Nice LED interior lights (not replacement bulbs)?

P

prv

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 Nov 2009
Messages
37,358
Location
Southampton
Visit site
Ariam's saloon is rather ill-equipped with lights. There's a single overhead unit, two reading lights, and a badly-positioned spotlight in the galley - and that's it. The saloon is very dingy after sunset, so I need to add some more lights.

I find myself disliking most of the standard fittings, which seem to have been designed cheaply for 70s caravans and then churned out unchanged for decades. When I refitted Kindred Spirit, I rigged up an improvised lathe and manufactured eight wooden fittings from scratch because I couldn't find anything suitable. I was pleased with the results, but it was a huge faff and I have more important things to be doing this time round.

There are thousands of different models out there, and hundreds of people selling them, and I'm getting fed up with trawling through them. So, can anyone recommend some decent lights (area lights rather than spot / reading lights) or a supplier that has a good range?

(I'm very very tempted by the Alpenglow overhead model, but once you add delivery and customs it starts to get very spendy indeed, and I can't find a european supplier.)

Cheers,

Pete
 
prv said:
I find myself disliking most of the standard fittings,

There are thousands of different models out there, and hundreds of people selling them, and I'm getting fed up with trawling through them.
Click to expand...

+1

I await the suggestions with interest. (Also on the hunt for that mythical beast, the small, low profile 12v light switch - tasteful would be a bonus!).
 
If you have a head lining and are will ing to cut out a hole for a low profile light you might consider these.
http://www.banggood.com/8W-Square-C...m_content=vera&emst=EzQIH4eJFS_2062_704864_25
Now of course these are made for 240VAC supply but at the price you might be easily able to reconfigure the LEDs 3 at a time in series with a current limiting resistor to run on 12v. PS if yu do buy one and want help reconfiguring PM me.
good luck olewill
 
Lodesman77 said:
As for lights, I think following the contours of the boat with LED strip lighting is the way to go
Click to expand...

That works if you have an overhanging shelf / locker / piece of trim so that the LEDs themselves are invisible but their light shines down. I already have exactly this arrangement above the chart table (complete with dimmers and a strip of red LEDs if preferred) and in the engine bay, and plan to add more under some lockers which will illuminate part of the galley. But in the saloon there is nowhere to hide them, and just sticking the strips to the deckhead would look horrible.

William_H said:
If you have a head lining and are will ing to cut out a hole for a low profile light you might consider these.
http://www.banggood.com/8W-Square-C...m_content=vera&emst=EzQIH4eJFS_2062_704864_25
Click to expand...

I do have headlining, but it is very thin and fixed tight against the deck. No real possibility of recessing lights into it.

Pete
 
I had a similar issue with my Moody 33 and through a process of elimination and lucky out turns ended up using Vetus surface mount light fittings for conventional bulbs, but with led bulbs actually fitted. A forumite was selling the Vetus fittings at an attractive price and they were a similar size to the original ones fitted by Marine Projects. I tried both warm white and cold white bulbs from bedazzled and surprisingly the cold ones gave the nicest light in combination with the Vetus diffusers.
In the galley I have a led striplight fitting with a cowl to angle the light down to the worktop. I also have a couple of led reading lights over the settees as my eyes are getting a bit old now!
The boat is in Southampton but I won't be until February. If you are still interested then you are welcome to have a look.
 
IMO without doubt the best LED lights by a mile are made by Prebit. http://www.prebit.de/
UK dealer is Calibra Marine www.calibramarine.com.
Here is our saloon fitted with Prebit LED lights.
The down side is the price.
Interior_zps56f4d90f.jpg

2 wall lights on far bulkhead. 2 ceiling lights. One either side of mast support.
 
Try IKEA - a neighbour suggested we try an LED strip light to replace a florescent light fitting in our forward head that had failed. He had one that had not yet been fitted on his boat and it was exactly the right size so we went out and bought one. It came without the transformer ( an extra we didn't need anyway) so all we had to do was snip off the plug and wire into the existing circuit. The result is a much better warm light than the other florescent light as you can see from the picture - the IKEA light is the one on the right. The rather stylish brushed metal fitting is hidden behind the diffuser so can't be appreciated. Now all I need to do is to persuade the skipper to replace the other three in the heads but he won't as they all work still!
 

Attachments

  • P1030604.jpg
    P1030604.jpg
    85.2 KB · Views: 1
LittleSister said:
+1

I await the suggestions with interest. (Also on the hunt for that mythical beast, the small, low profile 12v light switch - tasteful would be a bonus!).
Click to expand...

+2.

I've been looking for the last 5 years and still can't find any product to fulfil what I consider to be a fairly straightforward set of requirements:-

Surface mounted (NOT recessed -for all sorts of reasons)
Boaty look - brass surround
Elegant & tasteful
Integral switch
Low profile, max 30mm
LED either warm or daylight white
Option of 2 way switch to red light

I'm staggered that despite the extraordinary possibilities with SMD LED's and modern electronics miniaturisation, there are no slimline surface mounted lights out there which fit the bill.
They all seem to be recessed (thereby not taking advantage of the inherent slimness of a SMD mounted on a circuit board, overall thickness easily less than 10mm, could be less than 5mm enabling the fitting overall to be less than 15-20mm).

The ones that are thin enough look tacky or cheap.

Out of desperation I've even considered setting up my own business!
It would appear I'm not alone in my quest for decent LED cabin / saloon lights. Which is some comfort, but I'd prefer to find a product!
 
Trundlebug said:
Surface mounted (NOT recessed -for all sorts of reasons)
Boaty look - brass surround
Elegant & tasteful
Integral switch
Low profile, max 30mm
LED either warm or daylight white
Option of 2 way switch to red light
Click to expand...

I think the Alpenglow light covers most of that. There's no brass, but the frame comes in a choice of woods.

Maybe you could set up a business as UK distributor? :)

Pete
 
I have got LED strip lights for Flora. Haven't fitted them yet, though when I do, they will look lovely. Ebay about £10. I ordered mine in warm white so the glow will match the LED traditional cabin lights fitted. FWIW, Tallulahs lights are lovely!

Ah, just read the bit about you having no overhang. My ceiling light is traditional teak, with cut glass, fitted with a warm white LED. About £25 from Marine Megastore - not on the website, but they did stock them

Di
 
Last edited:
As part of a total rewire, I have used these. Google B0060HI8OW. At the moment I have them fixed straight onto the headlining. I am fitting them in the stern cabin at the moment and experimenting with cutting the headlining and fixing them to the backing board in an effort to make them more "invisible". They come with a small plug on the cable to plug into a driver for mains use but I cut this off and they are wired direct to the boat's 12v supply. I have 6 cool white in the saloon on an 11m boat and they provide more than enough light with 4 separately switched warm white for more subdued lighting. As an electrician I find my customers think the aesthetics of the fitting are far more important than the light requirement, so I may not be the best judge as to whether these are "boaty" or not!
 
prv said:
That works if you have an overhanging shelf / locker / piece of trim so that the LEDs themselves are invisible but their light shines down. I already have exactly this arrangement above the chart table (complete with dimmers and a strip of red LEDs if preferred) and in the engine bay, and plan to add more under some lockers which will illuminate part of the galley. But in the saloon there is nowhere to hide them, and just sticking the strips to the deckhead would look horrible.

I do have headlining, but it is very thin and fixed tight against the deck. No real possibility of recessing lights into it.

Pete
Click to expand...

Fair point. I had a similar problem under the chart table, so put my strip of red LEDs onto a 15mm aluminium right angle strip which gave a surface mount and the overhang required to avoid direct light and worked nicely in that situation, and also allowed me to mount the switch on the light (picture in post #15 in the linked thread; but detail not shown well). This required a straight fitting but there's enough flex for a shallow curve if required. I have some spare strip and will be testing the idea with some hardwood moulding which I'm hoping will provide an aesthetic alternative...
 
Last edited:
Hmm well thanks for the suggestions but still no cigar. For me at least.

- Alpenglow. I quite like the look (although I didn't have square or rectangular in mind) but they are 2" thick. My existing cabin lights, c/w old tech festoon bulbs are only 45mm thick. The idea is to use LED technology to achieve slimmer lamps! Oh, and my wood is ash - which seems to be about the only wood not listed. Otherwise the right functional features though
- Toplicht. Some nice designs, but e.g. the MIA III is 55mm thick! Ref my comments above. And the prices! Quality they may be, but £150 per light, when I need 8, is taking the pi55. They're just lights, FFS not jewellery
- The Leyton lighting B0060HI8OW. Right idea! Nice and slim, elegant, good price. Except, non switched (it's a major job to convert / install) and silver rim which wouldn't look right. Brass or at a push, white is required. Shame.
- Cantalupi. Yes I've looked at these before. They're almost 100% recessed only. And none I've seen are switched.
- Prebit. The only lamps not recessed are classed as "under cabinet lights".

Are my requirements so unique?
 
Talulah said:
IMO without doubt the best LED lights by a mile are made by Prebit. http://www.prebit.de/
UK dealer is Calibra Marine www.calibramarine.com.
Here is our saloon fitted with Prebit LED lights.
The down side is the price.
Interior_zps56f4d90f.jpg

2 wall lights on far bulkhead. 2 ceiling lights. One either side of mast support.
Click to expand...

Slight drift in topic but what a lovely interior to your boat! Jealous?- a bit! :encouragement:
 
Trundlebug said:
Are my requirements so unique?
Click to expand...

No, they are not. Just looking over the past few days myself and there's not a lot out there at reasonable prices. Strips of LEDs are the closest but can be a bit naff looking in some locations. That must be a business plan for someone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top