Lights vs Battery Life

[niel12]

Well guys, it certainly seems if the benefits of LED outweigh the indascent and halogen lighting by far. I seem to think that a search light should still be using halogen unless LED has taken care of this too and that should be interesting to know.

[senormechanico]

Let me google that for you

[niel12]

Thanks Steve, you made your point ... quite a valid one at that!

[harlie]

My experience of testing driving / spot lights for highway usage shows that the new LED products do not have the distance penetration of halogen – HID is by far the best but IMHO not really suitable for marine use, for flood / work light applications LED is really good.

[Kiwikat]

[QUOTE=senormechanico;740559]You ought to get some from Sailors Solutions.com
The light is almost impossible to tell from Halogen, but has a more even distribution of light as well as 80% less power draw.
We have six in our saloon.

Thanks for the tip. We ordered some in and they are perfect for the job.
Cheers

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by niel12

Does anyone actually use LED on their boats and does the saving really ammount to as much as the adverts leads one to think?

Yes, and this is particularly noticeable when you switch to LED nav lights. Leaving the anchor light on all night can have an impact on a modest battery bank typical of smaller, older boats. On something carrying three 4Ds, it means you can leave cabin lights on, giving your boat the "we are at home" look so unattractive to thieves.

So it's not just power-saving, but also a form of insurance.