Went to the marina today for a quick little project. All the lights inside the boat were the original 1978 fixtures that are now brittle, cracking and mostly missing the covers. The incandescent bulbs were also getting pretty hot when left on for any amount of time. I found an LED light fixture on Amazon [here’s the link] for only $12, so needless to say, I was pretty excited to try it out.
This was absolutely simple to install, so within about 30 minutes, I had a brand new LED light fixture that’s cool to the touch and will probably outlast the lifetime of the boat.
Now I have to get two more of these single fixtures and one double fixture and I’ll be all set.
Here’s before and after pics.
Original fixture – brittle and falling apart
New LED fixture – much better!
LED lights inside new fixture
New fixture, lighted with cover attached.
I like the light. I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing, but have decided to wait until springtime. I figure I can use the incandescent warmth over the winter sailing season. While I’m not fond of cold weather (I don’t go north of Dallas in a month with an “R” in it), There are plenty of warmish days down here for sailing through the winter. The little bulb in our cabin light heats things in there up very nicely.
We have found the best source for drop-in replacement LED bulbs as well as fixtures is http://www.superbrightleds.com. We replaced every light on our boat with their LEDs and it didn’t break the bank. We’re particularly fond of their 24″ LED light bars. We put 2 of them in the galley,one over the workbench, and one over the nav station. We can have all the lights on in the boat and still be less than 2 of the original incandescent fixtures.
Deb
S/V Kintala
http://www.theretirementproject.blogspot.com