LED replacement bulbs question

[Ricco1]

My boat is fitted with 12" tube lights, they draw 8w. Looking around on Ebay, I've found LED replacement tubes that claim to be brighter, and draw 4w. Not too expensive, might be worth doing.

 

The first question is about the end fitting. The spare bulbs I have say 'Compton Bulbs 8w' but nothing else. Many of the replacements on Ebay are 'T5 end fitting' These look about right but it's hard to tell. Is T5 the normal fitting for this type of thing?

 

Secondly: some of the ads on Ebay refer to the removal of 'starters' or 'inverters'. My existing lights are wired into the 12v system. Is it likely that if I buy the replacements and fit them that they won't work, I'll have to adapt the existing fitting? If so, is this something that's easy to do?

 

Many thanks.

[ditchcrawler]

All the ones I have come across need the fitting modifying

[Keeping Up]

Yes you always have to remove the existing electronics so that the 12v connects directly to the tube holder.

[DHutch]

Yes you always have to remove the existing electronics so that the 12v connects directly to the tube holder.

Which is what you get if you buy an 'led trilite' and various others.

 

 

Daniel

[Ricco1]

Which is what you get if you buy an 'led trilite' and various others.

 

 

Daniel

 

Found some packaging for a spare cover, it's a Trilite, made by Labcraft.

 

Is removing the electronics easy?

[DHutch]

Is removing the electronics easy?

Piece of piss, and unlike labcrafts offering you will be able to.use a nice warm white led strip.

 

 

Daniel

[sjc]

Here's a thought before you take the plunge ...

Replacing the bulbs will save you 1Ah per bulb for every 3 hours use. So if you use 2 lights for 3 hours each per evening that's 2Ahs saved, assuming 440Ah capacity, on a 50 % SoC basis, that's 2/220, or less than 1% of your useable capacity. Is it really worth the cost and hassle ? Merry Christmas.

[Ricco1]

Here's a thought before you take the plunge ...

Replacing the bulbs will save you 1Ah per bulb for every 3 hours use. So if you use 2 lights for 3 hours each per evening that's 2Ahs saved, assuming 440Ah capacity, on a 50 % SoC basis, that's 2/220, or less than 1% of your useable capacity. Is it really worth the cost and hassle ? Merry Christmas.

 

Fair point! Thing is, I'm a bit anal about making as much electricity and using as little as I can. The fact that i have a wind turbine should confirm that I don't often make sensible decisions in these respects.

 

Bit more looking around on Ebay I found these:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-72-LED-Interior-Light-Strip-Bar-Car-Van-Bus-Caravan-ON-OFF-Switch-12V-12-VOLT-/181887409220?hash=item2a59559c44:g:QrYAAOSw37tWCobV

 

Would save me the hassle of fiddling with the electronics of my existing fittings, seems I'd just need to connect the positive and negative wires on the new fittings into my wire run, job sorted. They are also cheaper than led replacement bulbs.

 

Anyone used them, or any comments?

[WotEver]

Yes, they'd work fine. Not used them myself but I'd warn that the light is likely to be very cool, verging on blue. Fine if you want that sort of thing but many folk prefer a warm white.

[DHutch]

Yes, they'd work fine. Not used them myself but I'd warn that the light is likely to be very cool, verging on blue. Fine if you want that sort of thing but many folk prefer a warm white.

That's very likely, fine for the inside of a delivery lorry, but not so great for the living room of an evening.

 

As said, while the LEDs will use less, if your currently fine for electric, and or using it for anything like a TV or laptop, the change may well not be noticeable except for the effort and if you not careful, reduced light quality.

 

Halogens are really fairly poor compaired to led, but florescents are a decent way there.

 

 

Daniel

[Ukiyo]

Would save me the hassle of fiddling with the electronics of my existing fittings, seems I'd just need to connect the positive and negative wires on the new fittings into my wire run, job sorted. They are also cheaper than led replacement bulbs.

 

Anyone used them, or any comments?

 

A lot of sensible stuff being said in this thread.

I would try one before you go changing out all your light fittings.

Sometimes the details about these things are not entirely accurate in terms of light output etc.

...and there is the question of is it worth it and will you end up with something worse.

Flo tubes are already pretty efficient.

 

I have a friend who much prefers the blue LED lights than the yellowish ones so taste can be a factor too.

You might even want different colour temps for different parts of the boat and usages etc.

 

Personally I like all the G4 type bulbs that sell for about £1 on ebay but I guess you need to have a fixture they would work with.

[Graham Davis]

I replaced 2 tube lights in the caravan (kitchen and toilet) with LED strips like those and found them perfectly adequate.

[George94]

Here's a thought before you take the plunge ...

Replacing the bulbs will save you 1Ah per bulb for every 3 hours use. So if you use 2 lights for 3 hours each per evening that's 2Ahs saved, assuming 440Ah capacity, on a 50 % SoC basis, that's 2/220, or less than 1% of your useable capacity. Is it really worth the cost and hassle ? Merry Christmas.

 

 

Let's look at these numbers more closely.

 

Depending on the wattage of the bulbs being replaced, the saving could be more than 1 Ah per bulb, but let's ignore that one.

 

Many of us would use many more than 2 bulbs at a time. I usually have at least 6 on.

 

Three hours a day? You must be joking. More like 9 at this time of year.

 

440 Ah capacity? Many boats would have less.

 

So, unless we are existing in semi-darkness, the true figures are nearer 10%, or even more.

 

Then you need to look at the cost of power generation, and you will realise that even a small reduction in power consumption is worth quite a lot in terms of cash, convenience, and quiet.

[frangar]

I have the 2d type fittings in the galley and engine room on my boat....and be warned that if you replace the tubes with an LED "disc" type of lamp that the light output isn't as diffused and offers less spread....I've converted the one in the engine room to LED but I'm not so sure about doing the galley ones....I could fit two of the LED discs in the exsisting lamp housing but by then the current draw is getting closer to the existing fluro fittings.

 

I say this as a big fan of LED lighting in general....in boats, buildings and for stage use!

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

Edited December 27, 2015 by frangar

[Ukiyo]

Hiya Gareth!

I also love LED lighting but there are of course issues as there are with all the different kinds of lighting really.

 

I think it's a good idea to try things out bit by bit like you have so you can get a better idea about things.

 

LED's are, as you suggest, a more focused form of light and even worse they are often made up of multiple little bulbs too which can cast interesting shadows. It depends on the kind of LED bulb you are installing. Diffusion can be partly a function of the fixture in some cases. This is why some fittings have those white plastic covers that let the light through. If your fixture features no diffusion of any kind then you could maybe add cheap baking paper in front of the bulbs somehow to diffuse the light. Of course it not only diffuses the light but cuts some of the light output too.

 

I'm not sure what sort of fixture you have. The Disc type bulbs are often for G4 fixtures but it can vary as to the amount of space inside the fixture for a bulb. In any case there are other designs of G4 bulbs than the disc ones. This is what I love about the G4 option because there is a nice diversity in the bulbs and also the connectors are easy to use and adapt to a fair few situations.

 

There are some interesting new bulbs out there. Check out this one that seems to have a single high power LED and some built in diffusion:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/G4-3W-12V-Crystal-Warm-White-1-SMD-LED-Down-Marine-Light-Bulb-Lamp-Brightness-/111684802620?hash=item1a00eed83c:g:KJUAAOSwrklVbDb6

 

There also seems to be some new technology they are calling COB which looks interesting.

Check out these new kinds of G4 disc which seem to not only be more powerful but have some kind of built in diffusion:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/G4-5W-18-COB-LED-Crystal-Lamp-Spotlight-Spot-Light-Bulb-DC-12V-Wram-White-White-/381479447805?var=&hash=item58d1f26cfd:m:mFB3-AMM2okF9UGL08sbP_w

 

These look fun as they attempt to emulate a filament light bulb:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-5W-G4-COB-Filament-LED-Light-Bulb-Lamp-Warm-Pure-White-AC-DC-12V-130LM-P5-/181917339507?var=&hash=item2a5b1e4f73:m:mKw4EfICTSu5wUW8oo9q0Ww

 

All of these bulbs are only 99p so you can afford to experiment a little bit and try different things to see what you like whereas spending £13.99 on some LED's seems a lot more risky to me.

Edited December 27, 2015 by Ukiyo

[ditchcrawler]

I have the 2d type fittings in the galley and engine room on my boat....and be warned that if you replace the tubes with an LED "disc" type of lamp that the light output isn't as diffused and offers less spread....I've converted the one in the engine room to LED but I'm not so sure about doing the galley ones....I could fit two of the LED discs in the exsisting lamp housing but by then the current draw is getting closer to the existing fluro fittings.

 

I say this as a big fan of LED lighting in general....in boats, buildings and for stage use!

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

Glad you posted that, it was something I was considering.