Led's

[Ron Manicom]

I have just finished changing all my lighting over to LED's, it was definitely a trial and error effort but here are the advantages:

1. my Amp hours has been reduced (with all lights, cabin heads, galley nav, anchor light etc on) from 44 amp hours to 6

2. my average amp hours has been reduced from 18 to 2,5, (this would be at anchor with the salon lights on)

3. my anchor light uses 1.2 amp hours versus 8

4. my solar panel (a 75 watt 3,5 amp) takes will trickle charge my battery to a higher level.

5. I now need to run my generator less.

6. My lights will last 50,000 hours (20 years) without changing a light bulb.

7. Because I made all my own lights using my existing housings the cost per light came out the same as buying a new bulb.

8. By using combination LED strips (soft white and warm white in the same fixture) I was able to balance out the glare and soften the intensity.

9. On my Nav lights there is a greater depth to the colours.

Disadvantages,

1. Can't think of any right now

any comments would be welcome

[Ron Manicom]

Oh one mor thing, and this is a biggie, LED's are encapsulated solid state devices and are much more resistant to failure from vibration and shock, than a filament.