LED cabin lights

[Hermit Scott]

I am considering installing some LED cabin lights. They are 12V and very efficient, however I am concerned that they will give off a weird colored light and make things look weird. Does any one use this type light and do you have any filters or covers to change the look of the light?

 

[RanAweigh]

LED Lights

L.E.D. lighting is great. Low voltage, low power consumption, long life, efficient.
Most "bright white" L.E.D.'s are broad spectrum and don't cause "strange" color response. If you would like to see for yourself before you but into the plan I suggest buying a multi-L.E.D. flashlight or a multi-L.E.D. utility light go into a darkened space and see for yourself.

I love the things and have gotten rid of all of my old flashlights and switched to multi LED type. Even my drop lights in the garage and barn are LED.

 

[ITMaster]

You need to check with Maine Sail

or look in the archives for a recent thread he did on LED cabin lights. He did a really good thread about the lights and the power they draw and had a lot of good information about them. They don't throw off a light that requires a special filter or shade. You will like them. I have some that can either be wihite or red. The red is really neat for the night time since they will not take away your night vision. Pretty slick .

Good Luck, Tom

 

[Bob S]

LED's

Scott, I replaced all my cabin lights with g4 led's and used the same light fixtures. I have been very happy with them. I don't have a battery monitor so I can't tell what they really draw but I'm sure a lot less than the original incandescent bulbs. I read on the Catalina 30 yahoo email blog that led's are voltage sensitive. I only used mine at anchor without running the engine. I am planning an electrical upgrade this winter (my boat is new for me this season, I'm a newbee too!) I'm following Maine Sail's advise on a Leece Nevelle 105 amp alternator and was wondering if anyone has had them fail due to higher voltage running thru them while running their engines? I know halogen lights are sensitive too. As far as color, you can get them in a soft color. Mine are fine.

Bob

 

[Tim R.]

They are Sensibulbs

Sold through Sailorsolutions.com

I was on MaineSail's boat this weekend and I was absolutely amazed at how great they look. I could not tell that it was an LED. I have never seen an LED that did not look blue and so have never bought any. The Sensibulbs are very expensive but after seeing them, I will have all my incandescent bulbs replaced by next season.

 

[RAD]

Sensibulbs

I bought them a couple of years ago and love the color,you can't tell between standard bulbs and I tried all different types and most LED's are very white in color and the senisbulbs are warm white in color and the cost is well worth it cause they install very easy
My light fixtures have two bulbs in them with a switch to control either one or both and when plugged in dock side I have both bulbs lit and when at anchor I switch to the LED and with six fixtures on the amp gauge doesn't move (I got to get me a digital meter this year)

 

[Maine Sail]

There is no substitute

Sensibulbs are the ONLY bulb made that does what they do.

Those who know me know that I will only tout or support a product that I have;

#1 put through the paces.

#2 Feel it works, lives up to, and actually goes beyond my expectations and the companies claims.

It's actually quite rare that I come across these products in the marine industry.

For a long while I had been experimenting with interior LED lights. Basically, they suck, and I've tried many, many bulbs from many, many manufacturers such as Dr. LED, Super-Brite LED and others including some real eBay junk.

A few years ago I purchased one Sensibulb. My initial thought was "holy crap these are expensive" but once I got it installed my entire thought process changed! That original bulb had six LED's in it.

The folks at Sailors Solutions / SCAD have since pushed the envelope and the new bulbs only need two LED's but is considerably brighter than my original with six. The warm incandescent color though has not changed and these bulbs are a pleasure!

In short these bulbs ROCK!! They are the ONLY LED bulb that has a color spectrum that compares to an incandescent. They are also as bright as my 10W halogen bulbs that are/were in my ABI lighting fixtures.

Every time I'd install a "cheap" LED bulb my wife would complain / bemoan that she couldn't read, hated the color and it was like a spot light, no beam width etc. so I'd switch back to halogens.

To make a long story short I ponied up and bought a bunch of Sensibulbs and WOW! I can run FIVE Sensibulb lights and not even break 1 AH of draw per HOUR!

In contrast five of my ABI overhead lights, running 20 Watts of halogens, was burning close to 10 amps per hour!!!!! My wife and I are big readers and often run cabin lights from 8:00 p.m. until late. Five of my ABI's running for five hours was burning almost 50 amp hours of my battery bank. I now burn five amp hours for the SAME amount of light output!

My wife never noticed the change over from Halogen to SensiBulb and fortunately never saw the credit card bill!

Alternator upgrades and battery bank upgrades are far more costly than a few Sensibulbs! Think about upgrading your bulbs first as they can be a BIG draw!

I honestly can't speak highly enough of this technology and Sensibulbs. NO ONE else has it and Sailor's Solutions/SCAD developed it. Yes they are pricey at $39.95 each but sooooo worth every penny!

I have NO stake or interest in this company other than to help out fellow boaters!

P.S. If you call to order them ask for Nick and tell him you read about them on the SailboatOwners Forums and ask for the 10% discount!!

Sailor's Solutions Sensibulb (LINK)

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

LED's up here in Canada

We have a type of store up here called Princess Auto, and I suspect many auto parts store in your neck of the woods will carry an automotive led replacement bulb as well. They are 9 diode and 10 watt I believe. They retail from $3-10 and come in white, amber or red. I have tried both the red and white, and find that reading is just a bit difficult unless the light is overhead. The red would be good for navigation. I have not tried the amber yet, but if you want a warm glow, this might be the answer for you. I don't particularly find the white harsh at all, although I only have a single bulb in my small cabin. If you had a few going, it may make a difference to the look of the cabin. Certainly I am pleased with mine because they burn 1/10 of the amp hours of a regular 25 watt bulb that I had in there before. I don't feel guilty leaving it on for hours in the evening.

 

[Hermit Scott]

Mainsail

I have a question for you under your engine starting post, please look at that and tell me what you think.
I have a flash light I bought at Home Depot that has 21 LED"S in it. My apartment in my shop is sealed with no windows, so I can see only the light I have on. I hung the flash light and turned off all other lights.
It just looks weird. Like the people with the head lights that piss you off but it's not their brights it's just how those bright blue bulbs look. My wife likes it though, so you know what that means.
I am poor compared to most of you yachters, lol so I am going to buy these 3 12V puck lights for $30 from homedepot and hang them in the salon, probably get upset and try to use a diffuser, then break down and get the sensibulbs, but we'll see.

 

[Steve Dion]

Re: Mainsail

There is the alternative of using florecent lights. See the Apenglow http://www.alpenglowlights.com/ light fixtures. These lights give a very good environment and can be adapted to many sizes. I replaces all of the units in our Hunter Vision 36 with these units. They are recessed and have no fixture. They are high/low & night vision LEDs.

 

[Hermit Scott]

Cheap light

I bought the one's from Home Depot. 3 puck lights for $30. I went to hook them up to a battery but they said 12Vac on them. They didn't say that on the outside of the package. Apperently diodes are used to cut out the negative half of the AC wave anyway, so they worked alright with 12Vdc. They look very white not blue. I hooked them up in the dark room in my shop. I will install them Friday and let you know what I think.

 

[Benny]

I had a portable generator before this LED lights

came out. I like the technology but at $40+ a pop the need would have to be there to justify the expenditure. So far the use of incandecent, halogen lights have not created a problem with longevity nor power consumption. No use for me seeking an expensive solution to a problem I don't have. Maybe my next boat.

 

[Hermit Scott]

Installed the Home depot lights

I installed the lights in the main salon. 3 puck lights. My wife and I both love the color of the lights, much cleaner than yellow looking incandescent. Like I said in the post I have a 21 bulb led flashlight. The light seems very blue compared to the 3 puck lights. The three lights were bright enough to read by and a clean white color. I wish I could compare them to the sensibulbs to tell the difference between color and brrightness.

 

[Pete17858]

I installed the cheapie WM led lights, but really didn't like the light at all. They were too dim, too blue, and basically just weird. I took them out and put in Xenon lamps.

 

[ForzMajur]

There IS a substitute

The LEDs offered by Cruising Solutions at the show are from Marinebeam, a lighting company started by a certain cruising sailor, and ex-lighting industry veteran. The marinebeam products fit virtually any fixture, and their output equals or surpasses that of 10-15W halogen/xenon bulbs. They also have the same warm color (3200k) as halogens. The bulbs each contain an onboard PWM DC/DC Converter Drive, highly thermally efficient SMD LEDs, and are much more user-friendly form factor than Sensibulb.

With LEDs, the knowledgable sailor gets what he pays for, and there is no such thing as a $10 constant-current LED. I will make it very clear, and I think there is no valid arguement, that resistive LED clusters have no place on a boat. Ask West Marine, Ferris, Bob Bitchin, Fawcett, Cruising Solutions, etc., who have given up on cheap LEDs due to the return issues.

The Marinebeam products have a 30-day no questions asked 100% satisfaction guarantee, and a 2-year manufacturer's warranty.

I will disclose that I have an interest in this product, and normally try to avoid overt commercial discussions, but felt it necessary to rebut the comments above. One does have options. I offer a white paper on marine LEDs for those that have interest.

Jeff Field
ForceMajeure
www.marinebeam.com

 

[Hermit Scott]

LED opinion revision

I slept on my boat for the last 2 nights on the hard. The led's I installed have a good color but are really too dim to read by unless you are directly under them.
There is no substitute for buying the good stuff. I have to agree with maine and the salesman dude; if you want good LED's fork out the cash.

 

[Maine Sail]

The LEDs offered by Cruising Solutions at the show are from Marinebeam, a lighting company started by a certain cruising sailor, and ex-lighting industry veteran. The marinebeam products fit virtually any fixture, and their output equals or surpasses that of 10-15W halogen/xenon bulbs. They also have the same warm color (3200k) as halogens. The bulbs each contain an onboard PWM DC/DC Converter Drive, highly thermally efficient SMD LEDs, and are much more user-friendly form factor than Sensibulb.

With LEDs, the knowledgable sailor gets what he pays for, and there is no such thing as a $10 constant-current LED. I will make it very clear, and I think there is no valid arguement, that resistive LED clusters have no place on a boat. Ask West Marine, Ferris, Bob Bitchin, Fawcett, Cruising Solutions, etc., who have given up on cheap LEDs due to the return issues.

The Marinebeam products have a 30-day no questions asked 100% satisfaction guarantee, and a 2-year manufacturer's warranty.

I will disclose that I have an interest in this product, and normally try to avoid overt commercial discussions, but felt it necessary to rebut the comments above. One does have options. I offer a white paper on marine LEDs for those that have interest.

Jeff Field
ForceMajeure
www.marinebeam.com

I've tried your "imitation" competitors, and they don't compare to Sensibulbs, but never found your company in any of my searches nor heard of them in forums.

I will order one of your bulbs and do a comparison. If they work as well as you say, and they are $11.00 cheaper, then we do have an alternative..

Which model do you suggest for my ABI lighting to compete with the Sensibulbs as I want a fair comparison..

It should be noted that Cruising Solutions and Sailors Solutions are NOT the same company. I only say this because the names can be a little confusing..

 

[EvenKeel]

Maine:

I did mention this company (marinebeam) in a previous thread on LED's:

http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=560824

I was skeptical about light output, so Jeff Field sent me several types of samples which I tested with a lux meter. The one I mentioned in that comment was quite good, though the particular sample did not have the filtration that made it "warm", so it is quite harsh. But I understand that the same unit is available with a warmer output. Now that I'm selling Even Keel, I haven't gotten around to pursuing it.

EvenKeel

 

[MABell]

...with LED's from this site.
http://www.superbrightleds.com/led_prods.htm

Have worked very well for me.
By the way, most LED's are polarity dependant.

 

[Tim R.]

Re: There IS a substitute

The LEDs offered by Cruising Solutions at the show are from Marinebeam, a lighting company started by a certain cruising sailor, and ex-lighting industry veteran. The marinebeam products fit virtually any fixture, and their output equals or surpasses that of 10-15W halogen/xenon bulbs. They also have the same warm color (3200k) as halogens. The bulbs each contain an onboard PWM DC/DC Converter Drive, highly thermally efficient SMD LEDs, and are much more user-friendly form factor than Sensibulb.

With LEDs, the knowledgable sailor gets what he pays for, and there is no such thing as a $10 constant-current LED. I will make it very clear, and I think there is no valid arguement, that resistive LED clusters have no place on a boat. Ask West Marine, Ferris, Bob Bitchin, Fawcett, Cruising Solutions, etc., who have given up on cheap LEDs due to the return issues.

The Marinebeam products have a 30-day no questions asked 100% satisfaction guarantee, and a 2-year manufacturer's warranty.

I will disclose that I have an interest in this product, and normally try to avoid overt commercial discussions, but felt it necessary to rebut the comments above. One does have options. I offer a white paper on marine LEDs for those that have interest.

Jeff Field
ForceMajeure
www.marinebeam.com

I have ordered one of their festoon type interior, warm bulbs and I will report back next week about how they work. I will also have Maine Sail take a look to compare with his Sensibulbs to see how they compare.