LED lamps in Europe?

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dinwood

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Joined
11 Feb 2007
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130
Location
European coast
www.inwoods.org
Does anyone know how to get hold of good LED lamps in mainland Europe? My favourite supplier (Ultraleds.co.uk) won't ship to a marina outside the UK.
(by "good" I mean high brightness for low cost!)
 
Found this on there site.


Shipping International:

All International Orders will be sent fully insured - fast shipping by either Royal Mail International or courier.

Europe:

* Up to 100 g £6.250 +VAT
* Up to 500g £8.750 +VAT
* Up to 750g £12.95 +VAT
* Up to 1 Kilo £14.45 +VAT
* Up to 31 kilos £20.00 +VAT
 
How do you equate LED brightness to incandescent watts - for example, replacing 15w sbc/ba15d with LEDs ? All I can find is different numbers of LEDs is various kinds of configuration. Without actually buying and plugging in - how d'you tell? :confused:
 
High power LEDS are usually rated in Lumens, Incandescent lamps are rated in Candelas.
Not easy to compare because an incandescent lamp radiates in a spherical pattern, LEDS radiate from a single point.
LED lamps have different optics and diffusers, these give different perceived brightness for the same power.

Checkout Wikis on Lumens and Candelas.
It's a bit like comparing a bonfire with a torch, which is brightest ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_(unit)
 
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I'm finding I need over 300 lumen in an LED spot to be able to read by it. I choose warm white, and my most effective buy so far is 430 lumen from a 5 x 1W LED bulb in an MR16 form. They are expensive so I'm trying a cheaper version with a tighter spot next.
I'm about to try out some ceiling lights (G10 form), and my researches lead me to think I need over 100 lumen (from a 1.3W "bulb") to replace 10W halogens. I hope I'm right!.
Thanks to other respondents. The German supplier seems to be v good for nav lights, but not impressive for interior ones. Ultraleds seem to have decided not to ship to marinas in Europe, but are OK with a poste restaunte address.


Grehan said:
How do you equate LED brightness to incandescent watts - for example, replacing 15w sbc/ba15d with LEDs ? All I can find is different numbers of LEDs is various kinds of configuration. Without actually buying and plugging in - how d'you tell? :confused:
Click to expand...
 
When looking for LED bulbs I would recommend only searching for SMD (Surface Mounted Diode) bulbs. Sometimes called SMT (Surface Mounted Technology).
I have converted every bulb in our boat with warm white versions of these and find that they have a really good brightness to power consumption ration. They are also reliable, unlike the older style LED's.
I have also replaced the UV strips with sticky backed strips of these SMD bulbs which work great.
I have been buying LED bulbs for a few years now and have really noticed technology/reliability improving and prices dropping considerably. Beware there are many suppliers out there trying to get rid of yesterdays technology that they bought at yesterdays prices!
I(surprisingly) bought the last ones on e-Bay where I found the best prices.
 
Ooops... forgot to add. I would seriously recommend buying one of each bulb you are considering and then test them and order more of the ones you like. We have 3 different types of bulbs around our boat as some places you need a bright one and others a more romantic(!) one.
 
I use Aten lighting for my LED's in UK, they will ship anywhere.

Just as an aside, I now have the boat almost totally LED, and boy do they save a lot of leccy, wish I had done this before!
 
Led lamp

Grehan said:
How do you equate LED brightness to incandescent watts - for example, replacing 15w sbc/ba15d with LEDs ? All I can find is different numbers of LEDs is various kinds of configuration. Without actually buying and plugging in - how d'you tell? :confused:
Click to expand...

In my opinion if you want to replace a 15W halogen lamp, which produces about 200 250 lumen, you need a 3W LED lamp
 
We have had a bit of trouble with UltraLEDS, and it was during our trouble with them that they changed their attitude to sending stuff to overseas marinas and changed the wording on their website.
Basically, when we told them that our order hadn't come they told us they weren't going to send to yotties anymore! (Nor have they refunded the money.)

But we have had extremely good experience of a Fijian crowd called Bebi. They make what seems to us to be the best anchor light going (very bright, and with minimal power consumption), and they also make cabin lights.

(We have an article about LEDs on our website)

Jill
 
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Yacht Mollymawk said:
We have had a bit of trouble with UltraLEDS
Click to expand...

You're not alone there! Disgraceful customer service, I would have nothing to do with them. Many forumites have had to face abuse when experiencing problems with their products. I bought six festoon bulbs from them to replace incandescent types. The first one failed after an hour and the others progressively failed soon afterwards, so by the end of the cruising season none were left. Not wishing to be cursed over the phone I sent them all back with the original invoice and wrapping and a covering letter. Never even had a reply.
 
UltraLEDS

Just to round off this discussion, I've now received the bulbs & am using them.
There was a delay in getting them - I had to get a tracking number from UltraLEDs, which I got along with a downright rude message. I must find a new supplier; after years of supporting him I'm not going back willingly!
As the the bulbs: his "ultimate G4" bulbs (ceiling halogen replacements) claim to be equivalent to 15W: they are not, they are definately dimmer than the 10W bulbs they replaced. An expensive mistake, fostered by erroneous discription.
I got 2 types of MR16 spots, both good & bright. The 400 lumen ones are really bright, but are tight spots (small area illuminated). His "90 degree angle 330 lumen" bulbs are OK.
I'd love to find someone using the high brightness GEC components in a bulb (http://www.cp-lighting.co.uk/Lighting-Components/GE-VIO-LED-Chips-7-2W)
 
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