LED bulbs

[Kim Schoedel]

I want to replace some of my interior bulbs with LED's. Having a tough time trying to figure out what to do. I don't want to start replacing fixtures. The fixtures are all original. Just want to brighten things up for reading in the V-birth and the settee area. Getting old.

I have the bayonet/single contact. And the Festoon style.

Except for WM here in Spokane, I would have to go online to purchase.

Huge price difference between various online sites.

Any suggestions/recommendation's would be appreciated!

 

[rwthomas1]

I have posted before that I really like the SensiBulbs from SailorsSolutions.com. Yes, at $40 a pop they are not cheap but they are brighter and have a better light quality than the incandescent you have now and any of their competition I have seen. I'm guessing you have the same fixtures that I have in my boat. SensiBulbs can be had with a little bayonet adaptor so they simply plug in. The mount clip can be positioned in multiple places on the unit so it works in most any fixture. I do not know if they have a Festoon solution. I bought 4 and liked them so much I bought 6 more. Just do the main lights you use all the time, thats where the amp hours are. RT

 

[treilley]

Sensibulbs are great and they just came out with a brighter model. Of course after I bought 6 of them
There are a couple of adapters available but nothing for a festoon. They fit natively into a g10 socket. My lamps are fairly cheap stamped aluminum Guest fixtures with a brass coloring and festoon sockets. I called Guest and they claimed to have never made this lamp. I even sent them a photo with the Guest name on them. There are not many lamps out there that fit over the original opening(about 6.5 inches). All are either 5" or 7".

I replaced all my fixtures with the ABI 6.25" mahogany and brass model. They were about $30 at Hamiltons. ABI is gone so there are only so many left.

http://store.hamiltonmarine.com/bro...ahogany-halo-bulb-*d*----100226-/4,10738.html

 

[WBurgner]

What Rob and Tim Said

I also use the Sensibulb as plug-in replacements for the halogen reading lamps. The brightness and color are very good.

I have also used the Alpenglow florescent light fixtures for area lighting in the saloon and I am happy with them. They are a bit pricey but attractive, efficient and work well for area lighting which many LED solutions have had trouble with.

 

[Mike Tinder]

love the sensibulb

We live aboard and the sensibulb is great. We have it in all our lights. The amp hours saved is tremendous. We would have had to add a solar panel or wind generator to keep up with the old lights. They last a long time, do not get so hot you cant touch the fixture, the light is great and we have 20 of them on our E-39B. Lighting is too important here in the Pacific Northwest. Worth every penny. In the future we will add solar panels, but they will be able to take care of more then just lights now.

 

[Loren Beach]

Kim,
If you put the word Alpenglow into the site search engine, you get several good threads to peruse on interior lighting, FWIW.

Loren

 

[Mindscape]

Alpenglow

I have one of the Alpenglow floresents in my main cabin and it is a great lite and one of the best looking lights I have seen. It is ok on amps, better than the original incandesants, not as good as LED.
I recently added an Alpenglow LED reading light in the V birth and it is great. Pretty pricey but excellent reading light, nicely made and very nice to read by.

I have no affiliation with Alpenglow, but have now used a couple of thier products and both have been excellent. Take a look at the website for some info on lighting and LED's. Nice people too btw, small operatoin.

 

[Kim Schoedel]

Thanks to all for the input! I will proceed with this little ($$$) project.

 

[stuartm80127]

give australian led shop a try.

I replaced original bulbs with West Marine dr led last year. Was not pleased and this year installed LEDs from the led shop in Australia. Have been very pleased with the result. They use 9 smd leds in each bulb. I ended up epoxying mine to the aluminum frame in my light fixtures. 110ma each.

 

[jkm]

Kim

I changed out all my bulbs six years ago with LEDs from Superbriteleds.com.

There were not many choices back then. Because I read when away on the water I ended up leaving one fixture with the old fashion 12v bulb for reading.

Just having this one light seemed like a reasonable trade off. Just couldn't get used to the LEDs for reading-tired out my eyes.

John