Great Money-Saving Idea for LED Interior Lighting

[simonmd]

Well, its that time of year again, so I went to buy some fairy lights to put on the outside of the boat. I was taken by a set that used all LEDs instead of weak and troublesome bulbs and was very pleased. Then it hit me, why not get a plain white set ot use as interior lighting?

So, I went back and got a 100 LED pure white set and installed them under the edge of the headlining on the wheelhouse roof and have to say, am VERY chuffed with the result!

It seems to be a fashon to move to LEDs these days but the 'proper' interior lighting systems i've seen so far seem to be pretty expensive, even a standard LED bulb running double digits so to get 100 LEDs for under 18Euros is a bargain and i've also got the facility to have them flashing if i'm having party!

[Waterway Guide]

Brilliant!

[conachair]

search ebay for led strip as well. Great stuff, I've some over the chart table and the fridge now has a light with a little switch and 9v battery into some strip.

[easterly38]

We have them strung along the bimini frame in our cockpit, works like a champ and looks great.

[keyspc]

now thats a bright idea

[S/V Alchemy]

Strip lighting using LEDs under cabinetry and aimed downward can give a very pleasant, low-intensity "area" lighting. Try running yellow LEDs for an even more calming effect.

If you have two strips running under side lockers, and a decent oil lantern over the saloon table, you have pretty well ideal "dinner aboard" lighting.

And if you want something not at "marine" prices, but above a string of Christmas lights, consider the sort of undercarriage LED strips used by truckers. They are very durable and, as said, if you don't mount them in direct sight, it doesn't matter what they look like (plasticky, in this case). Again, go with the amber colour.

Lastly, I concur with the 9V "little strips" lighting idea. If you rig a magnetic contact switch on the lid of deep locker aboard, you can install, at about five to ten dollars a locker, battery LED lighting for every nook aboard. Velcro the lights behind the lid out of sight and aimed down and forward from your point of view. Even the dim "bluish" ones work well here and are very cheap as they are falling from favour. The 9V battery can easily last a year, and you have no expensive copper runs if you "hard-wired" the same thing via a panel. I have a single LED in the top-loading reefer, but it's switched to the ship's DC circuit as a battery would die in the cold. I use it a lot of the time when I don't want to switch on a gallery halogen I keep for precision cookery.

Same deal with companionway steps. Rig an IR detector switch, a single red LED and a salvaged cover. Caulk up with silicone. Install on the underside of steps. When you step on the first step, a dim red light glows onto the second. Night vision and ankle bones are preserved. Repeat as needed.

I think the introduction of LEDs are, with AIS, pretty well the top two advances in small boat gadgetry in the last decade or so.