Lighting Styles has sold illuminated shaving and vanity mirrors for a number of years and one common question is the availability of battery operated mirrors. So why would a battery operated shaving mirror be required? Ease of installation means a battery illuminated mirror can just be screwed to the wall and switched on. No electrician is required and any existing decoration and wall tiles are not disturbed by the need to channel out the wall to provide and electrical supply.
However the high energy usage of halogen and fluorescent lamps made them impractical to operate on batteries – the batteries simply would not operate the lamps for a long enough period of time or would give insufficient light to make them worthwhile. Once high output LED lamps became available their energy efficient use of electricity and their requirement for a low voltage DC supply made them ideal for use on batteries.

So with new technology providing a low energy light source Lighting Styles went through a design exercise to make the most practical and stylish design for a mirror that would use the LED light source. The first requirement was to have a mirror that gave a magnified image. Popular levels of magnification for use in vanity and shaving mirrors are 3x and 5 x magnification. This level of magnification makes it easier to apply make-up with accuracy and enable a close shave that doesn’t miss hairs in more awkward places.

Also in the design process was the requirement for the mirror to be flexible enough for use by all member of the family. So the design was based around a vertical rail that allows the height of the mirror to be raised or lowered to suit users of different height. Other practical design requirements include the ability to bring the mirror closer to the user and make it easy to fold away so an arm is used that brings the mirror 150mm forward for close-up work. Next to suit all bathroom layouts the design incorporated a ball joint that allowed the mirror to tilt and rotate so that the user can see a clear image when using the battery operated mirror.

With the design aesthetics of the battery shaving mirror in place the practicalities of providing the best light source was considered. Behind the magnified glass is a printed circuit board with 36 “T” type LED chips that emit light to the side where a opaque plastic ring surrounding the mirror catches the light an illuminates the face. Another practical requirement for a battery operated shaving mirror is ensuring long battery life and consideration was given to how this would be achieved. After careful trials Lighting styles discovered that incorporating an automatic timer into the on switch would be a good and reliable way of ensuring the mirror was not left on after use. Many of us are in a rush in the morning so it would be a mistake to make a battery operated mirror that does not automatically switch itself off! This function saves the batteries and ensures long time between battery replacements. Lastly a few other improvements were made including a soft push button that switches the lights on and allows for three levels of brightness.

Now you can have a stylish battery operated mirror in your bathroom that is made from sturdy steel with a polished chrome finish with a glass mirror illuminated by LED lights.

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