No help for you on the solar panels but the ONLY LED replacement bulbs or fixtures to buy are marinebeam.com.
I've bought a couple of LED products from other suppliers. I have replaced them with marinebeam products. I have both entire fixtures and also replacement bulbs from them. 1st quality products. Do it right the first time, go with marinebeam.com. Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA On Sat, Oct 13, 2018 at 12:42 PM DON JONSSON via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Hi All > > Last year after putting in a new Beta engine with a larger alternator (110 > amp) we added an additional battery, a battery monitor, and to use all that > power, a fridge. (Of interest, and not the point of this email, is we went > through two alternators on the boat last summer both on warranty. Doesn't > bode well. We did not put in a smart regulator as it would void the > warranty. Guess that was a good thing. Two mechanics have gone through > the boat and all wiring is good. They claim manufacturing default in both > alternators. Hmmm.) > > The fridge is a fantastic addition especially when you are up north with > no stores to buy ice, or much food for that matter. BUT, as you all know > it takes a lot of power. Which gets me to the questions. Easy one first. > > 1. We have added some new LED reading light fixtures but still have a few > more old incandescent lights where we would like to keep the fixtures. You > can get replacement LED bulbs that range in price from a couple of dollars > to $15. I read that cheaper ones don't deal with variations in voltage > very well and you should spend more money. Does anyone have experience and > recommendations. > > 2. The real solution, we think, is solar panels. But how much do they > really help and where to put them on a 34 foot sailboat. It seems all > locations come with a compromise. We are considering: > > A: On top of the dodger, but the boom will always be an issue. Especially > since we don't have a bimini we use the boom for supporting our awning that > we put up on hot sunny days. Yes we occasionally get them up on the BC > coast and blocking the sun is mandatory. > > B: Get a bimini and mount them on it. But this gets us back to the > sunshine issue. Lots of days it isn't that warm and you want the sun on > you. A Bimini with solar panels is not that easy to fold out of the way. > Also it isn't cheap. > > C: Hang them off the life lines or rails at the back of the boat with a > support that allows you to set them flat when at anchor. But we > occasionally carry bikes back there and we couldn't have both at the same > time. Also looks a little clunky. > > D: Leave them as portable and set them out when at anchor. But then it > is a pain and you don't do it unless you are sitting for a while and you > have all the wire to deal with, etc. And they aren't helping much under > sail. > > So does anyone have a recommendation as to what they have done and how it > works. Also how many amp hours did you get on a sunny day? What size of > panels did you use. > > I know, that like everything on a boat it is always a compromise, we are > just trying to figure out which one to make. > > Thanks for any help. > > Don Jonsson > Andante, C&C 34 > Victoria, BC > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each > and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - > use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > >
_______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
