Cabin Lighting

[Terry Forshier]

In our, new to us, 1988 C34 we found that the interior lilghting was not bright enough for older eyes to read in the main cabin. We also played games with the grandkids in the evenings on our annual Kids week on the boat and could not see the cards and games very well. We have the 2 way lights , push one way, bright, the other way dim. The V and aft cabins have the little cylindar lights that are bright enough but who wants to go to bed to read?
What have the rest of you done in the way of upgrades? On our last boat we used several flourescents as replacements but were really never thrilled with them. They did fill the cabin but the cabin in the Old ODay 30 was quite a bit smaller.
I see there are now LED bulbs but do not know how they would be for reading. What I would really like is one of the lights I see advertised for reading that give a soft glowing light with no eye strain. Probably do not make them, for 12 volt operation.
Having undergone a detached retina and several surgeries on one eye earllier this year my vision is much poorer than most so I need all the help I can get.
Did anyone put in an overhead light that would fill the cabin? Also has anyone put in those little "courtesy lights", (led's)
along the floor like night lights? I heard these were nice when getting up at night to check the anchor, head visits and so forth.
Terry

[Stu Jackson]

Terry

I did a search on lighting, but there were few discussions.  I found a thread on LEDs: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=2298.0.  There are some lighting threads in Projects, use the link on the upper right of this page.

Years ago there was a move to fluorescent lighting.  A Fleet One member changed all of his lighting to fluorescents and the result, in my opinion, was absolutely horrible - the color rendition was poor and the lighting level was way too much.

I, too, have been looking for lighting improvements (although we do read in bed and the fixtures you describe work for us).  I have considered the Alpenglow fixtures, which are pricey, but have a great reputation.  A perusal of the West Marine catalog indicates that there haven't been too many new fixtures on the market in over the past 20 years, save the halogen bulb replacement which we've already done for saving some energy.

When we're out cruising, we usually go to sleep at just after dusk (around 9 to 10 p.m.), so don't use the lighting all that much.  Our lighting mod in Projects gives us a light over the galley and one over the saloon table, good enough for reading, but not really localized lighting.  During the winter, with its shorter days, we use our trawler lamp in the saloon.  Given your eye issues, that wouldn't work for you.

What you may want to consider is looking at all the available lighting fixtures, perhaps googling "LED lighting," doing some searches on this board in more detail than I have, and then purchasing one fixture to see if it works for you.  It's certainly easy to simply tap into one of the light fixture wires and temporarily install one of your choice, to see if it works for you.  In fact, you may only have to replace one or two fixtures, rather than all of them, if you tend to sit in a particular spot to do your reading.  Another choice would be to leave the existing fixtures and simply parallel one or two with a supplemental light that works for you.

The halogen lights we bought (in the Projects: http://www.c34.org/projects/projects-aquavite.html) came from Home Depot, of all places.  Turns out the lights are 12V, but they sell them with transformers for home use at 120 V.  We just bought the lights without the transformers and wired them in!  You may want to consider checking out a hardware store or Home Depot and find what thy offer that may be applicable.

Ron Hill has installed courtesy lights in his galley.  I believe that they are covered in Tech Notes.

[captaingary]

Boaters World stocks a white reading light for around $20. I installed one on each side of the mast and get great ligh for reading. I drilled holes for the wires and ran them inside the mast. I am attaching a picture of the light also.

[sailmed]

Check out Marine Lighting International in the UK.  They make really nice LED units for marine applications.  They are likely to be pricey, but the quality looks great.

[Craig Illman]

An idea from the Catalina 36 group that I saved:

Fred, this isn't the best picture (I'll get some detailed shots on the boat this weekend), but it does show the installation of a household type 12v system. These come with transformers for 110v, which you obviously won't need on the boat. I got the lights on a close-out from Lowes, but had to order the track, etc. from Seattle Lighting.

I installed the track across the top of the galley (right over the sink and dry storage) all the way from one side of the cabin to the other. The track is plastic and will make the bend necessary to match up with the top of the cabin. The lights are halogen and come in a variety of wattages and flood versus spot configurations.

The brand I used was the Linea. Its called the Surface-mount Channel System.I got an 8 ft section of track (LV108). You also need a LV201P end feed section. I ran 12v wires up the starboard side of the cabin, then under the teak trim rail and then into the end feed.  There is no switch as part of the system, so I took the mini rocker-type switch out of the housing of a lstandard 120v line switch, and routed out space for in into the plastic cover of the end feed. It was a tight fit but it works perfectly.

Don't have the model number of the light fixtures, but they are very small. I'll see if I can get a number from the boat.

I really like this system as 1) it mounts flush and is very unobstrusive, 2) it's white so it blends in, 3) you can move the lights along the track to get them exactly where you want (I needed light over the sink and the dry storage, 4) you can rotate the lights or add more fixtures, 5) the lights are very small.  The only thing better would for the whole system to be LED, but then I do like the brightness of the halogens.

Walter Conner
S/Y Endless Summer
Catalina 36 #1314
Seattle, WA


- Craig