LED Lighting...

[Keith]

I'm nowhere near being ready to start ordering any of the finishing itiems for my PocketShip, although I did just pick up four bronze deadlights! While on the dealers website, I happened to look at some of the LED lighting that they carry.
http://www.greenboatstuff.com/mamr10smdreb.html I went on to look at the manufacturer's site. http://www.marinebeam.com There appears to be good reasoning to get LED lamps that are current regulated instead of just having a series resistor. I'll be going for all LED lighting onboard, so I'll be doing lots of reading on the subject. I'm planning on interior lighting, navigation and anchor lights, a floodlight and some "night vision friendly" lighting for the cockpit. Going with LED lighting should leave more battery capacity for playing with other toys.

[SHyland83]

I was thinking about LED also but assumed it would be too expensive. Let us know what you find.

[Keith]

I was thinking about LED also but assumed it would be too expensive...

I was looking at LED bulbs on eBay (Hong Kong sellers) and found lots of cheap LEDs. I'm sure that going with better LEDs with current regulation will be a bit more money initially, but the benefits should be worth it with constant light output and longevity. I haven't bought an incandescant bulb for the house in several years and haven't got any non-LED flashlights or headlights for ages except for a handheld one million candlepower spotlight. Even that will be replaced by one using LEDs when it packs it in. I've got to get my PocketShip built first, but I'm hoping to spend lots of time on it. I'll probably have a small solar panel and a wind generator. I'll have a few toys onboard, so using LEDs for all of the lighting should help out in stretching out the battery. Maybe I can come up with a 160-200 lb AGM battery to use instead of the under-floor ballast!