LED Cabin lights

[richy]

I'd like LED cabin lights for my SF 37. Is it possible to simply replace the bulbs with LED ones without changing the fittings?

[alex1949]

Hi

www.eachbuyer.com/1-5w-g4-24-x-3014smd-3000-3500k-warm-white-led-corn-bulb-dc-12v--p365430.html

 Go into this site/store. You will find all you need. Chose led lamps than corn bulbs than browse through .Your boat bulbs are the G4 type.

I put replacement led for my halogen bulbs.

I took the corn led bulbs 1.5 watt warm white light. if you want a brighter and better for reading take the cold white ( it is less warm and very aggressive)

Price for unit 1.79 $ . very good bulbs fits the same place for the old halogens. 

Very reliable source, Chinese, price includes air shipment,takes 15-25 days.

Look throughout the shop you might find nice gadgets for your boat.

enjoy

Alex

[Don Reaves]

When replacing cabin lights with LEDs, color is very important. I tried several different colors and found that anything over about 2700 K is too blue. So I would definitely recommend what they call "warm white" but in my opinion, 3000 K is not that warm. 2700 K is much better.

Don

[MalcolmP]

There is some useful info at: www.boatlamps.co.uk/  If this is correct then some of the cheaper leds may not last that long if they are not voltage stabilized (or you fit a regulator)

I currently have some cheap LEDs fitted, but they are significantly less bright than the halogens, still experimenting - have just bought these - but yet to fit: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171633036867?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Boatlamps did offer a 10% discount to Jeanneau owners: jeanneau.proboards.com/thread/2508/led-lighting-discount-offer
I have emailed him to confirm if this still operates, but have yet to get a reply

[amj]

I used Quick Zelig warm white (don't use any other colour !) they are brilliant, nice tungsten type glow, and pushed into existing fitting ok.

[alex1949]

Hi folks,

Now Richy is really confused .......................

[hoppy]

I replaced all of my cabing lights with LED like these



I went for the white light rather than "warm". It's not exactly cosy, but if I want cosy I don't have the overhead lights on anyway

[dbostrom]

As others say, it's worth sampling replacement lights before plunking for wholesale replacement. One "warm white" is not the same as another. 

The PO of our boat swapped to LED replacements but the light from those was both dim and ghastly, making the wood in the boat appear greenish, etc. Sadly the whole lot had to come down. With 12 fixtures it was worth buying a couple of failed candidates in the interest of optimizing the outcome. We ended up reasonably happy with Dr. LED warm white lamps:  www.doctorled.com/store/LED-Bulb/12V-LED-Bulb/Bi-Pin/G4-MR11-SMD-LED-Disk

There are surely other better variants but the trick is in finding them.

[debenboy]

I replaced all the halogens on the overhead lights in my SO36i the first winter with replacements from Boatlamps.
I chose the dual lights ( red/white)!forbthe fixtures in the aft cabin, the fore cabin . And over the chart table and galley. You switch on the duals and then toggle the switch to go from red to white.
The legs on the LEDs needed trimming down a bit but a sharp pair of scissors sufficed.

[alex1949]

I really believe that all "Doctors" and all "Proffesors" get their bulbs from mother Chaina.

Try not to involve your bank manger on this affair. Get directly to the Chinese source and get it as cheap as 10% of the demanded price elsewhere.  Go try and arrow till you find your desired color and shape it's worth the effort.

[so40gtb]

Voyageur (SO40) was converted to all-LED last year, using warm white LED arrays (300° K). I acquired them from marinebeam.com. Not inexpensive, but less than IMTRA. Direct plug-in, though I removed the now-unnecessary reflectors in the overhead and berth side fixtures. I used Marinebeam's "light hammer" rectangular arrays in the light bars under the side decks. They don't distribute light quite like the mirrored halogens, but they are adequate to the task. I put their dual red/warm white arrays in the dome light over the galley and one in the aft berth. All of these produce slightly more light than did the OEM halogens, at far lower current consumption. Here's the link to the source:

store.marinebeam.com/g4-led-bi-pin-led-bulbs-1/

--Karl

[dbostrom]

MarineBeam has some irresistible choices; will need to try some of those. The little rotating bar lamps scattered about the boat are particular challenge. Nice fixtures but finding a G4 to fit 'em and that does not function only as a night light is tough. Thanks for the steer!

[sailbleu]

Dbostrom ,

Please check the search , there has been said many interesting things on led light in the past.


@ Don,

I used to agree on the 2700 K leds , now I ' m not sure anymore.

A few years ago when installing my galley grabe pole I took the upportunity - while the ceiling panel was off - to install and extra led light over the fridge . Accidentely a 3000 K was supplied along with some other ledlights . There is a difference in color of that fridge led compaired with the rest , and these days I think I would prefer the 3000k because I have the feeling that the rest is somewhat faint.
I would therefor , if the old leds die on me , replace them with 3000K . The problem is , those leds just keep shining , not one of them has let me down sofar , and it' s been quite some years since I've replaced the halogen bulbs.

Could be the older leds are a bit worn out of course , but I kind of like the one above the fridge now.
Maybe my eyes are letting me down a bit , but a 3000 k in combination with a dimmer (check the hint & tips section) are really the way to go in my humble opinion.

Regards

[Don Reaves]

My experience with different color temperatures is just that, my own experience. It may be that the 3000 K lights I tried were not really 3000 K. But if you have found something you like, there's no reason for anyone to suggest you use something different. All I can say for sure is it was worth the extra cost for me to try a few different lights so I could pick the one I was happy with.

Don

[zofiasailing]

Our approach has been lo-tech but works for us. We mostly replaced our halogens (over a period of time) with warm white LED's except we have a cool white one over the galley where better illumination is needed and one of our saloon ceiling lights is red for when we are night passaging or TV viewing.
All our nav lights etc are now LED's too,. Always happy to claw back some amps.
SV Zofia

[so40gtb]

I had a mixture of halogens, 3000K warm-white LEDs, and the more efficient cool white LEDs on our SO34.2. I agree that, in some places, the cool white is better. But the Admiral objected and I "didn't go there" when updating the SO40, in the interest of offshore harmony. The prior owner of our boat bought a bunch of IMTRA LED arrays that emit far fewer lumens. I need to stick some unsuspecting and dim-witted power boater with them at our marina's annual swap meet this spring!

--Karl

[draniely21]

I replaced my old lamp with a Kohree 12 Volt replacement bulb, very happy with it. Great quality bulbs, every bulb works perfectly. They're a lot brighter than the cheap incandescent and LED lights I've tried before in my RV.

[simonmf695]

all good tips, anyone know how this ceiling LED comes out ?
MF 695 2021
has a touch switch and way too bright
am assuming that i can not bypass the switch with a dimmer as suggested previously 

tnx

[clark261]

Because of the amount of light it can provide, a 921 LED bulb is the lighting solution of choice for RVs, trailers, and other large vehicles. 921 LEDs are significantly larger than normal LED lights. Aside from that, these bulbs produce far more light than standard LED bulbs.

[nigelhopkins]

Hi Richy

I used to work in the lighting industry so there are several things to consider:

1) Light output is measured in Lumens.

2) LEDs have a lumens per watt ratio of 80-100 lm/W, compared to 16-24 lm/W for halogens.
So let's assume you are replacing a halogen lamp of 20 watts. A 20w halogen lamp would throw out around somewhere between 320 and 480lumens. You would need an LED rated at 3.2-6w to get the equivalent lumens (light output). Although it should say on the packaging!

This is a problem because the different quality Halogen and LED lamps will vary. So you should buy one LED and compare it to another of your cabin lights before committing to buying and replacing them all.

Or get the app on an iPhone that measures lumens and stick it say 50cm from one lamp. The app I use is called 'Light Meter'

3) The ambience of the light output is called colour temperature and is measured in Kelvins. To make it more confusing the higher the number (e.g. 7000K) the colder the colour. Warm, cosy light will be around 2700K which is similar to the old incandescent lamps we all had in our table lamps at home. Halogens are usually around 3000K. Any higher than this and think fluorescent tubes in a kitchen. Highly functional, but about as inviting as a welders workshop!!    

If you have any questions let me know.