Where to Buy
Rechargeable Flashlights at Menards: What's Actually Worth Buying
A building-supply retailer sits between a tool aisle and a general store, which makes it good at a specific and slightly unusual set of things.
By Scooter M. · Published September 2, 2026
Short answer
NEBO FRANKLIN TaskBar
Five hundred lumens of flood for two and a half hours, 200 lumens of spot for eight, and a red mode for twenty — every one of those numbers printed by NEBO rather than inferred by us. For a light at this price that is unusually complete.
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We show a price only when we have pulled a live one. #ad How we earn
Disclosure — we earn a commission on qualifying purchases made through the Amazon links on this page, at no extra cost to you. It does not change which lights we pick or what we say about them. The full version.
How we rank. Published ANSI FL1 output divided by the live retail price, with sealed-battery lights marked down because a light you cannot re-cell is a light with an expiry date. Units we claim to have tested: 0 — we compile manufacturers' published figures and show the arithmetic instead. How we work this out.
What a building-supply aisle is good at
A lumber-yard retailer serves trades and serious DIY, so its lighting leans toward work: flood panels, magnetic bar lights, area lights and things that survive a site. That is a useful bias, and it means the aisle is stronger on work lighting than a general store and weaker on pocket lights than an online marketplace.
The practical consequence is that this is a good place to buy the light you will work under and a poor place to buy the light you will carry. Those are different products and no single light does both well.
| # | Light | Max output | Battery | Lumens / $ | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No listing image NEBO FRANKLIN TaskBar Best published runtime on a budget work light | 500 | AA / AAA | Needs a live price | Check price on Amazon We show a price only when we have pulled a live one. #ad How we earn |
| 2 | No listing image NEBO BIG LARRY 3 Best cheap magnetic work light | 600 | AA / AAA | Needs a live price | Check price on Amazon We show a price only when we have pulled a live one. #ad How we earn |
| 3 | No listing image Streamlight Syclone Best work light with a 90 CRI flood | 400 | Sealed | Needs a live price | Check price on Amazon We show a price only when we have pulled a live one. #ad How we earn |
| 4 | No listing image NEBO Newton 2000 Best outage light you can feed from a stockpile | 2,000 | AA / AAA | Needs a live price | Check price on Amazon We show a price only when we have pulled a live one. #ad How we earn |
| 5 | No listing image NEBO GALILEO 1000 Best dual-power lantern for an outage | 1,000 | Replaceable | Needs a live price | Check price on Amazon We show a price only when we have pulled a live one. #ad How we earn |
Lumens per dollar is the manufacturer's published maximum output divided by the price the light is selling for. Where we have not pulled a live price, the column says so instead of showing you a number we cannot stand behind. See how we work this out.
Checking a light against an online price, without leaving the aisle
- 1.Read the mode table on the back of the box and note the runtime for the mode below the headline one. That is the light you are buying.
- 2.Note the cell: named format, or built in. This is the single biggest determinant of what the light costs to own.
- 3.Note the water rating with its number.
- 4.Search the model name and compare against a light with the same three attributes online, rather than against one with the same lumen figure.
- 5.Add the value of being able to return it to a counter tomorrow, which is real and which no online price includes.
That last step is worth stating plainly, because a site built on lumens per dollar can otherwise seem to argue that the cheapest ratio always wins. It does not. Buying in person lets you judge weight, switch feel and size, and returning something is a five-minute errand rather than a shipping label. Those are worth money.
The work-light bias, and how to use it
Because the aisle leans toward site lighting, the shapes on offer tend to be the useful ones for that job: bar lights that reach into a cavity, flood panels for close work, and area lights for a whole room. NEBO publishes 500 lumens of flood for two and a half hours on the FRANKLIN TaskBar and 600 lumens on the BIG LARRY 3, both on three AA cells — the kind of specification that suits a light left in a van.
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1. Best published runtime on a budget work light
NEBO FRANKLIN TaskBar
Lumens per dollar
Computed the moment we have a live price for it
Five hundred lumens of flood for two and a half hours, 200 lumens of spot for eight, and a red mode for twenty — every one of those numbers printed by NEBO rather than inferred by us. For a light at this price that is unusually complete.
- Max output
- 500 lm
- Runtime
- 2 h 30 min
- Battery
- AA / AAA
- Water rating
- None published
What it gets right
- Runtime published for all seven modes — the exception rather than the rule at this price
- Flood, spot and red in one body with a magnetic base
- AA cells, wall-mount hole, steel belt clip
What it gets wrong
- No water rating published anywhere on the product page
- 500 lumens of COB flood is modest next to a rechargeable panel
- Disposable AAs again
Published specification
- Work light high: 500 lumens, 2 h 30 min, 31 m — NEBO published specification
- Work light low: 150 lumens, 14 h 30 min, 18 m — NEBO published specification
- Flashlight high: 200 lumens, 8 hours, 75 m — NEBO published specification
- Flashlight low: 60 lumens, 24 hours, 50 m — NEBO published specification
- Red task light: 40 lumens, 20 hours — NEBO published specification
- Battery: 3 x AA (included) — NEBO published specification
- Weight: 0.45 lb — NEBO published specification
- Water rating: Not published on the product page
Skip this one if
the light will live outdoors. Without a published IP rating we cannot tell you what it survives, and neither can NEBO.
Buy it if: the person who wants one bar-shaped light that does flood, spot and red without a menu.
- Output 6.0
- Battery 7.0
- Build 7.5
- Usability 8.5
- Overall 7.2
We show a price only when we have pulled a live one. #ad How we earn
listing
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2. Best cheap magnetic work light
NEBO BIG LARRY 3
Lumens per dollar
Computed the moment we have a live price for it
A 600-lumen COB panel, a 220-lumen spot and a red task mode, on three AA cells, with a magnet strong enough to hold it under a hood. It is the least glamorous light here and it is the one that gets used most.
- Max output
- 600 lm
- Runtime
- Not published per mode
- Battery
- AA / AAA
- Water rating
- None published
What it gets right
- A flood panel is the right shape of light for working on something close up
- AA cells, so it survives a year in a toolbox and still lights
- The magnet is strong enough to matter
What it gets wrong
- NEBO publishes no runtime and no water rating for this model
- COB panels have poor color rendering as a class
- Not rechargeable, so the running cost is AA cells
Published specification
- COB work light: 600 lumens high / 150 lumens low — NEBO published specification
- Spot flashlight: 220 lumens high / 60 lumens low — NEBO published specification
- Red task light: 40 lumens high / 12 lumens low — NEBO published specification
- Battery: 3 x AA (included) — NEBO published specification
- Weight: 0.42 lb — NEBO published specification
- Fittings: Magnetic base, steel belt clip, wall-mount hole — NEBO published specification
- Per-mode runtime: Not published on the product page
- Water rating: Not published on the product page
Skip this one if
you need to see color accurately. For paint matching or diagnosing a wiring loom, a high-CRI light is worth the extra money.
Buy it if: the toolbox, the trunk and the shelf above the workbench.
- Output 6.5
- Battery 7.0
- Build 7.5
- Usability 8.5
- Overall 7.3
We show a price only when we have pulled a live one. #ad How we earn
listing
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3. Best work light with a 90 CRI flood
Streamlight Syclone
Lumens per dollar
Computed the moment we have a live price for it
Four hundred lumens of spot for two hours or 300 lumens of 90-CRI flood for the same, in a 5.3-ounce body that clips, magnets and stands. Every mode's runtime is published, including the flood modes most brands ignore.
- Max output
- 400 lm
- Runtime
- 2 h
- Battery
- Sealed
- Water rating
- IPX4
What it gets right
- A 90 CRI flood, which matters more than lumens when you are diagnosing anything
- Spot and flood in one body with runtimes published for both
- Magnet, clip and a stand that lets it point where you need it
What it gets wrong
- Sealed lithium-polymer cell
- IPX4 — it handles a splash and not a puddle
- Four hundred lumens is modest if you want to light a whole garage
Published specification
- Spot high: 400 lumens, 141 m, 2 hours — Streamlight published specification
- Spot medium: 200 lumens, 95 m, 4.5 hours — Streamlight published specification
- Spot low: 100 lumens, 72 m, 9.5 hours — Streamlight published specification
- Flood high: 300 lumens, 48 m, 2 hours, 90 CRI — Streamlight published specification
- Flood low: 75 lumens, 24 m, 8 hours — Streamlight published specification
- Battery: Lithium-polymer, USB rechargeable, 4.5 h charge — Streamlight published specification
- Water rating: IPX4 — Streamlight published specification
- Impact: 2 m tested — Streamlight published specification
- Weight: 5.3 oz (150 g) — Streamlight published specification
Skip this one if
you need to flood a large space. This is an arm's-reach light; a lantern or a panel does big areas better.
Buy it if: mechanics and electricians who need to see true color at close range.
- Output 6.5
- Battery 5.0
- Build 8.5
- Usability 9.0
- Overall 7.6
We show a price only when we have pulled a live one. #ad How we earn
listing
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4. Best outage light you can feed from a stockpile
NEBO Newton 2000
Lumens per dollar
Computed the moment we have a live price for it
Two thousand lumens for two and a half hours on nine AA alkalines, IPX7, with the runtime published for every mode. It is heavy and it is not clever, and for a week without power that is the correct set of trade-offs.
- Max output
- 2,000 lm
- Runtime
- 2.5 h
- Battery
- AA / AAA
- Water rating
- IPX7
What it gets right
- Runtime published at maximum output, which is the number that actually matters
- AA cells store for years and can be bought anywhere, including during an outage
- IPX7 — it survives being dropped in standing water
What it gets wrong
- Nine AA cells is a real weight and a real running cost
- Zoom optics trade beam quality for a party trick
- Nothing about it is pocketable
Published specification
- High: 2,000 lumens, 2.5 hours, 188 m — NEBO published specification
- Medium: 600 lumens, 6 hours, 120 m — NEBO published specification
- Low: 100 lumens, 20 hours, 50 m — NEBO published specification
- Battery: 9 x AA alkaline — NEBO published specification
- Water rating: IPX7 — NEBO published specification
- Body: Aircraft-grade aluminum, impact resistant — NEBO published specification
Skip this one if
you want one light for everything. Running this daily on disposable alkalines costs more in a year than the light did.
Buy it if: the hall closet, the basement, and the shelf you go to when the power has been off for two days.
- Output 8.5
- Battery 7.5
- Build 7.5
- Usability 7.0
- Overall 7.6
We show a price only when we have pulled a live one. #ad How we earn
listing
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5. Best dual-power lantern for an outage
NEBO GALILEO 1000
Lumens per dollar
Computed the moment we have a live price for it
A thousand lumens for ninety minutes, or a hundred lumens for ten and a half hours, and it takes D cells when the pack is flat. In an outage the second number and the D cells are the ones that matter.
- Max output
- 1,000 lm
- Runtime
- 1.5 h
- Battery
- Replaceable cell
- Water rating
- None published
What it gets right
- Runs on D cells when the rechargeable pack is dead, which is the whole point in an outage
- Runtime published for all five modes
- USB output doubles it as a phone power bank
What it gets wrong
- NEBO states water resistance without publishing an IP figure
- Ninety minutes at full output is short for a lantern
- Half a pound before you add D cells
Published specification
- High 360 degrees: 1,000 lumens, 1.5 hours, 21 m — NEBO published specification
- High 120 degrees: 300 lumens, 6 hours, 17 m — NEBO published specification
- Low, fully dimmed: 100 lumens, 10.5 hours, 7 m — NEBO published specification
- Red high: 15 lumens, 12 hours — NEBO published specification
- Red low: 2 lumens, 30 hours — NEBO published specification
- Battery: Flex-Power: included rechargeable pack or D cells — NEBO published specification
- Weight: 0.5 lb — NEBO published specification
- Water rating: Water and impact resistant; no IP figure published — NEBO published specification
Skip this one if
you want a lantern for camping in the rain. Without a published IP rating, plan on keeping it under cover.
Buy it if: a kitchen table during a storm, and the shelf it lives on the rest of the year.
- Output 7.5
- Battery 7.5
- Build 7.0
- Usability 8.0
- Overall 7.5
We show a price only when we have pulled a live one. #ad How we earn
How we ranked these
Published output over live price, battery architecture, published ratings and usability, weighted toward work-lighting characteristics and toward lights that run on ordinary cells, since site lights spend long periods unused in cold vehicles.
Units we claim to have tested: 0
Every publisher in this category says they tested twenty flashlights. We have not tested any, and we say so. What we do instead: compile the manufacturer's own published ANSI FL1 figures, pull the price the light is selling for right now, and divide one by the other. Every number on this page is one you can check yourself in about two minutes.
We do not publish a stock list for this retailer. Assortments change week to week and store to store, and a list written today would be wrong by the time you read it. What does not change is how to read the shelf, and that is what this page is for.
Common questions
Is a building-supply store a good place to buy a flashlight?
For work lighting, yes: flood panels, magnetic bar lights and area lights are what the aisle is built around, and being able to handle one before buying matters for a tool. For pocket lights and for best value per dollar, the direct-selling brands that lead our rankings have no physical distribution at all.
How do I compare a store price against an online one?
Compare specifications rather than lumen figures. Note the runtime for the mode below the headline one, the cell format, and the water rating — then find an online light with those same three attributes and compare prices. Add the value of an in-person return, which is real and which no online price includes.
How many lumens do I actually need?
For walking a dog, finding a fuse box or reading a map, 100 to 300 lumens is plenty and will run far longer. For a garage, a yard or a campsite, 500 to 1,000 lumens is comfortable. Above about 2,000 lumens you are buying a burst rather than a mode, because almost no handheld light can shed that much heat continuously.
Sources
- NEBO published product specifications — mode-by-mode lumen, runtime and beam figures, read 2026-09-01
- Streamlight published product specifications — per-mode lumens, runtime, beam distance, impact and IP ratings, read 2026-09-01
- Lumen & Ledger method — how every figure on this page is derived
Who writes this
Scooter M. — I am an enthusiast who is genuinely into this. I read the manuals, compile the published specs, and do the math. No lab coat, no test bench, no drawer of free samples. What I can tell you is exactly what a light claims on paper, exactly what it costs right now, and what those two numbers mean when you divide one by the other.
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