Vero Beach (wikimap)
27 39.646N 080 22.224
It's unlikely that you're using LED lights for your room illumination at home. On a boat though, power management is king. LED lights use less than 10% of the power as incandescent lights and 2/3 less power than fluorescent lights. Therefore, we started converting all lights on Tarwathie to LEDs. We're not going to do it all at once. It's still very expensive.
Last year we bought a LED replacement bulb for one of the cabin dome lights. It was a big dissapointment. It had 6 LEDs in a cluster but it put out so little light that one could not read a book from 18 inches away. That was kind of useless and it cost $29.95.
At the SSCA GAM we saw some LEDs for sale and got to see how bright they were with a direct demonstration. I bought a new red/white dome light for $55. It has a cluster of about 30 white and 6 red LEDs and it's plenty bright. We use the red lights at night when under sail. The red lights do not spoil your night vision.
I also bought a red/green bulb to replace the bulb in the running light at the bow and a white one to replace the running light bulb at the stern. These have 16 LEDs each. I really hope they're bright enough. Those bulbs cost $44 each. As I said, it's very expensive. I would really like a mast head tricolor running light but that will have to wait for another year; they cost about $600.
Two of my very favorite LED lights are shown in the picture below. The flashlight was a present from my son John. It is a Brinkman long life LED light. Besides being waterproof, it gives good light and it lasts unbelievably long. I use it almost every day, yet the two AA batteries last for more than a year. The secret, I think, is an aspherical lens that focuses the light. That allows use of a dimmer LED and extends the battery life.
The other light is a Mighty Bright book reading light. We have two of them that we use for reading. More important, I've found that the mighty bright is very useful as a trouble light/work light. I can clip it anywhere, and bend the articulated neck to hold the light at almost any position and angle. I use it especially for working in confined spaces. On the boat, almost all spaces are confined spaces. It's something I can recommend for everyone's tool box.
27 39.646N 080 22.224
It's unlikely that you're using LED lights for your room illumination at home. On a boat though, power management is king. LED lights use less than 10% of the power as incandescent lights and 2/3 less power than fluorescent lights. Therefore, we started converting all lights on Tarwathie to LEDs. We're not going to do it all at once. It's still very expensive.
Last year we bought a LED replacement bulb for one of the cabin dome lights. It was a big dissapointment. It had 6 LEDs in a cluster but it put out so little light that one could not read a book from 18 inches away. That was kind of useless and it cost $29.95.
At the SSCA GAM we saw some LEDs for sale and got to see how bright they were with a direct demonstration. I bought a new red/white dome light for $55. It has a cluster of about 30 white and 6 red LEDs and it's plenty bright. We use the red lights at night when under sail. The red lights do not spoil your night vision.
I also bought a red/green bulb to replace the bulb in the running light at the bow and a white one to replace the running light bulb at the stern. These have 16 LEDs each. I really hope they're bright enough. Those bulbs cost $44 each. As I said, it's very expensive. I would really like a mast head tricolor running light but that will have to wait for another year; they cost about $600.
Two of my very favorite LED lights are shown in the picture below. The flashlight was a present from my son John. It is a Brinkman long life LED light. Besides being waterproof, it gives good light and it lasts unbelievably long. I use it almost every day, yet the two AA batteries last for more than a year. The secret, I think, is an aspherical lens that focuses the light. That allows use of a dimmer LED and extends the battery life.
The other light is a Mighty Bright book reading light. We have two of them that we use for reading. More important, I've found that the mighty bright is very useful as a trouble light/work light. I can clip it anywhere, and bend the articulated neck to hold the light at almost any position and angle. I use it especially for working in confined spaces. On the boat, almost all spaces are confined spaces. It's something I can recommend for everyone's tool box.
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