SplashyLady wrote:Source of the postRGrew176 wrote:Source of the post I did some checking into LED's yesterday and was told that you have to put wattage reducers on the lines powering the fixtures that you intend to put the LED's into. I was told that just plugging them in they will not last and will burn out soon unless you reduce the wattage to the fixture.
Any truth to that?
No - LEDs are very forgiving for voltage and will operate over a wide range. A 12 VDC LED will usually work fine from about 9V to about 16V. They have a typical expected life of 10,000 hours - incandescent bulbs are usually 2,000 hours. The one catch is for LED bulbs on dimmers or blinkers - LEDs do not dim well, and don't have enough resistance to cycle many blinkers. That's why they don't always work on when folks try to replace their turn signals on cars.
Replacing incandescent bulbs with cool white LEDs in your nav lights will work fine, as the green/red comes from the lens, not the LED. If you go with colored LED nav lights, make SURE they are USCG approved. There are some for sale out there that are not USCG approved and do not meet requirements. Buyer beware.
Thanks for the information. I may proceed and try a few LED's. West Marine sells some but the ones they stock in store are $36 each. I did see some at one of the local Auto Supply stores that were in the range of 2 bulbs for $8 or so. My Carver has 10 lights that would need to be replaced.
Are the LED's you have tried as bright or even brighter than the incandescent bulbs you replaced. I have 4 lights in the main salon area. I might try and replace them there first to see how I like the light.