Lighting

Started by David Hall, September 21, 2016, 02:34:10 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

David Hall

Recently I got inspired to evaluate my boats lighting.  From the perspective of power consumption.  Two things made me do this.  The first is that I am adding a significantly more powerful radar array to my boat, I decided that I wanted to have a dedicated circuit for this instead of thing it into on breaker with all my other electronics.  When I looked over my panel I realized I don't have any spares and my boats courtesy lighting was split between two circuits a 10 and a15 amp breaker.  My radar requires 15, so I thought about it and decided to load all my courtesy lighting onto the one 10amp breaker and free up the 15amp for the radar.  I never have all my lights on at one time anyway so 10amps is more than enough, but I figured I should add the total wattage anyway just to be on the safe side.  I'm not nearly overloaded but since I'd gone this far I decided to look at converting to LED.  West marine is having a sale on an LED. Courtesy lights that worked out to something like 45% off.  So I now have a box full of courtesy lights, a pair of high power LED deck lights to replace two 150w halogen deck lights.  Three cabin lights will get LED replacement lamps and old fixtures will stay.  The only non LED lamp will be my searchlight on the hardtop, it will get replaced also but after the first of the year.  This should help saving battery power to help power the radar.  And the new low level courtesy lights are blue, should make for a pleasant ambiance for the occasional evening cruise.  I'll post pics after I get them in.

Tightlines667

#1
Sounds like you are doing things right.

I think you are going to love the LED conversion and they should easily pay for themselves in no time.  

With all of the electrical upgrading your doing, you may want to consider another small panel?

I myself, went the El Cheapo route, and picked up a pair if 50w Halogen deck lights on sale at West Marine, supplimented by some LED enterior lights, and some cheap LED pucks (powered by rechargable AAs) in the cockpit, and enterior.  I would have to have a pair of 150W equivalent LED decklights someday.  Probably end up scrounging a used Halogen off of someone who upgraded though.
Hope springs eternal
for the consumate fishermen.

David Hall

Well I just happen to know a guy who has a great set of halogen deck lights that he's not using.
Let's see what it would cost to ship them on over to you.  I'll post some pics of them when I get them off the boat next week.
I thought about another panel but I'm actually reducing my usage with all the new stuff.

Rancanfish

I sell and / or install outdoor lighting fixtures all the time but for my little Whaler I stumbled on a $10, 5 minute install LED light system.  It's remote controlled and is switchable between red and white light.

And it's removable. 

It's a round waterproof pool light from Walley world, lol.  Magnetic back that clings to a metal plate outside vinyl pool skin.  I'm going to double tape the metal plate up under the gunnel.  They were on close out in the garden area.

Sorry, I'm easy to please. 

Not to say I'm not jealous David.  I use to have a real boat, lol.
I woke today and suddenly nothing happened.

David Hall

Quote from: Rancanfish on September 21, 2016, 08:56:56 PM
I sell and / or install outdoor lighting fixtures all the time but for my little Whaler I stumbled on a $10, 5 minute install LED light system.  It's remote controlled and is switchable between red and white light.

And it's removable. 

It's a round waterproof pool light from Walley world, lol.  Magnetic back that clings to a metal plate outside vinyl pool skin.  I'm going to double tape the metal plate up under the gunnel.  They were on close out in the garden area.

Sorry, I'm easy to please. 

Not to say I'm not jealous David.  I use to have a real boat, lol.

I saw those used in you tube, a guy fit six of them up under his gunnels.  Lights the deck up nicely.

handi2

David if you run out of circuits/breakers you can always mount another Blue Sea breaker box somewhere easily accessible. If you pull another power wire from the battery make sure that wire is fused within 6 inches of the battery. You can get a small 6 "gang" Blue Sea box and have all you need for your lighting circuits.
OCD Reel Service & Repair
Gulf Breeze, FL

fsrmn

LED is definitely the way to go. They are cheap, waterproof, super easy to install and are easy on the battery. I changed all my running lights to LED. Black ones on the side light up your mono for night fishing. Here's the video that inspired me.

Not all fishing is done with rod and reel.

theswimmer

David I run all my lights LED including my spreaders.
I can leave my running, anchor , and cabin lights on all night and not see any measurable draw down .
I only have 2 Group 27 deep cycle for my aux lighting.
There is nothing like lying flat on your back on the deck, alone except for the helmsman aft at the wheel, silence except for the lapping of the sea against the side of the ship. At that time you can be equal to Ulysses and brother to him.

Errol Flynn

theswimmer

Quote from: theswimmer on September 21, 2016, 11:57:47 PM
David I run all my lights LED including my spreaders.
I can leave my running, anchor , and cabin lights on all night and not see any measurable draw down .
I only have 2 Group 27 deep cycle for my aux lighting.

I belive those are 78 ah.
We also never turn off the tunes , a high powered deck.
There is nothing like lying flat on your back on the deck, alone except for the helmsman aft at the wheel, silence except for the lapping of the sea against the side of the ship. At that time you can be equal to Ulysses and brother to him.

Errol Flynn

David Hall

I gotta do something about my stereo too,  I got only two channels, a pair of speakers below decks in the cabin that work fine but my hardtop speakers are screwed up, I'm hoping maybe just replacing them will do the trick but it may be a wiring issue.  Anyway, that's a cool video, I'm pretty sure I saw that one while I was searching for lighting solutions on you tube.  I'd like to have some under the hull but I am not keen on drilling holes through my boat at all, I use an in hull transducer instead of a through hull.  I know I have water pickup through hull fittings and it would really be nice to just flip a switch when night fishing to draw the fish in.
It never ends the number of things you can do.  I just got the new lights delivered and hope to get down and start installing them next week.  If ai don't get those doors installed this weekend my wife is gonna kill me.

Rancanfish

Leave the boom box home,  I'm out there to relax.   8)
I woke today and suddenly nothing happened.

Bill B

Good switch going to LED, we have been switching our old High Pressure Sodium (HPS) high mast lights at the facilities to LED, and have discovered if using the same wattage LED as the HPS you will have TOO MUCH light  :o  The color rendition of LED is in the blue light range and HPS is more towards the red spectrum.... Blue light has a better visual acuity due to a shorter wave length than red wave lengths.  We normally shoot for 5 foot candles on the ground using HPS, LEDs we have found 2.5-3 foot candles to be the visual equal. 

LEDs tend to be VERY directional, more of a "task lighting" than a "flood light" pattern.    Some high end LEDs are built to give more of a spread, but the light drop off at the edges of the pattern can be severe.  The lenses on the the LED fixture and help fix this issue.  You will see a significant power savings making the switch.  LEDs have given us better vision during fogging nights also.  Think of the way sun light penetrates water....the deeper you go red wave lengths are absorbed by the water and blue wave lengths penetrate deeper.

One additional thing to think about, we have seen a "mood" change from our staff with the LEDs.  LEDs are closer to sun light than HPS and red wave length lighting, people tend to be less alert and active with this "warm" lighting and switching the the colder blue light, staff tend to be more alert....something to do with the Circadian Rhythms of day light and night time...Michael Siminovitch, Director of the University of California Davis Lighting Center has done a lot of research on this topic, here is a link to his website: http://cltc.ucdavis.edu/staff

I might be over thinking the topic, but have found it interesting none the less....I recently toured the Port of Oakland to evaluate the Plasma Lighting they recently installed and was impressed by the color rendition and the amount of light this Plasma Lights provide, but the power required to and heat generated is impractical in a boat settiing....Bill
It may not be very productive,
but it's sure going to be interesting!

David Hall

Here's the new LED deck lighting.

David Hall

And here's the new LED interior cabin lights, I only replaced the lamps in these and kept the old fixtures.  They're a direct replacement. This is just one of the three overhead cabin lights.

David Hall

#14
And lastly the blue LED floor level courtesy lighting.  All in all I'm very happy with the amount of light these provide.  The courtesy lighting allows safe movement around the boat and does not reflect or interfere with my vision for operating the boat in low light or darkness.  The deck lights provide more than enough lighting for working in the deck, tieing leaders and rigging lines.  Total wattage if all of my lighting is on at once is less than half the wattage of one of my old halogen deck lights.  Now the only incandescent lighting on the boat is the topside search light, it's 2million candlepower and eats batteries, but it has a wide intense beam for seeing into the inky blackness.  There is a really nice LED model available but it's quite expensive and has to wait until next year.  I broke the bank with all the new electronics.  Sure are nice though.