Best underwater yacht lights: Don't be kept in the dark

When looking for underwater lights for your yacht or boat you might well ask yourself: Who sells the brightest lights? However, almost counterintuitively, it's not always about brightness. There are several other features that need to be considered when seeking underwater yacht lights. Plus, the brighter the light, the shorter the life expectancy.

When buying yacht lighting of any variety, consider how much it costs to power the lights, as well as the up-front price. What is the beam power in angle degrees and lumens? Will it fit through your hull or not? What is the life span of the unit? Is the bulb generic or will you have to replace the whole unit once it’s dead?

There are many types of underwater yacht lighting on the market, each proclaimingto be the best. This article will provide objective advantages and disadvantages to the many different types of underwater lights.

Key features of underwater yacht lights

There are many components of underwater lighting, but there are four key features that need to be considered to make sure you select the right one for your yacht.

• Light source
• Mounting options
• Price/ beam width/angle etc…
• Durability

Different types of yacht light sources

There are four main types of light sources that are used for underwater lighting; LED, Xenon, Metal-Halide and Halogen. LEDs are typically the most widely used lights in the yacht industry.

How bright the light will be depends on how much AMP power is available.  All lights are rated by lumens per AMP; for example a leading LED underwater light manufacturer claims their lights outputs hundreds of lumens per amp, however Metal-Halide are in the thousands of lumens.

The last thing to check is the penetration angle, the higher the angle the more the price (generally speaking), LEDs start at 40 degrees (0 starting horizontally then going down), this will effect the spread of the light backwards and downwards, again, the more the spread is, the higher the price is.

LED

LEDs (light emitting diodes) are one the most popular forms of lighting. 

Advantages:

• Can last up to 80,000 hours
• Limited amount of power needed
• Low heat exposure
• Can withstand the rigours of spiking electronics, humidity, water ingress, and vibration on a boat
• No lag or time delay for LED lights to full brightness 

Disadvantages:

• Low water penetration
• In many applications, LEDs are expensive compared with other light sources, when measured by metrics such as “cost-per-lumen”
• LEDs are low-voltage light sources, generally requiring a constant DC voltage or current to operate optimally

LEDs offer a huge variety of benefits but at the same time they cannot be viewed as the optimum solution for every lighting-related application.

Xenon

One of the common systems employed by manufacturers these days are Xenon bulbs. Also referred to as high intensity discharge (HID), they offer a crisp whitish-blue light that illuminates deep into the water.

Advantages

• Strong angle spread
• Strong light penetration
• Cheaper alternative to LED

Disadvantages

• It can take a minute or so to get to full brightness
• HID bulbs when enclosed can get very hot. Heat management is a key issue in high power underwater lighting, otherwise premature failure will happen 
• Colour and brightness will eventually decrease, from the moment it is first used

Metal-Halide

The most expensive (unit price and power requirement) lights are metal halide, which need to run on AC power.

Advantages

• Suitable for large yachts and superyachts
• Very strong angle spread
• Very strong light penetrating

Disadvantages

• Bulky system units needed
• Requires a lot of power to run
• Price

Halogen

Halogen has only one advantage, Price. However it is the cheapest for a reason. It draws too much power, it is sensitive to its environment and it has low lumens per AMP and poor lifespan. These should be avoided, as there are much better alternatives on the market.

Expert tip on yacht lights and marine underwater lighting

Wattage is the measure of power consumption. Luminance is a measure of light output. The higher your lumens and the lower your wattage, the more efficient your light, and thus the longer it will last. Don’t let manufacturers confuse you here. High wattage without lumens to back it up is a waste.

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Discover more yacht lights and lighting tips in our dedicated guides. You can find superyacht lighting and underwater lighting specialists in our superyacht services directory.