24/01/2026

All the Secrets of LED Strips on Board

By admin

Power consumption, dimming, remote control and low-cost automation

LED lighting is probably one of the cheapest, quickest and most effective upgrades you can make on a boat. Not only does it drastically reduce electrical consumption, but it also rejuvenates the interior, improves onboard comfort and multiplies lighting possibilities, especially at night.

In this article, we explain everything you need to know about LED strips on a boat, based on a real onboard installation, with actual power measurements, Wi-Fi control and voice automation.

📺 Full project video

Why upgrade your boat’s lighting with LED strips?

Many boats are still equipped with halogen lights or poorly positioned spot LEDs, with inconvenient switches and lighting levels that no longer meet today’s standards.

Good lighting can:

Make an old boat look modern
Improve visual comfort and onboard well-being
Make repairs, maintenance and video recording much easier
Greatly reduce electrical consumption
Create different moods depending on the time of day

And all of this can be achieved with very little money, using LED strips and the right controllers.

Types of LED strips: SMD vs COB

When choosing LED strips, there are mainly two technologies available:

🔹 SMD LED strips

Individual LEDs are visible as separate points
Cheaper
Usually require a diffuser for a clean finish

🔹 COB LED strips (Chip On Board)

Continuous light with no visible points
Much better aesthetics for both direct and indirect lighting
More robust and better finished
Ideal for modern boats

👉 In this installation, COB LED strips have been used, both white and RGB.

Light color temperature: white, warm, natural or RGB?

Color temperature has a huge impact on how a space feels onboard:

3000 K → Warm white (yellowish, cozy atmosphere)
4500 K → Natural white (ideal balance)
6000 K → Cool white (operating-room style)
RGB → All colors, ambiances and night navigation

In this boat, the choice was:

Natural white (4500 K) for general lighting
RGB lighting for indirect light, night sailing and ambience

Real power consumption at 12 V (and at 14 V)

One of the key points of the video is measuring real power consumption, which is essential on board.

Measured data:

White LED strips: ~10 W per meter at 12 V
Wi-Fi dimmers: almost negligible consumption
RGB controllers: ~0.7 W standby consumption
Dimming the light = directly reducing consumption

⚠️ Important: when the boat is charging and voltage rises to 14–14.4 V, power consumption can increase significantly if the strips are not regulated.

👉 That’s why it is highly recommended to use controllers instead of connecting LED strips directly to the battery.

Dimming, Wi-Fi and voice control

LED strips become much more powerful when combined with controllers:

Light intensity control (dimming)
Control from your smartphone
Lighting scenes and schedules
Voice control (Google / Alexa compatible)

All of this using very affordable controllers, compatible with Tuya Smart.

Installation: simple and modular

The installation itself is straightforward:

Direct 12 V power supply
One fuse per circuit
Physical switch (highly recommended)
Connectors to add controllers later

LED strips can be cut to length, and leftover pieces can be reused.

Purchase links for the equipment used

Below you’ll find the direct links to the products used in the video:

(Using these links doesn’t cost you anything extra and helps support the channel.)

Automation and the future of the connected boat

The video also shows how to control the lights:

From your phone
From your smartwatch
Using natural voice commands

This is just the first step towards a fully connected and automated boat, a topic we’ll explore in future episodes.

Conclusion

Upgrading a boat’s lighting with LED strips is one of the best low-cost improvements you can make. It improves appearance, reduces consumption, increases comfort and opens the door to automation.

👉 If you want to see the full process step by step, don’t miss the full video, embedded at the top of this article.

⚓ Fair winds, good light… and low power consumption.