LED lights

[dakota560]

This isn't a fishing report but fishing related so I've posted it here. If it needs to be moved I understand. We do quite a bit of night sharking during the season and an occasional overnight tuna trip. I currently have two Halogen spreader lights mounted towards the stern and was planning on swapping them out for LED's. Boat is a 27 Grady. Does anyone have opinions or recommendations regarding which type LED is best or how many I should consider installing. I was thinking about two mounted in the rocket launcher towards the stern and one each on port and starboard.

I'd appreciate anyone's opinions who may have made a similar change or has some perspective. I know the LED's draw quite a bit less charge and from what I understand throw off a stronger light. We currently carry a Honda generator, two flood lights and gas to fish the night and was hoping to replace the need for carrying all that with the right installation.

I appreciate anyone's help with this in advance.

Dakota

[Bass_Appeal]

im not sure of a brand but leds should be brighter and use less energy to run,

not to hijack ur thread , but i would like opinions on cheap but good under water lights for trim tabs

[CaptBob]

I changed all the lights on my Grady over to LED several years ago, they draw next to nothing in power compared to the other lights.

Have 2 cockpit flood lights mounted on the rocket launcher.

Changed the 2 low curiosity lights to LED, also put 3 (x3) Led lights under the gunnel in the cock pit and wired them into the curiosity lights (these light up the cock puts enough where I don't need to put on the flood lights.

Also changed over the Anchor light and side markers.

You'll be glad you changed

[Gerry Zagorski]

I'm told they use 1/3 the power of regular lights and bulbs last almost forever.

Bob - If you remember, what brand did you use?

Dakota - Thanks for bringing this up, I'm thinking about switching over too. We swapped out the dome light over our radio box last year and they are much brighter.

[CaptBob]

Gerry, the Flood lights are Taco, don't remember the others

B

[Sharkyispy]

Is anyone using the LED strip lights available now? Relatively inexpensive and bright. Looking to add to our cockpit area also and maybe a strip or two along the gunnel underneath the rails. Also looking to replace the light on the rocket launcher...saw one at West Marine that is actually a spreader spot light running from $84.99 to 119.99,,,,page 10 and some more on pg 11 of the current ad Back to the Blue if you receive it.

[dfish28]

I changed over everything too: got the lumitec flood lights that are dimmable and two colors for spreaders, got the taco led bar/tube for over the t top, all courtesy/curiosity lights and inside the helm lights as well as 2mile nav lights in front and on top, very little drain even with all on. Best move ever and don't have to worry about a bulb burning out or connection to posts getting corroded, I like them mucho.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I changed over everything too: got the lumitec flood lights that are dimmable and two colors for spreaders, got the taco led bar/tube for over the t top, all courtesy/curiosity lights and inside the helm lights as well as 2mile nav lights in front and on top, very little drain even with all on. Best move ever and don't have to worry about a bulb burning out or connection to posts getting corroded, I like them mucho.

Why does this ^^^ not surprise me D... You're always ahead of the curve and have the best and latest stuff.

[dakota560]

I'm told they use 1/3 the power of regular lights and bulbs last almost forever.

Bob - If you remember, what brand did you use?

Dakota - Thanks for bringing this up, I'm thinking about switching over too. We swapped out the dome light over our radio box last year and they are much brighter.

Gerry,

Thanks for providing a site where I can post a question about LED lights! It almost seems like a no brainer. I'm trying to figure out which is the best brand name to go with and how many lights would be appropriate. On night trips we run radar, fish finder, radio and two portable flood lights which we hang from the launchers and run to a Honda generator we place in the bow. We also run the battery charger all night off the generator. The set up works well, but you have the noise of the generator all night, we have to fill it at least once and maybe twice during the night and carry all the extra hardware. Filling a hot generator at night if you're bouncing around is no easy task!

I was hoping we could configure the lights to have as much if not more lighting and still be able to run the radar, fish finder and VHF radio from the battery which handles the electronics. Not sure I can but that's the plan so we can leave the generator, gas cans and flood lights at the dock! If we can't, I think it still makes sense to go with the LED's because regardless it sounds like they give off more light and the draw sounds negligible.

Dakota

[dakota560]

Guys,

Thanks for your input to my questions, It's been very helpful.

Dakota

[Capt. Debbie]

Ilove that- curiousity lights. It describes them perfectly . :)

Courtesy lights?



I changed all the lights on my Grady over to LED several years ago, they draw next to nothing in power compared to the other lights.

Have 2 cockpit flood lights mounted on the rocket launcher.

Changed the 2 low curiosity lights to LED, also put 3 (x3) Led lights under the gunnel in the cock pit and wired them into the curiosity lights (these light up the cock puts enough where I don't need to put on the flood lights.

Also changed over the Anchor light and side markers.

You'll be glad you changed

[Gerry Zagorski]

Gerry,

Thanks for providing a site where I can post a question about LED lights! It almost seems like a no brainer. I'm trying to figure out which is the best brand name to go with and how many lights would be appropriate. On night trips we run radar, fish finder, radio and two portable flood lights which we hang from the launchers and run to a Honda generator we place in the bow. We also run the battery charger all night off the generator. The set up works well, but you have the noise of the generator all night, we have to fill it at least once and maybe twice during the night and carry all the extra hardware. Filling a hot generator at night if you're bouncing around is no easy task!

I was hoping we could configure the lights to have as much if not more lighting and still be able to run the radar, fish finder and VHF radio from the battery which handles the electronics. Not sure I can but that's the plan so we can leave the generator, gas cans and flood lights at the dock! If we can't, I think it still makes sense to go with the LED's because regardless it sounds like they give off more light and the draw sounds negligible.

Dakota


Here is some stuff I clipped from anther site on the advantages of LEDs

Benefits of LED Bulbs
LED technology is in every aspects of our lives from TVs and monitors to lighting. We are using this technology because it is efficient and efficiency is a prime factor in marine industry. It doesn't matter what kind of vessel you have, you will be needing low power draw, low voltage and durable lighting products to use for navigation lighting and lighting your living space like your cabins and deck. Here are the benefits of using LED products for lighting:
Long Life
LED bulbs mostly have up to 50.000 hours of life. Some producers may say 100.000, even 1.000.000 hours of life, but it’s better to say effective life of a LED bulb is almost 50.000 hours. This means 6 years of non stop working which makes a big difference when compared to 1000 hours life of an incandescent bulb or 10,000 hours of a fluorescent tube. LED bulb prices are usually higher than incandescent and halogen bulb prices. But when calculating the overall cost of the product you must include the changing frequency of the bulb, which in this case creates a big difference. With 50,000 hours of working life, you can forget about a LED bulb after you install it. Another advantage of long life is; when you change the bulbs in hard to reach locations like masthead you won't have to change it again for many years.
Energy Saving
A typical LED bulb draws 5 times less energy than it’s incandescent or halogen equivalent and still gives the same amount of light even with a better quality. When you look at this low power draw benefit in marine environment, it means you are saving your battery power. Either you are underway or on anchor, you need to be careful about how much power you are using from your batteries or generator. A recent test involves changing the whole lighting system of 73ft luxury motor yacht from halogen lighting to LED lighting shows that LED system draws only 7 amps of power @24V but halogen system draws 62 amps of power @24V.
Luminous Efficacy
Simply put; LED bulbs produce more light than halogen or incandescent bulbs with the power they are drawing. A typical LED replacement bulb of 3 watts produces between 210 and 240 lumens of light depending of the color. To produce this much light you need a halogen bulb of 10 watts and above or an incandescent bulb of 20 watts and above.
Low Heat
An incandescent bulb converts 90% of energy to heat and a halogen bulb converts 80% to heat. Typical heat emission of an incandescent bulb is approximately 85 btu / hour and a halogen bulb's is almost 120 btu / hour and both of these are hazardous, can cause burn injuries on human skin. But an equivalent LED emittes only 3.4 btu / hour and 80% of the energy is converted to light instead of heat. Low heat is important for the life of the bulb, the fixture you are using it in and overalll environment temperature.
Durability
LED bulbs are not fragile like halogen or incandescent bulbs; they don’t need a glass or filament can be easily broken. As they have the same types as regular bulbs, this makes the installation even easier. Also they are not effected by vibration in marine environment.
Constant Drive Technology
Not all of the LED products are using this technology. But as a producer for marine industry we are using this technology in all our products to provide even a longer lifespan. In marine environment, where you run with batteries and generators, there might be energy fluctuations. With constant drive technology our LED bulbs and fixtures are not effected by voltage differences, they all work @ DC8-30V without any problem.
Here is a simple comparison of important aspects of common bulbs in marine industry

[dakota560]

Gerry,

Great comparison and extremely helpful. You really almost have to ask why would anyone not switch?

Dakota