 230 V supply cable. The EU product data sheet shows a dash for the cap type and identifies the light as a mains voltage light source: the four COB modules are permanently installed, and you cannot replace a light bulb. At the end of its life the complete light is therefore due for replacement, together with the associated electrical work.

For the connection itself, what luminaire manufacturers put in their safety notes applies: a light that is connected to the mains cable via terminals means work on mains voltage and belongs in the hands of a qualified electrician, working to the local installation regulations. Outdoors there is the further point that the junction box and cable entry must be properly sealed, otherwise a high IP rating on the housing is of little use. The listing promises that all parts needed for mounting are included, but it does not say which these are. If you need light outdoors and have no fixed supply cable, a solar solution is closer to the task, even though its data situation has its own limits.

Measure at the mounting location before buying

• The distance from the planned mounting point to the path or door you really want to light, and the height at which the light can sit. As long as no documented range is available, this is your only reliable basis.
• The space for the housing: according to the EU product data sheet 210 millimetres in height, 110 millimetres in width and 110 millimetres in depth, which is also the projection from the wall.
• Whether a permanently live 230 V supply cable with a junction box is present at this spot, since no plug is provided.
• Whether the wall at this height will take a plug-and-screw fixing, and whether water from a roof edge runs directly onto the housing at the mounting point.

Colour temperature, colour rendering and flicker according to the EU data sheet

The data situation here is surprisingly good, because the EU product data sheet contains values that are otherwise missing from listings. According to the manufacturer, the correlated colour temperature is 3,000 kelvin, that is, in the warm white range, the colour rendering index is 82 and the R9 value, which describes the rendering of saturated red, is 3. An R9 value of this size is usual for outdoor light and in practice means that red tones look dull. The manufacturer gives the colour consistency as 2 MacAdam ellipses, which means that two lights side by side visibly show the same colour of light. On a house wall with one light on each side of the door, that is a real argument.

For flicker, the data sheet gives a flicker metric of 0.3 and a stroboscopic effect metric of 0.3. Both values are well below the limits that the EU has required for new light sources since 2021. The lumen maintenance factor is given as 0.96, the lifetime factor as 1.00 and the displacement factor as 0.48. A rated lifetime in hours is missing, as is a measuring distance for lux values. For standby power consumption the data sheet enters 0.00 W. Under the regulation this figure applies to the light source; a motion sensor that monitors around the clock nevertheless needs power, and none of the documents says how much.

The energy efficiency class is G, the lowest field on the scale from A to G. That sounds harsher than it turns out to be here: 1,500 lumens from 24.0 W gives 62.5 lumens per watt by calculation, and this value explains the rating. The consumption is also in the data sheet, namely 24 kWh per 1,000 operating hours. A light with a motion sensor does not run 1,000 hours a year, though, but only a few hours with a run-on time of 20 to 40 seconds, so the class tells you less about your electricity bill than it would for a light in continuous operation. How to convert watts and operating hours into costs is explained in our overview of power consumption and running costs of LED lighting.

Same-name variants, a second listing and another brand

Anyone buying this light should know how confusing the surroundings are. Under the same product family Amazon lists versions in white, black, dark grey, grey, rust red and anthracite, each as a single unit and as a twin pack, and all carry 24 W in the title. How little the feature texts belong to the individual variant is shown by one sentence in this listing: it describes a housing coated in white water-repellent paint, but what is sold under this number is anthracite. The text has evidently been taken over from another colour variant.

In addition there is a second listing with exactly the same title. Its attribute table shows one light bulb and a GU24 cap, whereas this listing shows four light bulbs and no cap. Both statements cannot be right at the same time, and a cap for a replaceable light bulb does not fit any housing with permanently installed COB modules. On the same product page there is also a listing of the brand vatato built in identical wording with the same key figures. The housing is therefore apparently sold under several brand names.

For you this means two things. First: do not rely on a feature text, an image or a review that you find for one of these numbers actually belonging to the item you put in your basket. Second: check colour and quantity in the variant selection and compare them with the title before you order. With a light that is fixed to the wall and whose connection costs an electrician's time, a return because of the wrong quantity is particularly annoying. An overview of further individual checks is in the data checks section.

What remains open and how we place the light

These details are missing from all documents

• The recommended mounting height and the detection angle of the sensor. Without both, the 3 to 5 metre figure cannot be converted into a covered area.
• The dusk threshold in lux and whether sensitivity, light duration or brightness threshold can be adjusted at all.
• Proof of certification for the IP65 rating. It appears in no manufacturer document, only in the listing text and the title.
• Any statement on glare, a UGR value, and the behaviour with pets and passing cars. The last point in particular decides, on a road, how often the light switches on at night.
• The measuring distance for the light figures and the rated lifetime in hours.

Our assessment

This light does not fail because of its technology but because of its paperwork. What the EU product data sheet documents is inconspicuous to solid for an outdoor light in this class: 3,000 kelvin, colour rendering index 82, low flicker values and tighter colour consistency than you would expect in this price band. The three details that decide things in daily life, by contrast, appear only in the listing text, and two of them in a form that is easily read as too generous.

Above all, the comparison with a 120 W incandescent bulb is misleading. 1,500 lumens is below that, and according to the data sheet they apply to a 120 degree cone, not in all directions. Anyone who also reads 24 W and 1,500 lumens as the value for one housing may end up with considerably less light than expected with the single-unit variant. And anyone who understands waterproof as any kind of wetness may mount the light at a spot for which IP65 is not designed. None of these points makes the product unusable, they only shift expectations, and each time downwards.

It makes sense to buy it when the task is small and clearly defined: a front door, a side door, a short path, an existing fixed supply cable, and brief light is enough. For a wide driveway, for targeted detection without false triggers on the road, or for an adjustable run-on time, you need a model with a data sheet and a manual. And because this is a fixed outdoor connection to 230 V, the electrical part belongs in expert hands whatever the purchase price, together with a sealed cable entry. For living spaces this light is not intended anyway, it belongs on the house wall.

Further reading: Steinel XLED ONE S with separately documented range, Steinel RS 20 S, where the 8 metres is the diameter, how many lumens an area really needs, understanding colour temperature and kelvin, Aootek solar lamps as a solution without a supply cable and our source rules.