Most peopleย will have a hardย time justifying a $300 LED work lightโฆuntil you think about what makes a work light great.ย Lumens are certainly a big deal. So is the way it puts out light evenly in a room. The Festool SysLite Duo Work Lite aims to change minds. For years, people have known that lumens cost money. Aย typical replacement lamp assembly for a home theater projector could run up to $300. That was typically a bulb and fancy housing that output around 1600 lumens.
It wasnโt weather resistant. It wasnโt located in a shockproof housing. Plus, it wasnโt a multipurpose system designed for indoor or outdoor use. But people regularly paid $250 to $300 for it.
Thisย was just a lamp. Now letโs turn to jobsite work lights. On the high end of things you have plenty of solutions. Many of them will give you tons of light for cheap. Tons of awful, awful light. Spotty, yellow or blue, and uneven, these work lights will throw some light, but far too often they arenโt ideal. This is a huge deal if youโre working with low voltage cabling and need to discern colors. Thereโs also the issue of getting even coverage in a room. Often, halogens throw very uneven light and send a hot spot right where youโre working.
Festool SysLite Duo Work Light Features
What theย Festool SysLite Duo Work Light sets about to do is provide the best possible work light experience. Anybody (just Google โwork lightโ, youโll see) can make an LED work light. Festoolย chose to make something that could provide a more elegant, yet rugged, solution.
Theย Festool SysLite DUO-Plus Work Light is the standalone model that includes the Festool Sys-Lite and Systainer. It retails for $300 and produces 8000 lumens of output from 80 LEDs. Festool arranged the LEDs in two banks of 40, and positioned them onย either side of a diffused, sealed housing. This is what gives the SysLite DUO its 180 degrees of total light coverage. The SysLite DUO is also IP55 rated, so it can withstand dust and was tested withย 3.3 gallonsย perย minute ofย water projected by a nozzle from everyย direction. This light is definitely jobsite-ready.
Diffuse Light and Long-lasting LEDs
One of the highlights of the Festool SysLite DUO work light is its diffusion cover.ย It provides a fullย 180 degreesย of diffuseย (but insanely bright) lightย atย a color temperature of 5,000 Kelvin (5000K). Thatโs slightly coolerย (โwhiterโ) than sunlight. Withย 8,000 lumens of light output, you can all but ignite any room youโre working in.
The LEDs in the SysLite DUO are rated for 10,000 hours. If you assume an 8-hour work day, and a couple weeks of vacation, thatโs over 5 years of life for this light before having to get it serviced. If youโre like most, however, you can expect at least 2-3Xย that service life since not manyย Pros require a constant light at all times.
You can get the Festool SysLite DUO-Plus Work Lite as a standalone tool with a Systainer 3, or you can opt for the Festool SysLite-Set. That includes a Systainer and also the ST DUO 200 tripod. With the ST DUO tripod you can elevate the SysLiteย over 6 feet in the air and aim it as needed. It also locks the light in place so it doesnโt swivel on you (or come off) once you have it positioned. We were also pleasantly surprised when the 16.7 ft. long cord had a good amount of reachโeven when the light was maxed out on the tripod.
Festool SysLite DUO Specs
- Color Rendering Index (CRI): 80
- Color temperature: 5000K
- Protection:ย IP 55
- Output:ย 8000 lumens
- LEDs: 2 banks of 40 LEDs
- LED life:ย 10,000 hours
- Power output: 112 W
- Cordย length:ย 16.7 ft (5.1 m)
- Weight: 8.6 lbs (3.9 kg)
Conclusion
We actually have two Festool SysLite DUOs, and we use them as part of our tool review video production set, among other things. The lights have been very durable, and easy to manipulate. They also cast a nice, even light across our shop, supplementing the illuminationย from our LED T8 retrofitย lights and the solitary Big Ass Garageย Light. Compared to halogens that run hot and lastย only about 2000 hours, the Festool SysLite Duo trumps them all.
With 8000 lumens, the Festool SysLite DUO is quite possibly the worldโs best LED work light. It not only puts out a lot of light, it does so at a color temperature of 5000K, which makes it perfect for the jobsite. Itโs particularly good for electricians and low voltage techs who need to illuminate wires and still be able to discernย colors. With most yellow halogen lights, the colors run together, making some wiring jobs much more difficult.
We only found a couple ofย downsides to the Festool SysLite DUO. First is that thereโs no dimming on the system. Itโs 8000 lumens or no lumens. In a smaller room, or a place where you get lots of reflections, thereโs not much you can do. Though the light does give a nice diffuse throw, it would be nice to have a simple dimming function. The second drawback is simply that it costs $300โ$470 if you opt for the tripod. While that sounds like a lot, Festool has always been about making top-level products, and this is no exception.ย If youย need a good, reliable work light, this will fit the bill. Good lighting is every bit as important as any other tool in your arsenal. We can only hope Festool puts out a cordless versionย in the not-so-distant future.
