LED Light replacement...

S

Scubadoo

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 May 2001
Messages
2,025
Location
Hampshire / Solent
Visit site
After last weekend nearly draining the battery because of lights being left on with other items etc, I started thinking about replacing my 10watt+ bulbs with LED (apporx. 1.3watt) on my Sealine.

Has anyone replaced Festoon/Dome type bulbs with LED as shown on the website: http://www.bedazzled.uk.com/12v_LED_Bulb_Replacement.htm

And if you did, did you fit a transients voltage thingy (Voltage spike) protection, seems to come up on various websites saying it is should be fitted to prevent a risk of fire.

Any comments and recommendations greatfully received :)
 
I bought the "warm white" LED's from Bedazzled - about 10 of 'em.
I've since bought about 8 more from another LED provider but not the warm white variety.
It's a more harsh bright white light and the two don't mix. I've had to use them in different areas.
Bedazzled were not the cheapest.
 
DAKA said:
I changed about 1/3 of my bulbs for use at anchor but I wouldnt change all of them, the light colour just doesnt give the right ambience.

can be found very cheap on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bright-White-...9927706?pt=UK_Light_Bulbs&hash=item3363eed19a
Click to expand...

Those are 'bright white' - not warm white, and will look very blue and cold - also they are less than 1W so the output will be very poor. - You need at least 2.6W warm white LED's - I have them throughout the boat and they are very good.
 
We changed all of the halogen lighting on our Sealine for "bright" light 21 LED bulbs.The light is a brighter, some may say harsher light, but we actually prefer it. It may not be to everyones taste however.

We bought 10 for £18 from some ebay shop based in Hong Kong. They seem to be doing the job quite well and we have had no problems with them since fitting them a few months ago. Wether they stand the test of time, we will have to wait and see.
 
alt said:
Does anyone have some pics of the 'warm white' LED's in use?
Click to expand...

I haven't any pictures, and think it may be difficult to re-produce the colour balance, but next time you are down on Derg, give me a shout and you can come look at them. I think you will be surprised how good they are.
 
mjf said:
Can these be dimmed like halogen can?
Click to expand...

Not as far as I am aware, but I have 6 in the saloon area, 2 on one switch and 4 on another allowing me to select 2, 4 or 6 depending on how much light I want - Normally 2 for watching TV, or 4 at other times - I rarely use all 6.
 
There is more to light than brightness and colour temperature, though obviously you need to have those two things right to create the right ambience. There is a characteristic called CRI (colour rendering index) which is measurable though difficult to describe. It is what gives the nice ambience that you get with halogen lights. Daylight is 100% CRI and halogens are very high 90s. If you fit nasty LEDs with mid-high 80s CRI it makes everything look flat, textures not brought out, headache inducing to some people. Yuk

Problem is, many of these cheapie Chinese LED bulbs you can buy now are too low CRI and make everything look horribly flat. Very high CRI LED lighting is available (eg from Enfis) but it is very expensive

So FWIW I'd suggest the following if doing your boat in LEDs:

1. Don't buy the cheap online stuff unless you are happy with low CRI, or it's for insides of wardrobes and utility areas
2. If buying the cheap stuff buy several spares becuase failure rates might be high and each batch might have a different colour temp so it will look bad if you have to replace just one with a bulb from a different batch
3. For living areas look at suppliers who quote full data incl CRI, like Cantalupi, and choose high CRI

My personal choice is to put LEDs inside wardrobes and some utility areas where low CRI is bearable, and in applications like moodlighting and decklighting where cold white looks good and CRI doesn't matter (imho), but retain halogen in living areas where ambience and CRI matters. In a few years there will be better LEDs at somewhat sane prices so I might change the living areas to LED then.

You can dim LEDs with the right drivers. These work using high speed switching transistors that switch the LED on/off zillions of times a second, and when dimming the lights you are actually altering the switching frequency

The above is my broad understanding, but I'm not a light specialist (unlike some others on here) so I'm quite happy to stand corrected if anyone wants to add/change the above :-)
 
Try Searolf.
They are amazingly fast, reasonably priced...a 6 LED unit for 7 quid and 12 LED for 11.
Go for the warm white.....3000K colour temp. Pick a brighter one than you think is needed!

Have just swopped all mine. Brilliant.
 
LED safe or not?....

Thanks everyone for your comments, however after reading this on the bedazzled website I wonder what is correct and safe, what do you make of this statemement:

NEWS FLASH: The USA have just brought out new legislation covering LED bulbs which require all bulbs to have a "current limiting" device to protect against the risk of fire! Europe is at the draft stage of similar legislation - to our knowledge Bedazzled is the only company in Europe (and possibly the world) to already meet this level of protection with all of our low voltage LED bulbs!

Like all other cabled electronic equipment connected to a powerful source (e.g. leisure batteries), LED bulbs should also be internally FUSED! This protects you, your boat, caravan or motorhome from any risk of fire in the event of the internal voltage regulator or current driver failing. It also ensures that if one bulb fails short circuit, it doesn't turn all your lights off when your main trip/fuse opens!

And this bit of research from them: http://www.bedazzled.uk.com/Downloads/Special_Consideration_for_LEDs.pdf
 
Scubadoo said:
Thanks everyone for your comments, however after reading this on the bedazzled website I wonder what is correct and safe, what do you make of this statemement:

NEWS FLASH: The USA have just brought out new legislation covering LED bulbs which require all bulbs to have a "current limiting" device to protect against the risk of fire! Europe is at the draft stage of similar legislation - to our knowledge Bedazzled is the only company in Europe (and possibly the world) to already meet this level of protection with all of our low voltage LED bulbs!

Like all other cabled electronic equipment connected to a powerful source (e.g. leisure batteries), LED bulbs should also be internally FUSED! This protects you, your boat, caravan or motorhome from any risk of fire in the event of the internal voltage regulator or current driver failing. It also ensures that if one bulb fails short circuit, it doesn't turn all your lights off when your main trip/fuse opens!

And this bit of research from them: http://www.bedazzled.uk.com/Downloads/Special_Consideration_for_LEDs.pdf
Click to expand...

I got mine from him over a year ago, and back then he supplied two electronic 'bits' that he suggested you fit with the bulb for added safety.
I think that now these components are built in to make it easier to install them.
Give him a ring - I did when I got mine as it was a lot of cash for something I wasn't 100% certain of. - He is easy to talk to and I found him both knowledgeable and honest.
 
We replaced all our internal lighitng with Warm White LED's from Ultraleds... (They have a mixed reputation but no problems for us..) this after trialling a couple of different bulbs and colours....

We got pretty much the most powerfull G4's available.... and the colour is almost identical to the bulbs we replaced...

Light intensity is better, more directional... and the missus likes the colour... I can run all the lights on the boat and use less than one previously..

Very pleased.

Cruise this summer it was noticable how much more power I appeared to have... never had a issue.

Try a few bulbs before settling on one... and as JFM suggests for for a good supplier with backup. If you are gonna buy from China on Ebay... dont be surprised if you get rubbish.
 
Slightly off track, we were in IKEA last week and I spotted 4w Warm White LED's to replace 240v x 50w Halogen in ceilng lamps in my wifes studio. Cost £9. They are as good as the Halogen 52w and I was most impressed. There are 16 x 50w Halogens in the studio so not cheap to replace but should save money in the long run, and they run much cooler. I'll get a few more each time I'm passing and gradually replace them all.
 
PetiteFleur said:
Slightly off track, we were in IKEA last week and I spotted 4w Warm White LED's to replace 240v x 50w Halogen in ceilng lamps in my wifes studio. Cost £9. They are as good as the Halogen 52w and I was most impressed. There are 16 x 50w Halogens in the studio so not cheap to replace but should save money in the long run, and they run much cooler. I'll get a few more each time I'm passing and gradually replace them all.
Click to expand...


Won't save you mutch as it's the wifes studio. She'll put in a fan heater to replace the heat she's no longer getting from the Halogens.
 
I replaced normal bulbs with LEDs on my last boat in the 2004 refurb. Since then the festoon types have got a lot better and cheaper, and directional, so that the light goes straight out of the ceiling fitting and does not have to bounce off a reflector like a conventional bulb.

Ordinary LED bulbs with bayonet fittings are more for the automotive market, and tend to be directional with a typical 35 degree angle. They are ideal for passageways and perhaps as reading lights. They have much better colour than when i fitted them in 2004, they were then too blue. More like daylight today and again much cheaper. Not one bulb fitted in 2004 has failed, but one has lost 2 out of 15 leds, and which make virtually no difference.
 
Talulah said:
Won't save you mutch as it's the wifes studio. She'll put in a fan heater to replace the heat she's no longer getting from the Halogens.
Click to expand...

She does that anyway - during the cold snap in December the underfloor heating was on + the fan heater + an oil filled heater...........
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top