igatenby
05-27-2005, 02:32 AM
Phew .....
I've been experimenting with lights....
I just bought a whole heap of different LEDs and a couple of cold cathode flouros (100mm and 300mm).
My high point, dollarwise, is curently at $A110 ($US83) for 2 x 3 watt Luxeon LEDs complete with lenses and driver kit - but without the necesary heatsinks. I'll report back on these when I get the driver kit built and some heatsinks on. I've got a sneaking suspicion that these will push out some serious candlepower. The specs rate them at 80 lumens (against a 240V 100W globe which has about 1200 lumens).
Funny thing is, that so far the best light output is from the cheapest thing, at $A8.95 ($US6.70), which is a PCB with 3 x high intensity LEDs on it, drawin about 60mA. I've paid $A40 for multi LED bulbs that plug into halogen fittings that don't push out as much light.
The cold cathode fluoros don't have enough light output and at around $US30 each, I don't think I want to run 20 of them to get the lighting effect I want in the cabin.
What started this is the broken lenses in my 67 year old navigation lights. I can epoxy the glass lenses back together, but heat from an incandescent bulb will cause problems. I'm planning on building my own LED setup with 5mm high intensity LEDs clumped together so that the light spreads appropriately. LEDs typically have a narrow light beam.... hence the need for a multi LED setup, but the available bulbs all orientation in one direction.
The next driver of curiosity is the way we have rebuilt the cabin on Grantala. We kept the original cabin roof and beams but replaced the cabin sides - so there is a join, which we strengthened with a shelf (about 1.5 x 3.5) under the beams, which we are covering with a pelmet - which will have curtain rails behind it. The idea of pelmet lighting came up, but there are about 13 or 14 beams in the main cabin (salon) - so about 28 lights needed. This would be out of the question with incandescants - hence the LED research.
I'd rather spend a couple of thou now on decent LED lighting that my 80W solar panel can service than stuffing around having to run the genset at night.
Has anyone done anything like an LED setup on their boat?
Ian
I've been experimenting with lights....
I just bought a whole heap of different LEDs and a couple of cold cathode flouros (100mm and 300mm).
My high point, dollarwise, is curently at $A110 ($US83) for 2 x 3 watt Luxeon LEDs complete with lenses and driver kit - but without the necesary heatsinks. I'll report back on these when I get the driver kit built and some heatsinks on. I've got a sneaking suspicion that these will push out some serious candlepower. The specs rate them at 80 lumens (against a 240V 100W globe which has about 1200 lumens).
Funny thing is, that so far the best light output is from the cheapest thing, at $A8.95 ($US6.70), which is a PCB with 3 x high intensity LEDs on it, drawin about 60mA. I've paid $A40 for multi LED bulbs that plug into halogen fittings that don't push out as much light.
The cold cathode fluoros don't have enough light output and at around $US30 each, I don't think I want to run 20 of them to get the lighting effect I want in the cabin.
What started this is the broken lenses in my 67 year old navigation lights. I can epoxy the glass lenses back together, but heat from an incandescent bulb will cause problems. I'm planning on building my own LED setup with 5mm high intensity LEDs clumped together so that the light spreads appropriately. LEDs typically have a narrow light beam.... hence the need for a multi LED setup, but the available bulbs all orientation in one direction.
The next driver of curiosity is the way we have rebuilt the cabin on Grantala. We kept the original cabin roof and beams but replaced the cabin sides - so there is a join, which we strengthened with a shelf (about 1.5 x 3.5) under the beams, which we are covering with a pelmet - which will have curtain rails behind it. The idea of pelmet lighting came up, but there are about 13 or 14 beams in the main cabin (salon) - so about 28 lights needed. This would be out of the question with incandescants - hence the LED research.
I'd rather spend a couple of thou now on decent LED lighting that my 80W solar panel can service than stuffing around having to run the genset at night.
Has anyone done anything like an LED setup on their boat?
Ian