TomArgh

From an American LED site - I really like their square cluster panels, was very tempted by those - I think that the lamps I replaced were marked as 1142 or an equivalent; http://www.superbrightleds.com/products/ot...142_base_mm.jpg 1142 has same height, 1157 has offset bayonet pins. http://www.superbrightleds.com/products/car/1157_base_mm.jpg Yes, all the control electronics are onboard the lamp so you don't have to worry. Like I say, they claim 16v - haven't tested it mind! It wouldn't be that difficult, and probably no bad thing, to stick some voltage limiting on the outgoing circuits, especially the lighting circuits... will think about that... What I really like is that if I go out in the morning and realise that I left a light on, for the whole day, it's almost the equivalent of leaving the filament lamp on for an hour. Nice. Tom.

I've replaced the lamps in my saloon with LEDs from ultraleds.co.uk, I used these http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/product_info.ph...roducts_id=1286 they are the warm white versions as the bright whites are a bit harsh. I had one of those to try and it now lives in the dome lamp holder above the engine. The halogen replacements are fine as well - I have one above the hob. If I don't switch on the flourescents I'm up to a dizzy 6W of lighting in galley and saloon combined. These lamps have a voltage regulator so claim to work up to 16v, if you blow them on overvoltage you really need to look at your alternator. They also don't appear to be polarity sensitive so it doesn't matter which way round they go in. LEDs are lower power than halogens, they don't suffer anywhere near the same sort of losses, almost all the power is converted into light with very little heat. On the downside, they still don't quite give out the same sort of light levels that filament bulbs can easily achieve. Just as a point, as Daniel said, LEDs aren't like filament lamps, they're electronic and behave rather differently. An LED without any additional external components will expire faster than you can see if you apply anything much above 1.5v to it, they are polarised devices [er, directional] and will block current like a normal diode but will fail if exposed to an excessive reverse voltage. The voltage regulator looks after the LEDs and prevents you from blowing them up too easily.

I was all ready to sign up for a T-mobile and then spotted that there's an access point at Sawley Marina - cool. ADSLguide.org clocked it at 600+kb/sec downstream, it drops out very briefly from time to time but is pretty good on the whole. No contract either. I also have a squirrel burning in the living room, it's okay once you get it lit properly.