When a boat spends extended time -- or even just the occasional overnight -- away from the dock, electricity conservation becomes a necessity. It's not unusual to use up all the reserve power contained in a good-sized battery, just by running a few cabin lights plus an anchor light.
LED boat lighting offers a way to conserve power while still getting ample light. The advantage in electrical consumption comes with a price, however: Boat LED light fixtures and bulbs can be more than twice as expensive as incandescent versions. LEDs last much longer, though, so over their lifetimes the price differential tends to even out.
LEDs Make Good 12 Volt Light Source
LEDs, first developed in the early 1960s, produce light by moving electrons through a semiconductor. The lights come in a variety of different colors, including red, blue, green, amber, and white. Running lights and anchor lights in 12 volt LED versions have been available for a little less than a decade.
Difficulties in producing LEDs with a light color similar to the white light produced by incandescent and fluorescent bulbs limited their use in boats (and in houses) until a few years ago, but engineers largely have solved the problem of proper color.
Now, boat LED light fixtures can be purchased in warm white and cool white. Cool white appears a bit brighter and is a good choice for outside boat lighting, but most people prefer warm white for their boat's interior living space because it adds a pleasant warmer hue to skin, varnished wood, and food.
Meanwhile, red 12-volt LEDs make excellent night lights, as they don't interfere as much with night vision.
Super-Bright LED Lights Rival Incandescents
Newer, high-power boat LED lights like these from Imtra Marine Products can accept a wide range of DC voltages than older LEDs and incandescent lights. Most boats run on 12 volts, while a few larger vessels run on 24 volts. Some of these newer super-bright LED light products will light up on voltages ranging from 10 volts DC to 30 volts DC, while others will run on as little as 8 volts.
In addition, high-power LED lights use about one-quarter of the power to produce the same amount of light as a halogen or xenon light bulb of the type commonly used on boats. Although it's difficult to compare LEDs to other bulbs directly because LED lighting tends to be more focused than other types of light bulbs, newer super-bright LED lights for boats are comparable to 10-watt or even 20-watt halogen or xenon lights.
LED light output generally is measured in lumens, while traditional bulb output is measured in watts. Again, although it's difficult to make direct comparisons, many experts consider about 120 lumens equal to a 10-watt halogen or xenon bulb, at a power draw of just 2.4 watts.
Price Tag for LED Marine Lighting: High
Boaters will pay a steep up-front price for the electrical savings and longevity offered by 12 volt LED lights.
For example, a Hella Marine NaviLED stern light for boats under 65 feet costs around $120, while the same type of Hella Marine stern light in an incandescent version costs less than $50. Meanwhile, the Sydney LED reading light by Imtra Marine Products was priced at about $150, while the xenon light bulb version of the same boat light cost half that.
It's possible to replace bulbs and not boat lighting fixtures; LED bulbs are available in various shapes and for many different types of sockets, making them drop-in replacements for almost every incandescent bulb found on a boat.
And even if boaters decide to keep almost all their incandescent light fixtures due to the high initial cost of LED boat light, many experts recommend considering just one replacement: the lights at the top of a sailboat mast. LED masthead lights, like other LED lights for boats, generally will not fail and will not need replacement bulbs, which represents one less task to accomplish for the crew member suspended in a bosun's chair 50 feet above the deck.
Jane Anderson - Jane M. Anderson spends as much time as possible on the water, working and sailing on boats. She grew up sailing Sunfish and Rhodes 19s on ...
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