Sunday, 10 March 2013

LED Lighting

After what seems years of intention I eventually bought and fitted 2 trial LEDs, cool white 180 Lumens from Bedazzled. The issue was would there be sufficient light to read by and could I fit them into the existing light fittings of which I have 2 types. The oldest, bought from a chandlery, have bayonet bulbs,  and the newer from Screwfix, have G4 halogen bulbs, of which there are 2 types.
By taking out the reflectors, the 30.5mm LED units fit into the Screwfix fittings and, although we were not staying overnight, the illumination seems sufficient for reading. Advice from a friend is to use warm white as the closest to current lighting. However, it is only a matter of getting used to cool white.
I've now ordered LEDs for the remaining lights. I could have ordered complete units to replace the oldest light fittings but they seemed expensive. Screwfix no longer offer the units I previously bought and buying units with a G4 bulb seemed wasteful. However, searching the internet, buying new units fitted with G4 bulbs and removing these to fit LEDs saved about £5 a unit. As I need 5 units that saves £25 in what is an expensive upgraded.
The next problem is fitting the new units. The holes cut in the deck head are too big. I fitted the previous ones by cutting a wooden ring using 2 blades fitted to a hole cutter. As they were to fit in what had previously been cut with the large hole saw blade, they were a very loose fit and a fiddle to fix in place. I have a couple of weeks to think up a better solution as I plan to replace the oldest units while cruising over the Easter fortnight. Fitting the LEDs in the existing newer units is a couple of minutes per unit and will be done before we set out.

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