Switching bulbs to LED

[SkyRockin]

I am planning to switch out my dozen+ incandescent bulbs to LED (cabin) on my 36 Nantucket. Has anyone done this and what was the impact to house battery drain?

 

[psneeld]

Depends what you are taking out watt wise...but it can be significant if swapping out the 2000 vintage halogen fixtures that were so popular.

 

[ancora]

Tried doin' that but the LEDs were woefully lackin' in Lumens.

 

[Montenido]

I did that on my last sailboat and it made a huge difference in consumption. Don't forget your anchor light also.

Cheers, Bill

 

[Conrad]

Tried doin' that but the LEDs were woefully lackin' in Lumens.

We had the same experience sort of; noticeably dimmer. However, we also found that a similarly spec'd LED from a different source was much brighter, so I guess you really have to pay attention to what you're purchasing.

 

[ranger58sb]

We've changed all interior, all engine room, some exterior, and all courtesy lighting to LED, and we also changed the whole anchor/mastlight fixture to LED. In ALL cases, the LEDs put out more light, in some cases LOTS more light (the anchor light, for instance).

At the same time, we've reduced DC power consumption for lighting by about 90%.

It pays to shop; compare lumens or candela, compare color temperature (~2700°K is approximately the warm lighting incandescent bulbs provide), compare voltage capability (you want LEDs that can deal with something like 10-30VDC, NOT just straight 12V LEDs), compare heat sink capabilities, and when necessary compare whether dimmable or not.

FWIW, most of ours have been from marinebeam.com, not cheap, and some from superbrightleds.com, ditto not cheap. Some of the earlier LEDs I used from a different source had some heat issues, so we replaced.

Another FWIW, I think the specific product name for our G4 bi-pins -- most of our serious interior lighting -- is marinebeam's "Force 12" or something like that. 12 LEDs per disc, warm white (2700°K), dimmable at least on our dimmers.

-Chris

 

[pedvic]

We replaced our lights with LEDs and noticed a big difference in how long it took to run the house batteries down. Also, because there's no heat issue, you can go for more light output.

 

[Bacchus]

I also replaced saloon, cabin & ER halogens w/ LED. I've had several (from different suppliers) several have quit and need replacement. I've started to pay close attention to V range as mentioned.
A draw was reduced by approx 90%

 

[O C Diver]

I went with hero-led.com. You're buying directly from china. They offer the 10 to 30 volt DC G4 replacements which have been great. As mentioned, you need to go with the brightest ones in warm white for living areas. Prefer the day light or cool white.for the engine room and anchor light. Out of about 100 units I've had 2 failures. I consider this acceptable for the savings. Would also agree with about a 85 to 90% power savings.

One note of caution : you need to down size fuses. These are electronic devices that in rare instances can fail and start a fire if there is enough amperage behind it. I doubled the amount of fixtures in the engine room and converted to LED. There use to be a 40 amp breaker for that circuit. It's now a 5 amp breaker.

Ted

 

[Bacchus]

Ted
Excellent point re changing breaker / fuse.
I'll bet few - myself included - have done that.

 

[SkyRockin]

good advise. I'll proceed to replace my automotive style 1141 incandescent bulbs with LED's of similar lumens and color temperature and report results.

 

[Datenight]

Has anyone done this and what was the impact to house battery drain?[/QUOTE]


Went from 10 amps to 1 amp in the main cabin/galley in the old boat. Used eBay cheapies with no failures.

Rob

 

[rwidman]

.........compare voltage capability (you want LEDs that can deal with something like 10-30VDC, NOT just straight 12V LEDs),..............

This is critical and not doing this is the reason for so many reports of failures. A 12 volt LED requires 12 volts. Actual DC voltage on a boat can vary quite a bit and with battery charging, it can be 14 volts or more. This will shorten the life of LEDs considerably.

The way the 10-30 volt LEDs work is, inside the case is a "driver" that monitors the current through the LEDs and controls it by turning the power on and off at high rate that's not visible to the human eye.

LEDs (usually there are several LEDs in a "lamp") typically use 10% of the power of incandescent lamps of the same intensity. That's a good reason to use them on a boat.

 

[Ted]

LEDs (usually there are several LEDs in a "lamp") typically use 10% of the power of incandescent lamps of the same intensity. That's a good reason to use them on a boat.[/QUOTE]


Mine are rated 14 1/2 watts to equal 100 watt incandescent, so pretty
close to 10%

Ted

 

[Heron]

Marinebeam conversions for standart overhead lights......All white or Red/white models available.....lots of lumens..

 

[Old deckhand]

Another vote for Marinebeam.

 

[C lectric]

We've changed all interior, all engine room, some exterior, and all courtesy lighting to LED, and we also changed the whole anchor/mastlight fixture to LED. In ALL cases, the LEDs put out more light, in some cases LOTS more light (the anchor light, for instance).

At the same time, we've reduced DC power consumption for lighting by about 90%.

It pays to shop; compare lumens or candela, compare color temperature (~2700°K is approximately the warm lighting incandescent bulbs provide), compare voltage capability (you want LEDs that can deal with something like 10-30VDC, NOT just straight 12V LEDs), compare heat sink capabilities, and when necessary compare whether dimmable or not.

FWIW, most of ours have been from marinebeam.com, not cheap, and some from superbrightleds.com, ditto not cheap. Some of the earlier LEDs I used from a different source had some heat issues, so we replaced.

Another FWIW, I think the specific product name for our G4 bi-pins -- most of our serious interior lighting -- is marinebeam's "Force 12" or something like that. 12 LEDs per disc, warm white (2700°K), dimmable at least on our dimmers.

-Chris

Chris is dead on.

Too many just go for any old LED. Not likely going to give acceptable results. There is more to buying a suitable LED than just that it is LED.

Done properly you can substantially drop power usage, keep the brilliance you have now or improve it where needed, keep the warm white most of us want and so on.

Even the voltage range is important. 10-30VDC will keep the same light output under varying voltage supplies which is important.

I used a source other than Marinebeam or Superbright but the same needs applied and I got a nice light for both the boat and my trailer.

The old boat bulbs each drew ~ 1.8A at nominal 12V. The LED draw about 200mA and throw more light. I can now run all 6 salon lights with less draw than one of the old bulbs, not that we do that. I explain this only to highlight the power use reduction available.

But do not look at that power reduction only or you may still be disappointed.

 

[SkyRockin]

good advise. I'll proceed to replace my automotive style 1141 incandescent bulbs with LED's of similar lumens and color temperature and report results.

I ended up replacing qty 14 of my cabin overhead incandescent bulbs with Amazon cheapies Endpage LED's ($2 per bulb). One of the bulbs was defective out of the package. Current draw reduction is similar to other's posted results. Brightness very similar to the incandescent- warm white. Tested with voltages from about 10.5- 13 volts. So far very happy with the switch.

 

[High Wire]

LEDs use about 10 percent of the old incandescent bulbs power. Yes the cheapest are not as bright. Where my wife complains I leave the old. We have just one fixture left over the range to find something bright enough but not offensive.

 

[Xsbank]

Just a small comment, your fuses/breakers are intended to protect the wires, not the device...

 

[psneeld]

Just a small comment, your fuses/breakers are intended to protect the wires, not the device...

Yep

 

[NightCrawler]

We've now completed all interior lighting switched to LED. Shopping running and anchor lites now. One thing we did over the sink/galley was to use a whiter light, still in a low power LED bulb. The rest of the overheads are warmer light and that seems to work fine giving the head chef the light she needs.

 

[Lou_tribal]

Just a small comment, your fuses/breakers are intended to protect the wires, not the device...

and by extension your boat

 

[O C Diver]

Just a small comment, your fuses/breakers are intended to protect the wires, not the device...

Then why do all your electronic devices have fuses. Why do bilge pumps, circulating pumps, bow thrusters, winches, specify a fuse or breaker size. Circuits such as power outlets have have fuses / breakers to protect the wires because the load is unknown.

Ted

 

[Xsbank]

Well OC, you have a panel with gangs of breakers or fuses, notice they are all different specifications? Notice how your windlass has a giant breaker and the radio has a small one? Take a look at the ampacity of the wires that are used to power these devices...check this out - Circuit Wizard - Blue Sea Systems

 

[rwidman]

Then why do all your electronic devices have fuses. Why do bilge pumps, circulating pumps, bow thrusters, winches, specify a fuse or breaker size. Circuits such as power outlets have have fuses / breakers to protect the wires because the load is unknown.

Ted

Electronic devices and bilge pumps have individual fuses because they might be wired to circuits that have a different level of overcurrent protection. We might have a 20 amp circuit with two chart plotters, a GPS antenna and a depth sounder module attached. Each device would need individual protection. Or, we could run individual circuits to each and provide protection at the source. Some devices need protection that can't be provided by typical circuit breakers. A GPS antenna fused at one amp, for example.

A bilge pump usually has a fuse because it is usually wired in a way that it bypasses any electrical panel and is powered all the time.

 

[O C Diver]

Well OC, you have a panel with gangs of breakers or fuses, notice they are all different specifications? Notice how your windlass has a giant breaker and the radio has a small one? Take a look at the ampacity of the wires that are used to power these devices...check this out - Circuit Wizard - Blue Sea Systems

The point is that often the fuse is specified to protect those devices from catastrophic failure not the wiring that is feeding them.

Electronic devices and bilge pumps have individual fuses because they might be wired to circuits that have a different level of overcurrent protection. We might have a 20 amp circuit with two chart plotters, a GPS antenna and a depth sounder module attached. Each device would need individual protection. Or, we could run individual circuits to each and provide protection at the source. Some devices need protection that can't be provided by typical circuit breakers. A GPS antenna fused at one amp, for example.

A bilge pump usually has a fuse because it is usually wired in a way that it bypasses any electrical panel and is powered all the time.

Yes, I'm fully aware of that. The point that I was originally making was that incandescent lights don't need to be fused to prevent a risk of fire, the circuit does. LED emitters should be fused to protect against the extremely small risk of a fire when they fail. Since the emitter doesn't have a fuse, prudence dictates you limit the circuit (with a fuse or breaker) to the minimum amount of amperage required.

Ted

 

[rwidman]

...... The point that I was originally making was that incandescent lights don't need to be fused to prevent a risk of fire, the circuit does. LED emitters should be fused to protect against the extremely small risk of a fire when they fail. Since the emitter doesn't have a fuse, prudence dictates you limit the circuit (with a fuse or breaker) to the minimum amount of amperage required.

Ted

Your point wasn't clear to me.

You are correct and in fact, I did that when I changed my interior lights to LEDs. I measured the current with all the lights on and one circuit was a little over three amps, the other about four amps. I swapped out the twenty amp breakers for five amp breakers. These replacements were "fixtures" with small pigtail leads.

It's fine to use smaller breakers or fuses than the wire calls for but not the other way around.


I did not change the breaker for my navigation lights because they were "bulbs", not replacement fixtures so there are no smaller pigtail wires that need protection. Also, the original incandescent bulbs were saved as spares.

 

[Irish Rambler]

OC Diver Raised a good point, we changed all our old twin fluorescent tubes by soldering in 3 strips of LED but made a cock up by fitting white light in the saloon and sleeping cabins.
Dummy, should have fitted warm white duh !