Any Experience with "Superbrightleds"

[davidu996]

Hello, new member here. I am currently working on my allmand 31. amongst many other projects i need to install lighting throughout the cabin. i have heard good things about bebi but don't really see what i think i want there. i ran across this

WLFA2-xW15SMD series 15 High Power LED Waterproof Light Fixtures | Rigid LED Light Bars | LED Light Strips & Bars | Super Bright LEDs


and i was wondering if anyone had any input.

the basic idea is as few a number of lights as necessary, so i am thinking bright but dimmable area lighting. a couple in the salon, maybe 2 in the galley, one in each berth and the head.


any advice to head off my rookie moves would be appreciated!

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome to the forum. i would be interested in any input from people also

[Doodles]

I've bought from them a few times and been 100% satisfied.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by davidu996

the basic idea is as few a number of lights as necessary, so i am thinking bright but dimmable area lighting. a couple in the salon, maybe 2 in the galley, one in each berth and the head.
!

Not much romance in fewer, brighter lights. That's a great strategy for a morgue, but not a living space.

[davidu996]

Doodles, do you mind if i ask what you bought? was it the linked light bar and if so how bright would you rate it? about a single 50 watt bulb is what im thinking



Bash, thanks for your input. I am aritsitically impaired and that extends to lighting and decorating. I wonder though if we both are thinking of the same thing as far as brightness goes. regardless, do you have some lighting suggestions for me? if not a specific light, perhaps layout or a preference for color?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, davidu996.

[boatman61]

Welcome to CF Davidu...
Cant help with the lights tho'... sorry!!

[Sailorman Ed]

I have done several purchased from them and generally been happy. The last was to add a couple 1m strips NFLS-x series High Power LED Flexible Light Strip | LED Strips | LED Light Strips & Bars | Super Bright LEDs, one in the galley and one in the salon. I got the warm white and very happy with the result. The 1m strip spreads the light nicely, great for working in the galley. The only problem was needing a smooth surface for the adhesive to adhere to. We do not have any cover, just use the strips as is.

I also have a few older surface puck lights (don't seen them listed any more). I keep a 3 bulb white in the head and a 3 bulb red over the stairs on each side on all night as they use so little power. There is just enough light to get up during the night, find my way around and to use the head. I noticed a little corrosion in the chrome plating after about 3years now. Maybe will switch them out next year if my wife notices it also.

The LED anchor light was the best thing I ever added, well, maybe after the solar panels. I love going down to the boat and finding the batteries at 100%!

[hellosailor]

David, they have a decent reputation, they've been around long enough to be a brand name, and they'll anser tech support questions directly and promptly. If you had to pick a vendor at random, yes, they'd be a good one to start with.

[Ram]

I bought the led truck dome light and its really great-seems like a good outfit

[barnakiel]

Well, I like our LEDs to be warm (very warm) and I found we need more led fixtures (light points) than tungsten ones - LEDs are very directional (spot light). I bet the difference may be less noticeable to someone used to halogens but us here we went came from the tungsten era.

Best LED onboard is the one we bought at roughly USD 10 from Carrefour (well say your Wall Mart equivalent) - 3 superleds in one fixture, very bright, very warm.

b.

[Celestialsailor]

I have been compromising with warn Florescent fixtures that draw .6 amps each. It's a soft warm light that light a larger area than LED, not as well as Halogen but easily half the power.

[Livia]

We bought 20 LED replacements from superbrightleds for festoon style bulbs (bulbs only for our older fixtures, not entire fixtures) about 2.5 years ago and have been living aboard and traveling with them that entire time. We had one bulb failure so far. We bought the warm style and combined with the opaque cream plastic they are installed behind we have been very happy with the light quality for the amps.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

I have been compromising with warn Florescent fixtures that draw .6 amps each. It's a soft warm light that light a larger area than LED, not as well as Halogen but easily half the power.

With fluorescents, you can do even better:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

Wired via a small inverter, they beat LEDs hands down: more light, same consumption. Steca used to make 12V ones too, but we never got hold of them.

b.

[hellosailor]

Barnakiel, while "LEDs are very directional (spot light)" sometimes you get what you pay for. Philips and Sylvania are among the many companies now making LED lights that replace conventional screw-in 120VAC bulbs, and while the prices for anything over 60W-equivalent are still outlandish, they've gotten the light color and distribution very nicely matched.

One of the differences between a cheap 25c LED and a $10 LED are the beamspread. The cheap LED may have "the same" brightness as the expensive one, but the cheap LED has that brightness over a 15-20 degree cone, while the expensive one may be a 120-degree cone. You get 36x more light form the one with the 120-degree cone, even though the "brightness" of both may be the same.

That's the kind of stuff they don't tell you when you buy cheap LEDs. But if they put enough of those in one array, they can still get the same spread.

When I heard Alpenglow was ditching fluorescent in favor of LED, I figured there was a message in that. Meanwhile...Deck prisms, anyone? <G>