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Post by robheath on Apr 17, 2013 20:51:40 GMT
Hi
Does anyone know how to get the down lighters in the saloon apart please? I want to replace with LEDs, but cannot remove them!
All tips on LEDs appreciated for both the down lighters and swivel lights.
Thanks Rob
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Post by Zanshin on Apr 18, 2013 11:07:35 GMT
The halogen down lighters, if they are the circular with silvered ring type, just need the ring to be turned about a quarter turn to pop that part off, then you can see the attachment points for the whole assembly. Sometimes they do get sticky with age and become difficult to turn. If you get one (loose) one off, you can seen the locking mechanism and might be able to pry recalcitrant ones off with a screwdriver blade without damaging them. Are you planning on replacing just the G4 halogen bulbs with LED plugs or on exchanging the whole assembly?
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Post by robheath on Apr 18, 2013 20:48:54 GMT
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Post by Zanshin on Apr 19, 2013 0:12:17 GMT
I did the exchange from halogen to LEDs on all 22 downlighters on my old boat and it made a huge difference in energy consumption. I would recommend getting warm white rather than the pure white; the color temperature "warm" is much more pleasing and comfortable. Do keep a halogen for your reading light, though - that might use more energy but makes reading a lot easier than the somewhat dimmer LED lights.
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Post by nomadscot on Apr 21, 2013 7:33:57 GMT
Hi Rob (and the other commenters on this thread),
The comments you have received so far are spot on, (if you'll excuse the pun) according to my recent experience of changing all cabin lights to LED.
I can add a little though, for my first post on the forum.
In the saloon I have replaced the bulbs in all three of the spots you describe on my Sun Odyssey 37.
I had 3 x 15 Watt G4 halogens in there, and replaced them with 3 x 2.4 Watt Warm White G4 LEDs. Power consumption has therefore gone down from 45 Watts to 7.2 Watts for roughly the same light value - a huge saving.
In each of the two stern cabins there are three lights, each with 15 watt halogens, but I figured that I could use 1.4 Watt halogens as the need for bright light is not so great in there. It worked out perfectly.
In the head, which is completely white (bulkheads, deckhead, toilet bowl etc) I have taken out the 15 Watt halogen completely and replaced it with an approximately 1 metre length of white LED strip - to stunning effect.
In that configuration, each of the little swivel lights for reading in the saloon now take twice as much energy as the three downlights! However there are also LED available in their format as well, so I am about to replace them with 2.4 Watt white G4s.
Some points in brief:
For general lighting definately use Warm White
For reading lights, definately use Cool White.
Most bulb fittings are now available in LED format. G4 is the most common on boats.
G4 LED are available with rear pins, or side pins, in various bulb shapes
You may have to trim a millimetre or so off the two G4 prongs to get the LED fully inserted into the socket and centralise the LED within the light fitting.
Don't hesitate to change to LED - worth it on so many levels, and couldn't be simpler to do.
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