LED lights

[jurjen]

LED ligths seem to be more common on the market recently (e.g. Hella), and power consumption of course is very low.

Does anybody have any experience in using LED lights for interior lighting?

Thanks !!!!!

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[snowleopard]

met some yanks who had converted and thought they were the bees knees. after the initial outlay it's all good, long life, minimal current

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[salamicollie]

I use LED Clusters designed for motorway signs for night time lighting - I've considered the "white" LEDs for interior but you seem to need quite a few for a reasonable light.

Still the technology is improving rapidly

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[Metabarca]

details of costs, web sites, current consumption, anyone?

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[Chris_Robb]

White lights still very weak - apparently they have now got some much brighter experimental ones coming soon. So not worth doing yet,

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[Plum]

source of LED \"bulbs\"

try this: http://www.theledlight.com/ledbulbs.html#menu or this one http://www.ledtronics.com/
I have a white LED head torch that gives a very adequate white light that is perfect for working on deck in the dark. I also use it hung up for reading in the cabin. The above website shows LED replacements for standard incandescent bulbs, but thet are still a bit expensive.

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[gunnarsilins]

I´ve been using LED´s...

...for giving some guidance light above chart table, the heads and in the galley. Good for making a cup of coffee without destroying your night vision.
These lights can be left on when sailing in darkness without bothering about battery drain.

But one important thing!!!

If you have LED´s with internal resistors suitable for direct connection to 12 volts, they might be destroyed if you have a high charging voltage (> 14 volts) when running the engine.

If calculating, and adding a resistor by our own, this higher voltage must be taken in account.

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[mica]

There were some advertised in 'All at Sea', I think they were a cluster of LED's that fit into a bayonet fitting.

Regards,
Mica

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[Plum]

who/what is "all at sea"?

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[snowleopard]

All at Sea is a freebie newspaper found in marinas & chandlers.

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[charles_reed]

I've been using these for some time as front and rear lights on my bike and great they are to.
However..
They operate within very narrow voltage limits,
They are currently very expensive
The state-of-art manufacture is in the stage of log growth

I'll make do with tungsten halogen, about 10% of the price and 1/3 the efficiency, but infinitely better than the edison bulbs most are still using.

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[AlanPound]

If you *do* make them up yourself, a number of LEDs may be run in series (check the typical voltage drop ~ Red is often around 2V or so, other colours may be different).

Use enough LEDs to use up around 10V, then two small transistors and two resistors can be used in the classic 'current source' configuration, which will keep the current through the chain constant, regardless of how the terminal voltage rises (the only thing to be observed is the dissipation in the current source when the volts are at 15V say...)

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