Red and White Cabin Lights

[jviss]

I would love to have red cabin lights for sailing at night and white for at anchor. When I took a "Tiger Cruise" on the USS Eisenhower they had switches all over the ship to select white or red, and when it was time there was an announcement on the "1MC" (intercom) that sailors should switch these; anyone who was close to a switch switched it. Similarly, I would like to have a switch to flip from white to red. I thought I would get or make bicolor LED bulbs for all of my light fixtures, and wire a DPDT ON-ON switch to reverse the polarity for red.

Has anyone else thought of this? Has anyone done it? If you've done it, how did you do it, and how did it work out?

 

[sail sfbay]

Great idea!! Fortunately the Hunter 46 came with red night lights at close to floor level in each cabin, galley and hallways. Replaced the cockpit white light with a red light and installed a rechargeable red Mantus snap-on light on the rail. West Marine sells a red/white doom light that could replace existing doom lights without new wiring.

Mantus Snap-On Light - Mantus Marine

Modes Output Distance Duration Red- High N/A N/A 100hrs White-low 7Lm 3m 120hrs White-mid 55Lm 9m 53hrs White-high 140Lm 14m 16hrs S.O.S. 15Lm N/A 156hrs Red- Low N/A N/A 200hrs Snap on light instructions SELECT THE RAIL CLAMP SIZE YOU NEED AT CHECK OUT Available for 7/8″ – 1 ” & 1 1/4 ”...

www.mantusmarine.com

LED Interior Lights | West Marine

Shop LED interior lights at West Marine. Visit for free shipping on our wide selection of surface lights, mounted lights, ceiling lamps, rail lights and more.

www.westmarine.com

 

[Justin_NSA]

MarineBeam may have what you are looking for. They have LED bulbs where; flip the switch once and they come on red. Toggle the switch again and they come on white. I have replaced almost all of my lights below deck with these. They even built one to replace an oddball bulb in the head.

 

[kloudie1]

Same as Justin, installed the led "bulbs" that toggle from red to white.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I’ve worked on this idea for several years with, I don’t know, “mixed results.” I have red fluorescent lamps in both heads which are always red. I substituted one of my cabin lights, the one nearest the companionway and over the chart table, from halogen bulb to red LED which I feel is overly bright and should have a dimmer. The others remain halogen. I also have a red LED inside the chart table cabinet, so when I lift the top to get something out, it’s illuminated in red.

Then just yesterday, I installed a prebit (German trademark available from Imtra.) flex lamp in the aft berth mostly for reading. LED drawing a whopping 0.25 amp @ 12 volts. The lamp has warm white (3000 K) and red, plus a dimmer for each. So, as you say, press the button for white and adjust brightness with dimmer (same button); press again for red and adjust brightness; again with the one button. It’s neat!! The rather stiff flex arm means you can position the lamp to illuminate what you are actually reading or looking at.

The head‘s red fluorescents work well. Just the right brightness to see what you need to see and keep your night vision intact. The overhead cabin light w/o a dimmer is simply too bright for a “working” red light at the chart table. The brightness distracts from its usefulness generally as well. The new one with the dimmers—I’ll get back to you. But so far I’ve found working at the chart table difficult under red light; cannot read the chart well. In contrast, on the big ships with their separate chart rooms and professional set-up, you can work effectively in the red light. So, I don’t have it quite right yet.

 

[jssailem]

The esthetics of your boat interior and the design limits/pocketbook of the owner are involved. Me thinks one design does not fit all.

There are individual led bulbs that are switchable, red/white. These come in fixtures or can be purchased as a bulb and fitted to existing lights. They have limits. When you switch on the light it comes on red. When you flick the switch of and on it turns white. You have to turn the light off for a period of time then turn back on to get red again. This suggests to me that maybe there is a resistor that heats up and is used to determine which color to set the LED. It seems if you error at the start and get white you may have lost the benefit you seek of red light. My guess is you need to leave the red light on al the time at night.

I suspect you could buy specific colored LED's. Perhaps a rope light or strip. Then have two switches one for Red and one for White or any other color of choice.

I have seen color selecting hand remotes that will signal the dimness and color to be used by individual lights.

The options are vast and as varied as the imagination of the designer.

MarineBeam is one source. I have recently spent some money with them. I hope to light the interior of SV Hadley in new and more flattering light this summer.

 

[jviss]

Thanks for the replies so far. I took a look at Marinebeam.

While a good, quick solution, it's not really what I seek. With Marinebeam you have to double-switch each and every light, each and every time, to get white light. I'd really like a system where I get white or red by just turning a fixture on, based on the RED/WHITE selector by my electrical panel. I realize I may have to make the bulbs myself!

 

[jssailem]

may have to make the bulbs myself!

If individual lights are desired then a series of single colored lights may be the solution. Since the design/layout can be controlled, and the need for lighting tailored.

The low emf transmission by the MarineBeam lights was factor. Now to see performance.

 

[Ken Cross]

I find it interesting that the aviation world has gone away from red lighting to blue. I'm told the reason is that while red doesn't affect your night vision as much, it requires so much red light to read that the benefit of using red is lost. All new commercial aircraft flight-decks now use a light blue color and they use it all the time (no white except the overhead dome light which is always off at night.) The trick is to dim it until you have barely enough light.
Ken

 

[Kings Gambit]

... it requires so much red light to read that the benefit of using red is lost.

That has been my experience, as I allude to above.

 

[JamesG161]

We installed these for accent lights, dimmable and has remote operations with multi colors.
Honeywell Multi-Color LED White Puck Lights with Remote (6 Pk.) - Sam's Club

I use rechargeable batteries now. Charge them 2 times a season.
Jim...

 

[All U Get]

Just remember, bananas look rotten in red or blue light, you don’t need the rest of the story.

 

[SFS]

We wanted red/white capability, and went with Marinebeam fixtures, not bulbs, as we needed to replace all our fixtures anyway. In several key places (galley, over the chart table, and in the head) we put larger (8-inch?) red/white enabled fixtures with 3-position rocker switches. The center switch position was off, the other two positions were for red versus white light. In all the other locations (berths and other parts of the main cabin) we put smaller (6-inch?) white-light-only fixtures.

Unless something has changed, Marinebeam designs their LED bulbs/circuitry with 3 significant advantages: no RF interference, indifference to polarity, and the ability to use a wide range of voltages without harming the bulb. The fixtures were not inexpensive, but they were not terrible either, and we were very impressed with the lights while we lived aboard.

 

[jssailem]

In reading about Red and Blue Light, while planning my lighting changes, the science stated blue light provided better contrast and heightens the clarity of items to the eye. But there were dark sides mentioned about Blue Light.
From Harvard Health...

...At night, light throws the body's biological clock—the circadian rhythm—out of whack. Sleep suffers. Worse, research shows that it may contribute to the causation of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.​

​

What is blue light?​

Not all colors of light have the same effect. Blue wavelengths—which are beneficial during daylight hours because they boost attention, reaction times, and mood—seem to be the most disruptive at night. And the proliferation of electronics with screens, as well as energy-efficient lighting, is increasing our exposure to blue wavelengths, especially after sundown.​

​

Protect yourself from blue light at night​

Use dim red lights for night lights. Red light has the least power to shift circadian rhythm and suppress melatonin.​

​

There are many sides to any story. We make compromises to extend our sailing experiences. Each of us needs to evaluate all of the arguments and then choose our path.

​

 

[kmart]

So ill w

eigh in on this. I wanted red/white led cabin lights as well. Stumbled across these. (Home depot) while they look cheepish. They do the job. Under cabnet lights. Red. Blue white green. Dimmable. Built in off timer. Work on aaa bateries. And all controlled by a remote. Best part was they are cheap. $20 for pack of 8. I used them under the side deck overhangs. So indirect lighting. Makes cabin look like submarine at night

 

[thinwater]

I’ve worked on this idea for several years with, I don’t know, “mixed results”. I have red fluorescent lamps in both heads which are always red. I substituted one of my cabin lights, the one nearest the companionway and over the chart table, from halogen bulb to red LED which I feel is overly bright and should have a dimmer. ...

That is the problem I have run into. They sell them bright enough to read with non-adapted eyes, which is way to bright to allow peak adaptation. The military has a spec (mil-std-1472F) for night adaptation (0.35-3.5 cd/m2) that is unbelievably dim... until you try it.

And before we get into the whole color thing, it says "red or white with operator choice." There are reasons for specific colors. White is best fr color rendition and reading small print. Red is good for moving around and general lighting. Blue and green have spepcific applications, some related to night vission scopes. The universal theme is that it is very, very dim.