Cabin light LED recommendation

[kolive]

Hello,

I am wanting to switch out my lighting to LED's starting with my salon lights which are currently fixtures with 2-17 1/2" fluorescent bulbs. I have not found a led replacement bulb for them yet. Does anyone have something they have installed that they like? Photos and source info would be greatly appreciated.

Keith

 

[FF]

Just sticking in an LED bulb may not be successful as many LED require some sort of voltage regulation to work properly.

superbrightleds.com might have what you need.

 

[meridian]

I purchased a 5 meter roll of led lights for $6 of of eBay , took the guts out of my fluorescent fixtures, cut the LEDs to length and soldered them in. Twice as bright. Took 10 minutes per fixture. If you want real bright just double or triple up the strips.


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[Lobstah]

This is another thing that's shared between boats and campers/RVs...12v lighting.
It's also a very popular upgrade in RVs, as there is a shared concern about battery life.
If you google "swapping 12v lights for LED", you'll see quite a few hits from camping forums, and a ton of good info.
I've swapped all of my stick-built lights for LEDs, and it's a mod we'll certainly be doing on our boat, WHEN we get it

 

[psneeld]

I purchased a 5 meter roll of led lights for $6 of of eBay , took the guts out of my fluorescent fixtures, cut the LEDs to length and soldered them in. Twice as bright. Took 10 minutes per fixture. If you want real bright just double or triple up the strips.


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stuck 2 strips of LED tape lighting in each one....nice but took me linger because of the stuff can be hard to solder.

I did it as an interim fix till I redid the overhead with newer fixtures.

 

[Jetstream]

We just finished changing all the lighting on our boat to LED's. No fluorescent all just 12 volt individual bulbs but got them all from Amazon. You may find better places where you are but it was by far the cheapest and easiest way from here.
It might be worth a look and if you could post a picture of you light fixtures it might give a better idea of what you need,

Brett

 

[tallswede]

Got my LEDs from SuperBrite LED online. They have a really good selection.

Kevin

 

[kolive]

thanks for all the suggestions. I had thought I remembered sometng about the strip led's but could not locate the thread for it. I will also check the rv and camping sites. I have been looking at the super right led and dr led site to see what is available. Some of the fixtures are an easy exchange. I might have to change my fluorescent fixtures if there is not a bulb replacement for them. I head back to the boat tomorrow and will take photos of the current fixtures.

Keith

 

[folivier]

There should be 12V led bulbs available for whatever fixtures you have. Ebay has many styles available. I've bought a bunch there but always used a USA supplier in the event I had to return any. Which I did and was an easy exchange.
The strip lights work great and there are clip-on connectors available to minimize or eliminate soldering.

 

[kolive]

Folivier,

Thanks, I am viewing YouTube videos about strip lighting right now and have located a store near our boat to purchase the supplies. Also looking at direct bulb replacements which are more expensive but plug and play. Have not decided which way to go yet and will most likely want to see each one working to compare the lighting. I am wanting a warm as opposed to a cool lighting. Sometimes the led can be a bit on the harsh bright side so I think I am looking for something in the 4000 K range instead f the more common 6000k.

Thanks for replying!

 

[FlyWright]

kolive,

Here's a thread that may help you.

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s4/homemade-led-light-fixture-24518.html

 

[ranger58sb]

Folivier,

Thanks, I am viewing YouTube videos about strip lighting right now and have located a store near our boat to purchase the supplies. Also looking at direct bulb replacements which are more expensive but plug and play. Have not decided which way to go yet and will most likely want to see each one working to compare the lighting. I am wanting a warm as opposed to a cool lighting. Sometimes the led can be a bit on the harsh bright side so I think I am looking for something in the 4000 K range instead f the more common 6000k.

"Warm will be closer to 2700°K -- and above 3500°-ish they start being called bright or cool.

You might look at marinebeam.com, too. Seems to me I saw somewhere an LED plug-in for fluorescent fixtures... might have been there... but anyway, marinebeam has some tutorial info as well. I've replaced all our original bulbs with LEDs from marinebeam, but ours were all G4 (bi-pin) or wedge connections.

I strung a flexible 5.5m strip of bright/cool LEDs (from superbrightleds) in the engine room, and that turned out to be useful...

-Chris

 

[Moonfish]

Last summer we switched out ALL our interior lights to LEDs from Doctor LED. A combination of drop-in replacement bulbs, conversion kits, and all new fixtures. We're making a video of the entire project, but have a few individual install videos done (links below). As part of the overall video we turned on every single interior light with the old halogen/incandescent and fluorescent bulbs and we were drawing 27.9 amps. After switching them all over to LED the total amp draw was 6.4. Of course we'll never have every single light on at once, but it made for a good illustration.

Pacific NW Boater - HOW-2 - Installing Dr. LED Gold Std Lights

Pacific NW Boater - HOW-2 - Installing Dr LED Dome Light Conversion Kit

Doctor LED, Dr. LED, is a designer and manufacturer of LED-based lighting solutions for marine and boating applications.

 

[C lectric]

I changed both the boat and trailer to led. Mine are warm white at about 2700k.

Much higher gets harsh although the cools will be better in an engine compartment or other non living space. There are actually more lumens per watt, just the light is cold looking.

I got mine from. EEP. Energy efficient products. They did not have as wide a range of types as Super bright or Dr led but I had already used some EEP and they are good units so stayed with them.

 

[kolive]

Thanks, I will check them out!

 

[kolive]

C lectric, do you have a link for EEP? I don't seem to find them on Google.

Keith

 

[C lectric]

Untitled Document

I tried. It says a new site coming soon. Darn, I hope they have it up and running soon as I intend to get some more this winter.

I placed three orders over two years totalling several hundreds of dollars for myself and several friends. Nary a hitch and we are all pleased with the lights to date over three years now.

 

[High Wire]

i bought a reel of white LED rope light without the tubing cover. The beginning and end of the reel have the red and black wires already soldered on. The strip has a peel-off adhesive on back. The strips are marked for were you can cut to size. Start with the beginning of the reel, measure and cut at the closest mark. Go to the end of the reel and repeat. Connect and you're done. Very easy!
here is an eample:
https://www.amazon.com/WenTop®-Flex...1470995624&sr=8-5&keywords=led+rope+light+12v

 

[caltexflanc]

I screwed around with a variety of LEDs for our big 'ol Hatt. Cheap at first is not cheap in the long run nor easy on the eyes. I finally settled on Marinebeam for all boat LED needs, inside and out. High quality, constant current devices optimized for boat electrical systems and the marine environment. Great and knowledgeable before and after the sale service. Lot's of cool stuff for boaters including what may be the world's greatest flashlights.

Marine LED Lights for Your Boat | Marinebeam

 

[AusCan]

Yes, those 5 meter rolls of LED's are great. I lit up the engine area, the pump cupboard, my battery area, my hanging locker, - all those dark little areas where you always need a flashlight. Its been one improvement I get the most satisfaction from, especially as my dim light vision is starting to fade with age.

 

[Gbinterim]

Led

We have a Grand Banks 36 and a few years ago changed all the bulbs and fixtures to LED' s ,from the holy place to the top of the mast, and have not regretted the move. We researched and settled on a place called Marinebeam.com They were vey helpful, informative and the prices are attractive.

 

[Bacchus]

I purchased a 5 meter roll of led lights for $6 of of eBay , took the guts out of my fluorescent fixtures, cut the LEDs to length and soldered them in. Twice as bright. Took 10 minutes per fixture. If you want real bright just double or triple up the strips.

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I did the same on our RV but have had bad experience over time... they seem to dim.. not completely burn out...from what I've read I believe it's due to hi voltage during charging...same experience w cheap G4 bulb replacement on the boat..they start to flicker after awhile.

Latest attempt are some G4 LED's from Super Bright.. they said 14V should not be a problem...so far they are OK

 

[what_barnacles]

I screwed around with a variety of LEDs for our big 'ol Hatt. Cheap at first is not cheap in the long run nor easy on the eyes. I finally settled on Marinebeam for all boat LED needs, inside and out. High quality, constant current devices optimized for boat electrical systems and the marine environment. Great and knowledgeable before and after the sale service. Lot's of cool stuff for boaters including what may be the world's greatest flashlights.

Marine LED Lights for Your Boat | Marinebeam

nice place, except I foresee lots of my money dropped there.

 

[FlyWright]

Changing over to LEDs was one of the best improvements for my boat's power budget. The photosensor LED Davis mastlight gets flipped on when I leave the dock for anchoring and stays on until I'm returning home. The light turns on and off automatically, burns less than 0.1A and is the brightest in the anchorage. My interior LED conversions have alleviated concern for always turning off a light when leaving the cabin.

The other huge improvement to the power budget is from my NovaKool fridge, but that's for another thread.

I've been swinging on the hook for 5 nights and last night I went to sleep with 90% SOC. This morning I woke to 85% on a 620 AH bank. Electrically, life is good!