cabin led lights

[chubby]

Thinking of replacing existing with LED as brighter, longer lasting and lower current, we have the usual assortment of strip lights, rounded lights and bunk head lights you would expect on a 1970s boat, so options: leave alone and dig the garden, replace bulbs with led if available, replace whole units or stick on a few self adhesive battery powered LED units where needed and buy a bag of AA batteries?

by the way still thinking of the waterline mood lighting LEDs we saw on the MOBOs in Berthons when we were last there but that`s another story!

 

[jwilson]

Last winter replaced most lights (except port/starboard nav) with LEDs mostly bought from China on Ebay or Banggood, all still work fine, a few got rejected as too bluish but at the price cheap enough to throw away and order different. A mix of 42mm festoons, G4, G11 and BA15S sockets.

Main saloon lighting using 3w warm white LEDs not quite as bright as a the original (total 10 lights) mostly 20 watt halogen capsules, but much battery-kinder and a very usable warm light.

 

[prv]

I would discount both the dig-the-garden and the battery options, which leaves replacing the bulbs and installing whole new fittings. I've done a combination of both on Ariam - which makes sense will depend on location and how much you like the existing fittings. There are drop-in replacements for most standard bulbs, and even if not you can probably mount an LED light source inside the fitting with a bit of glue etc and then wire it to the supply. Whereas in other places (for example, underneath upper lockers in the galley) a stick-on LED strip may be ideal.

I have such a strip running around the top of my engine bay, wired via a cupboard-door switch on the access hatch. So as soon as I open it up, the whole space is bathed in bright shadow-free light which makes working in there so much nicer. In the galley is another LED strip, but in a more substantial fitting a bit like a thin fluorescent. In the saloon I have a UK-made replacement "bulb" (actually more of a panel shape) in the existing overhead light, and I also have some rather nice complete fittings, very kindly donated to my by JFM of the mobo forum as surplus to requirements on his baby superyacht. The chart table light was home-made by milling out an offcut of polycarbonate (resulting in a frosted appearance) and fitting cheap LED strip in both red and white; a small panel nearby provides a dimmer and switches between the two colours.

Worth noting that there some cheap LEDs put out a truly horrible light (while other cheap ones can be perfectly acceptable, and more expensive ones should be excellent). So if you end up with nasty light from a cheap replacement bulb, don't assume that's just how LEDs are - swap it for a different and hopefully better one. My forepeak is currently using some rather nasty (but very cheap) replacement bulbs in the existing fittings, which I will hopefully get round to replacing this winter.

Pete

 

[Strolls]

… replace bulbs with led if available, replace whole units …

A thread on the mobo forum a few weeks ago makes a convincing case for replacing the whole unit, if you want to do a proper (i.e. not cheap) job of it.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?439935

 

[richardbrennan]

Replaced all the interior and most of the exterior bulbs with LEDs from Boatlamps and I am very pleased with the result. Their website is very informative and they are equally helpful if you talk to them on the phone. They might not be the cheapest but, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for!

 

[MOBY2]

Hopefully getting an electrician to give me a quote for re-wiring the boat and was also thinking of doing as much in LED as possible... will pick his brains and put up anything that may be helpful to anyone... from the little research I have done it does seem as the previous post suggests... you gets what you pay for.

 

[Halo]

I agree you should be looking to improve the illumination as well as saving power when fitting leds. You can also think a bit radically and use light strips such as those at
https://www.led-lighthouse.co.uk/led-strip-lights/white-led-strip-lights-12v (no connection)
I selected warm white (about 3000K) and was delighted with the result which fitted in well with the wooden panelling. I find 4000K too blue except for in the head.
I put the striplights behind the grab rail which goes down the length of the saloon and this gives a good uplighting effect.
A personal rule of thumb is that if you multiply the power cosumption by ten than that will give the equivalent light output of incandescent bulbs (so 10 watts = about the same as a 100w light bulb). The more scientific way is with lumens but the fittings seem to effect the net result quite a lot if you are re using old lamp holders.
You can get a 12v voltage stabaliser from Maplin or on tinternet. This will prevent voltage surges and high power levels causing damage when running the engine.
Definately recommend leds below decks. Still getting my head round other applications (except mooring light) which is a no brainer.
It now seems cost effective to get leds for home lighting also

 

[dunedin]

Replaced all the interior and most of the exterior bulbs with LEDs from Boatlamps and I am very pleased with the result. Their website is very informative and they are equally helpful if you talk to them on the phone. They might not be the cheapest but, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for!

Did the same. All good so far

 

[ex-Gladys]

I put LEDs in Gladys in 2006. At that point all I could get was ready made Labcraft Orbits, which were very cold, compared with what's available today. Over the last couple of years, I'Ve gone back through the boat and replaced most of them with conventional interior lights with LED bulbs, mainly from boat lamps, and always warm white. Really happy with the results, and not worrying about switching them off

 

[Mud]

As other posters have said, I'd go for the 'warm white' ones. Much more cozy than the 'cool white' ones.

I also experimented with waterproof RGB 5050 LED strips, which worked with a remote control. Although I could turn my boat into a discotheque ( or whatever kids use nowadays), the lights didn't last long in the marine environment.

 

[DannyB]

I changed all my tungsten halogen lamps for LEDs, and while the light is great, I have had problems with the switches in the fittings. These are miniature toggle switches in the rim of the fitting. I suspect the small current pulled by the LED lamp causes the contacts to get dirty. I'm getting quite good at taking the switch apart and cleaning the contacts but it's a fiddly job. I don't remember having to do it when I used halogen lamps.

 

[maxi77]

I have used ebay leds of a wide variety types with generaly good success. W5w ones have given the most problems and some mr11 lamps from China have g5.3 bases rather than g4. In general I find a factor of 6-10 gives acceptable results

 

[Boathook]

I just replaced bulbs and got them from http://www.boatlamps.co.uk/index.html The 'owner' is a forum member and does post here and and answers any queries.

 

[William_H]

This little guy from Banggood is really quite bright and small enough to fit in any fitting.
http://www.banggood.com/10W-Warm-Pure-White-High-Brightest-Save-Power-LED-Light-Lamp-p-88169.html
You would need to solder wires to it. However note the voltage rating is 9 to 12v so it needs a resistor of about 3 ohm of several watts rating in series to make it safer for 15v charge voltage. The other down side is that it is so powerful it needs a heat sink. ie bolted to a bit of aluminium. This depending on just what power you run it at. ie what sized resistor. Could have switch for bright or less bright light.
This Chip on board technology seems brilliant in terms of excluding moisture and of transmitting heat out of the LED.
This paticular chip seems to be the same one as used in flood light so can be very bright although I think in this case only inb cold white. good luck olewill

 

[Yngmar]

I'm just replacing my interior lights. I've started by trying various LED replacements in the existing Halogen G4 fittings, and while that worked, it wasn't great - the lights were always a bit dim for my taste and there is only so much room in there (the best I found were the coin shaped ones). The other thing that bothered me about the existing lights was that they were protruding quite a bit, making me bang my head on them where otherwise I have standing height in my main cabin.

So I went on a long search for replacements at a reasonable cost, a requirement most boaty lamps did not match. Finally found them - I'm very pleased with my new ceiling and reading lights from Dream Lighting (available in the UK via Amazon). I've replaced all 8 ceiling lights with these (5''White Shell with Switch, Warm White Lighting). They're vastly brighter than either the Halogen or G4 LED bulbs, are splash proof and best of all are super slim, so I no longer bang my head on them. There was a bulk discount on Amazon at the time and I paid just under £15 each (photos of them in place).

Being so pleased with these, I immediately looked at what Dream Lighting had available when it came to replacing the aft cabin reading lights and ended up buying this pair (Frosted Glass lampshade-Warm White Lighting). Again very pleased with them (photos of old and new).

This leaves a few corners where there are currently CFL lamps (with the chrome peeling off the plastic). For the Nav station I'd like a flexible red/white LED lamp (must remember to ask a friend where he got his, as I rather fancy his model over what the chandlers currently stock). For the galley/head I will probably convert the existing CFL with red/white (day white) LED strips, although in my experiments so far I've not found a white strip that is bright enough for the job. I've also converted a CFL light PO had added (because the Halogens weren't bright enough) into a red LED strip - photos of the process can be seen here.

 

[Chris_Robb]

Just a quick pointer to newcomers to LEDs.

The colour of the light is referred to as a Kelvin (K) factor ie the equivalent heat of a tungsten filiament . The higher the figure the whiter or colder the light is. I would use for living areas Warm white - the warmest available is 2700K for sitting areas - and 3000K for working areas - both will do - but I think 3000K a little harsh - but still acceptable over white -( 4-5000K) and cool white Pretty horrid (6-7000K) Horrid Horrid!


Not all sellers quote this - if they don't know, don't buy.

 

[xhurleyman]

Hello Gents, I too have replaced all my internal lights with replacement LED's which fit into the existing units whether they are bayonet or torpedo shaped. Adrian Jones of Boatlamps tel. 07970074667 is extremely knowledgeable and very helpful. As another member has said, his bulbs are not cheap but they are fit for purpose not like some rubbish out there. Kevin

 

[akyaka]

Replaced all the interior and most of the exterior bulbs with LEDs from Boatlamps and I am very pleased with the result. Their website is very informative and they are equally helpful if you talk to them on the phone. They might not be the cheapest but, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for!

+1 for Boatlamps. Super personal service and understands marine requirements. Cannot think how we managed before fitting the auto LED anchor light.

 

[Spyro]

Replaced all my festoon bulbs with cheepies from ebay several years ago. They cost pennies, only one failed and it was a dry joint on the board fixed in 2 mins with a bit of soldering. The rest are as bright as the day I put them in. I can now confidently leave lights on and now worry about using up loads of battery juice.

 

[Steve Clayton]

All my 12v G4's and strips replaced
via Ledhut.
Excellent luminence and service