Getting a good grill light for your cooker is the best way to keep your barbecue going late into the night. It can help you keep you going when low light or the elements are working against you. Our guide will show you where to start your search for the best LED grill-mounted light.
There aren’t many moments in life purer than enjoying grilling food in the evening sun. But why should the sun going down mean the end of your barbecue?
At a glance: Our Top 5 Picks
With no natural light coming your way, that can often mean that you’re left with no choice but to pack up and hope for the best tomorrow.
Luckily there’s an easy solution in the form of grill lights.
While not standard issue with most BBQ grills, they make a great add-on accessory. The very best grill lights can help you keep the grill going for a bit longer, long after the sun has set.
LED barbecue lights usually come in the form of an attachable mobile light that you simply clip on to the side of your grill chamber or to any table surface nearby.
Their LED bulb provides brilliant white light, giving you a clear view of your grill surface and meat so you know exactly when your food is done.
They work great for any type of grill, including smokers and pellet grills.
Their portability makes them great for taking camping, RV grilling, or even as an emergency torch.
In this article I’ll walk you through my top 5 picks for best grill light, as well as what to look out for when choosing your new LED grill light.
Cave Tools
We’re kicking off this list with one of the most popular grill lights out there.
This light sits comfortably on the handle component of almost any grill, and is designed so that whenever you need to lift the lid on the grill the light is positioned above you with the light firmly positioned on your grill surface.
It provides 105 lumens of light across its 10 LEDs to provide a flood pattern of light.
The light is built to stand up to heats of 350°F, making it suitable for being sat next to your grill. It’s also water resistant, so should be able to withstand the elements should the weather start to play havoc at your barbecue.
It has a swivel function, allowing it to move over a full 180°F so that you can position it as you need, and point it anywhere across the surface of your grill.
The screw clamp can fit on grill handles of diameter up to 1.45 inches, and doesn’t get in the way of you using the handle itself.
It has three adjustable brightness settings, which you simply switch between.
It comes with 3 AA batteries included, and can run for up to 18 hours of continuous use.
Highlights:
- Light pattern gives enough coverage to cover an average sized 4-burner grill
- Good battery life – up to 18 hours of continuous use
- Can attach to almost any kind of handle
- 190° adjustable to help you light up any area of your grill
- Can withstand high temperatures, making it perfect as a grill light
- Water resistant enough to stand up to the elements
LED Concepts Super Bright
One of the LED Concepts’ best features is its dual purpose base. You can either clamp it on using its C-clamp – similar to a lot of the other lights on this list – or you can use its magnetic base to fix it in place.
This gives you so much more flexibility with the light as you’re no longer bound by whether there’s a handle or table nearby to fix the light to, and instead in most cases you will be able to simply place the magnetic base on the grill lid.
Its adjustable gooseneck is 22 inches in length, which allows you to adjust the focus of the light to however you need it. You can even turn it to a full 360 degrees, so no angle is off limits.
Its fully weather-proof, so will be able to stand up to the elements should the weather take a turn for the worse.
Its light beam is quite narrow so its overall light pattern isn’t as wide or broad as some of the other grill lights on this list, but with its 360° neck you should still be able to adjust the light on whatever you need to focus on.
Highlights:
- 360° adjustable gooseneck
- Magnetic base allows for easy setup
- High heat resistance
- Weather-proof
Weber Grill Out Table Light
The Weber brand tends to be one of the most reliable out there, and this grill table light is no different.
Built upon a sturdy C-clamp, the LED lights are housed within a gooseneck structure for easy adjustments.
The problem here is that the gooseneck is quite short, which makes it hard to make full use of the adjustments that you can normally make with necks of this type. As a result you will have to be careful with where you fix your light, making sure that you are not depriving yourself of light across any point of your grill.
Its C-clamp means that it’s also restricted with where you can fix it, however it offers good width to allow it to sit upon most grill handles, table edges, or shelves.
Installation aside, its light performance is excellent. It has 3 LEDs that can offer up to 10,000 hours of use, and offers more than enough light to keep you grilling after hours.
All in all, a great budget grill light.
Highlights:
- Flexible gooseneck for easy light adjustment
- Sturdy C-clamp mount to fit on most surface edges and handles
Chef Buddy Adjustable LED
This peculiar-looking light looks more like a set of binoculars, but don’t let that put you off. This is an impressive grill light.
Its dual light fixtures packs in 3 LED lights each making this one of the most powerful lights on this list.
The binocular shaped lights sit upon a gooseneck fixture for easy tweaking, and can pivot a full 360 degrees.
There’s so much to like here about the main light that it’s a disappointing shame that the fixture it’s built upon lets it down a little bit.
It’s not magnetic and it’s not C-clamp, but rather a strange clamp design that is awkward and difficult to attach to most shelves or table edges. It has an infuriating spring design that is fine on most horizontal surfaces, but if you try to attach it to handles or vertical edges then you might run into trouble.
Highlights:
- Powerful light thanks to its total 6 LEDs
- 360° adjustable gooseneck
KOSIN Magnetic Base
On the face of it, these small lights may only have one LED each, however don’t be fooled: This little thing packs in a hell of a punch.
Each of the two lights you get in a pack have enough power to light up your entire grill, all while being small enough to not get in the way.
They’re built upon a magnetic base, allowing you to place them anywhere across your grill or chamber lid, and they have 360° goosenecks to allow you to adjust them however you need.
As a nice touch, they also come with batteries included.
Highlights:
- 360° adjustable gooseneck
- Magnetic base for maximum versatility
- Small enough to place anyway
- AA batteries included
Important features
As with any other accessories for your grill, you must know what features to look out for to get a functional grill light that will serve your needs. Here are some of those features.
Gooseneck vs. handle mounted light
Light is essential if you will be doing outdoor cooking at night. While a general porch light or backyard light may provide light for the grill, it is not specific for the grill and may not give you the focused lighting you want. Lights specifically made for the grill will help you see better as you cook.
Here are some of the differences. Gooseneck lights are designed just as you would expect from the name. They are designed to resemble a goose’s neck. You will find that you can place the light on the grill and the magnetic base in most cases.
The light attaches at the end of a neck that bends over to illuminate what is in the grill. You can adjust the neck attachment. A handle-mounted light is fixed onto the handle of the grill. This way, when you open the grill, the light shines on the grill and illuminates the food.
Gooseneck lights will require a surface to be mounted on, and they can be adjusted. The handle-mounted lights will need a handle to be attached to the grill. As such, you will need to make sure that the handle is compatible with the light. Another difference is that gooseneck light covers a wider area. In contrast, the handle-mounted light shines light down onto the grill directly.
We recommend a gooseneck light for the simple reason that it covers a larger area and that it is adjustable. You can bend it in different directions. This makes life more comfortable when you are using a large grill.
It also means that you will not need to constantly switch between lights when you change to a larger grilling area. Spotlighting, such as what you get with handle-mounted lights, can be great when you are grilling for a small number of people, and you don’t have food across the grill.
Brightness/LED
The brightness level of light is an important feature to consider on the light you will get for your grill. It can make all the difference between brands and models. You want to go for a light that has higher lumens. The higher the lumens, the brighter the light. And you want to get the brightest light possible because it can get quite dark under the hood of your grill and outdoor cooking at night.
Grill lights usually produce between 50 and 120 lumens. The more lumens per watt, the less it will cost you to run the light and also the longer it will run on a single charge. Knowing the number of lumens it uses will help you measure its efficiency.
You can also check on the light’s brightness level by checking on the light’s LED count. The lower this number, the duller the light will be.
Power source
In most cases, grill light bulbs are powered by batteries. While you can plug in some, you will find that most will run on double-A batteries or triple-A batteries. When batteries power the light, it is usually more portable, and you can move around with the light more than with the plug-in version. This means that you can use the battery-powered light when you are on the go, in the wild, or anywhere far from a power source.
Heat resistance
Now, this feature is a little prominent and more like preaching to the choir. You cannot have a barbeque grill accessory that is not heat resistant. Otherwise, you will have a melting light on your hands.
Check on the materials the light is made of, and ensure that it can handle heat well. You also want to make sure that the heat does not damage the light. Remember that its sole purpose is to light up the grill when it is in full swing, so it, therefore, goes without saying that heat cannot be its kryptonite.
Magnetic base
The type of mount on the light also counts a great deal. A magnetic base is usually ideal in that you do not need to have a particular place to mount it. As long as there is a metal (which your grill will be made of), you are home and dry. You will be able to mount the light just about anywhere, and you will be able to move it around as you see fit so that you get the maximum amount of light on the grill.
It also means that you have the freedom to put the light in a place that is out of your way, where you will not knock down the light as you work. It is easy to use. However, you need to make sure that it is of good quality and also that it will stick to the metal with no issues. The last thing you want is the light falling or being knocked down because the magnet is weak.
Heat emission
Another feature that you also want to make sure that you look for a light that does not emit heat on its own. There is already a lot of heat coming from the grill, so you will not need to add onto that and create a harder working environment.
Water resistance
Your grill is an outdoor appliance that is vulnerable to weather elements and moisture. As you cook, moisture is an inevitable part of the process. You are bound to meet up with it at some point. As such, you want to make sure that the light you get can stand against it and waterproof. So whether it’s moisture from cooking or the weather, you want to make sure that the light is adequately protected or that it will not get damaged.
