</font><font color="blue" class="small">( In the past I have removed the negative cable from the battery post and put that light between the cable and the post. That gives you an indication of any draw on the battery if it glows. )</font>
Technically, that procedure verifies the presence or absence of voltage on ground to narrow down the reason for a chronic low or dead battery condition. I prefer a multimeter, because occasionally voltage to ground is not a level sufficient to make a bulb glow. I've found some shorts trickling as little as 1 volt to ground, which unfortunately ain't gonna show up on a 12v bulb.
Voltage on ground is normal when an electrical device is purposely energized - because without ground, a DC circuit will not complete. But sometimes loose wires, frayed insulation, or simply a defective device can complete the circuit somewhere other than (or in addition to) through a switch. When the alternator is doing a good job of keeping the battery topped up, this type of short often goes undetected. They do their dirty work when the engine is not running.
It's when you come out several mornings in a row - only to find a dead or low battery again - that this little test comes in handy; to determine if it's actually because of a ground fault somewhere, or because the battery simply isn't charging during the run cycle any more.
//greg//