I have been slowly converting my interior lighting to LED. For several reasons, but mainly to limit the drain on the batteries. I do not have shore power so when I overnight or weekend on the boat I rely on the house battery to power the lighting, stereo, coffee pot, etc. I had noticed a couple of times that if I had the v-berth light, dinette light and cockpit lights on for most of the night they drew a considerable amount of power. This was when I started looking into the LED alternatives.
I tried a couple of less expensive models out from Ancor and others available at local marine supply stores but they are nowhere near as bright or burn as cool as the Dr. LED lights. After doing some research I decided on the Dr. LED line of fixtures and replacement bulbs. I found the Dr. LED products to have the brightest light, in most cases, the least amp draw. I have installed their MR 16 Magnum Ring to replace the halogens in the v-berth and they are great - bright, cool (no longer burn yourself touching the fixture to reposition it) and plug directly in with no modifications needed. The light is a little different from incandescent or halogen bulbs, the LED's are much whiter light...excellent for reading...at least for me. I am going to try out their nav light replacement bulbs over the winter.
This weekend I replaced a dome light with a white/red LED dome light, the Red Mars Dome. Unfortunately it was bright and sunny so I am not really sure how well it is going to work yet. The v-berth lights are actually brighter than the old halogens, they don't get hot and hardly draw any power, so I am hoping the dome light will be just as good. The addition of the red lamp will be great as my crew regularly blinds me on our way out turning on the light to find things, getting rigged up or choosing which donut is next on their menu.
I was unable to test it at night as I did not stay over this weekend but during the day the white light seemed just as bright as my other incandescent dome light. Next time I stay over I will report on how the white and red light was at night.
I tried a couple of less expensive models out from Ancor and others available at local marine supply stores but they are nowhere near as bright or burn as cool as the Dr. LED lights. After doing some research I decided on the Dr. LED line of fixtures and replacement bulbs. I found the Dr. LED products to have the brightest light, in most cases, the least amp draw. I have installed their MR 16 Magnum Ring to replace the halogens in the v-berth and they are great - bright, cool (no longer burn yourself touching the fixture to reposition it) and plug directly in with no modifications needed. The light is a little different from incandescent or halogen bulbs, the LED's are much whiter light...excellent for reading...at least for me. I am going to try out their nav light replacement bulbs over the winter.
This weekend I replaced a dome light with a white/red LED dome light, the Red Mars Dome. Unfortunately it was bright and sunny so I am not really sure how well it is going to work yet. The v-berth lights are actually brighter than the old halogens, they don't get hot and hardly draw any power, so I am hoping the dome light will be just as good. The addition of the red lamp will be great as my crew regularly blinds me on our way out turning on the light to find things, getting rigged up or choosing which donut is next on their menu.
I was unable to test it at night as I did not stay over this weekend but during the day the white light seemed just as bright as my other incandescent dome light. Next time I stay over I will report on how the white and red light was at night.
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