Boat Interior Lighting Ideas

Boat interior lighting ideas and the selection of boat cabin lights is often a challenge, so many choices, technologies, designs and so on.  It is a simple fact that cabins with low reflective surfaces are going to require a greater number or more powerful output lights to illuminate that area. Painted surfaces, which are generally white and cream painted surfaces, have a much high reflectivity, typically around 80%. This can have quite considerable cost ramifications when buying boat cabin lights when you have a boat that is finished in teak or some other darker wood with lower reflectivity numbers.

The major reductions with a light interior are that fewer cabin lights are required, a lot less cable, or much lighter sizes, and reduced installation costs, also much lower electrical power consumption for the required illumination levels. Timber surfaces, such as some of the most beautiful teak fit-outs require considerable numbers of lighting fittings, as the reflectivity of the teak is typically only around 20% of a white surface.

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Boat Interior Lighting Ideas 

Before you opt for the hurricane lantern or oil lamp solution consider the following and ask some serious questions about boat cabin lights. I know people who literally have a hurricane lantern as a back-up, while some have rechargeable LED lanterns.  Given the enormous strides in LED boat cabin lights, it is the only economic solution. The boat I recently bought and upgraded had those usual gimballed oil lamps on the bulkheads but as a practical light source not much use, so I took them out.

What are the considerations when choosing your boat cabin light fittings? Well cost is an obvious consideration, and everyone has a budget, but the following should be the primary decision factors:

1. What purpose are the boat cabin lights going to serve in the proposed location? Is it for general illumination or something targeted such as over a galley sink or a simple bunk light. Different fixtures for different applications.

2. How big an area is required to be illuminated? The main saloon or the just the WC and shower area? 

3. What is the level of illumination required? Really bright or maybe something in between.

4. How reflective is the area in which the boat cabin lights fixture will be installed? Teak and timber does not reflect well. 

5. How long will the boat cabin lights be on for in the chosen area? Think about battery power consumption here. Look at the Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible for calculation of power consumption, lights are an important part of that vessel battery power equation.

6. What light fixture style is required for surrounding décor? Modern, traditional brass or something else perhaps. Then there is the question of recessed or surface mounted, and also whether fittings have an integral switch or not. The new LED lights on my boat have a touch pad switch.

7. What color spectrum, cool white? warm white? it makes a difference. Not everyone likes stark white and some don't like the warmer softer tones, so consider this when choosing a light

Boat Interior Lighting Ideas 

Treat your boat lighting system with same care and attention as all other boat equipment and safety related systems on board. Look carefully at your boat lighting systems and whether they will meet expectations when they are needed.

Assess whether the light fixtures perform the job and select the right boat light fittings for each proposed application. Safety is always a factor to think about here.

Ensure that all light fixtures are properly installed, by ensuring that the correct sized cables are run so that voltage drop problems are eliminated, although this is less of a problem with low power consumption LED lights, so you get the maximum available output for the least possible power.

Boat Interior Lighting Ideas 

What about electrical power consumption? This factor is critical as that all important calculation on power consumption can be made. The saloon boat cabin lights fixtures may stay on for extended periods. This consequentially has higher current consumption. The toilet boat cabin lights fixtures may not stay on long but be subject to a far greater switching on and off cycle. Bunk illumination is generally fairly low use, as are machinery spaces, and the chart table. Long term operation boat cabin lights fittings require lower energy solutions to save on electrical battery power. So the electrical consumption equation will comprise an analysis of all the light ratings along with the length of time each will operate and that time calculated for current. It is a relatively simple exercise but worthwhile. More great information about boat cabin lights and boat lighting.