Lumishore is a UK-based Limited Company. The company is founded on advanced LED technology capabilities with our CTO and Engineering Director having spent their entire working lives (over ten years each)  working for one of the World's leading developers in this field. In 2007 we saw an opportunity to combine our knowledge with our passion for water and boats in particular. We knew at that time that LED technology was soon going  to match and exceed traditional lighting in terms of output and we knew how to apply that in the marine environment. The rest, as they say, is history.

Yes. Although the humble LED has been commercially available since the 1960s. It is only in the last 10 years that the ‘Big-4’ lighting manufacturers have invested heavily in the LED and only in the last 18 months that its performance has met and surpassed that of traditional lighting.
California has committed to replacing all its traffic light systems with LED technology and the UK and US governments have set LED at the standard for street lighting in the future.
Most importantly for the prospective underwater lighting customer where powerful and managed beams are required, all recent high power architectural applications rely on LED lighting focused in high-power arrays such as the HICOB LED array. There is no other option to harness the specialist requirements of underwater lighting and our arrays are designed SPECIFICALLY for underwater applications.

The ‘simple’ answer is that energy is created by passing current through the semi-conductor material. This creates energy in the form of photons that we see as light.  An LED diode does not have any filaments nor does it have any moving parts, which makes it a solid state device. No moving parts make them ideal for underwater lighting.
LEDs create light in a totally different way than halogen and incandescent lights. These lighting methods involve heating up the fragile filament until it radiates light, a major by-product and waste of energy is that much of that process ends up as heat. This is why halogen and HID lights draw so many amps from your boat’s battery system, highly undesirable.
LEDs on the other hand are very efficient: they convert electrical current directly into light, (although there is some electrical heat output contrary to urban legend) The semiconductor crystal chip, the diode, when activated by a low electrical current, produces a very precise wavelength of light.
This precise wavelength of light can be any colour. LED light does not need to be “colored” by filters or lenses making it more efficient in underwater lighting applications.

An LED is frequently referred to as Solid-State lighting as it has no filaments or gases. The make up of these materials controls the wavelength and efficiencies of the LEDS themselves. LEDS have been around since the 1920’s but over the last decade technological development have seen these devices become increasingly more efficient and more powerful making them ideal light sources for host of lighting applications. LED efficiency is increasing at an astonishing rate and is not yet near its theoretical maximum. LEDS are now replacing traditional incandescent technologies worldwide and It is commonly believed that LED will change the future of lighting as we know it. LEDs are made from a number of different materials generally referred to as semi-conductors. The LED has distinct advantages over traditional gas and filament based underwater lighting systems.

Lumens and Lux are two of the most popular measures of light output. Lumens are a measure of the light output at the source while Lux is a measure of illumination on a surface (i.e. 1 lumen/square meter). Both are obviously important for underwater lighting where both intensity and coverage is important. Lumishore has optimized its use of power (lumens) through its single lens system to provide a broad even coverage optimizing the underwater viewing experience. Lux is very misleading when applied to LED lighting as it is invariably measured in the centre of a narrow beam ..... giving a FALSE indication of total output that doesnt  exist. To get a high Lux reading ... all you need to do is focus the beam to a pinhead at 1-metre and measure it! Lux meters have no place in LED underwater lighting technology.

Solid-state (LED) technology has revolutionised the underwater lighting experience.
However, despite the ‘hype’  - it’s only in the last couple of years   that LED output levels have surpassed the best traditional lighting technologies in terms of output  - traditionally measured in lumens–per-watt. Three to Four years ago a typical commercially available LED had an output of around 30-40 lumens-per-watt, today that figure has  trebled.  The LED has been around since the early 1960’s, but only in recent years has the billion-dollar LED industry advanced to the point where the technology is now far more efficient than traditional lighting systems. A LED can now produce usable light that beats halogen hands down and competes with, and surpasses,  the more powerful HID technologies.
More lumens per watt means more light for your money and less drain on your batteries.

In addition to the basic output, LED technology is more efficient with less wasted light due to the output being easily controllable. Traditional lighting technologies losing up to 70% and more of their output due to 'Fixture Inefficiencies'. However BEWARE --- there are very many low output LEDs out there. These are often incorporated into cheaper and significantly less powerful units.

The LED ADVANTAGE does not, however, end there and it is the inherent benefits of the technology that make it so desirable for underwater lighting applications: -

• A 20x longer lifetime means no bulb changes so they should be maintenance free and this reduces the total cost of ownership and removes the need to carry spare bulbs. Long life means no bulb changes  some replacement  xenon bulbs retail for over £250. If the lifetime of an xenon is 3000 hours then if operated for only 6 hours a night the bulb will need to be replaced every 1.5 years. Depending on the number of lights installed, this can become very expensive. For a boat with 4 lights operating over ten years the cost of bulb changes alone would be in excess of £6,600/$11,000.
• More usable light - as an LED is uni-directional thereby removing the need for inefficient reflectors
• LED units can be permanently sealed making the units safer
• Solid State means no filaments, so units do not suffer from shock and vibration enabling them to be used whilst the boat is underway
• More Energy Efficient thereby saving critical on-board battery life
• No start-up currents compared to 'traditional' technologies – reducing current draw and increasing the number of lights that can be installed
• Negligible degradation of light output over life (this is why matching traditional bulbs on older technologies is almost impossible)
• Multi wavelength/color capabilities as opposed to the ‘white-only’ of traditional technologies
• The ability to ‘strobe’ lending itself to fish attraction applications

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That really is a matter of personal taste. We pride ourselves that the efficient, high output design of Lumishore lights that you will not need as many light as competitor offerings for any given effect. If you want any specific recommendations then please contact us.

Yes ... but only a couple of seconds.  Although LED lighting does not have excessive start-up currents , we use soft-start technologies in order to protect the lights and boat electronics.  Lumishore LED lights will  operate at the maximum output unlike other LED lighting systems which dim with drops in voltage. They do not require a startup current.

We employ the Lumishore Quad-Seal process to ensure against water ingress for our Thru-Hull lights. There are 4 stages of sealing to minimize the chance of any water ingress. This ensures that in the unlikely event of damaged lens the light unit remains sealed to IP68 to protect the vessel from any water ingress. Our lenses are sealed to the bodies using a 3-part process to ensure the strongest bonding possible using the best epoxies available -- we consult with one of the world's leading epoxy experts on this. The unit is sealed immediately behind the LED array and the entire body is potted with a polyurethane sealant. Just to make sure --- and to protect the electrical connections from water within the hull ---- the connector at the rear of the light is also IP-68 rated. You can choose your Lumishore lights with a contented peace-of mind.

Yes. Our Thru-Hull lights all have Lloyds Type Approval --- we believe we are the only underwater lighting manufacturer who have Lloyds EMC/EMI testing compliance. Our lights are all CE-marked, certified to IP68 and manufactured to ISO 9001 standards. All external driver electronics are sealed. tested and certified to IP 67.

All Lumishore lighting systems use LEDs from Phillips the leading global manufacturer of LEDs. By way of example our 'White' LEDs are rated at 100 lumens / watt. If you research competitive offerings you will find that this rating far surpasses competitors, some of whom use ratings as low as 20 lumens/watt. It is worth asking before you buy! In terms of Fixture Lumens (ie actual output) we have tested many of our competitors' offerings as well --- when you do comparisons, you also will find that Lumishore Total Lumens, Lumens/Watt (efficiency which is important for battery life) & Lumens per dollar (Value) are the best available.

The following table sets out the equivalent outputs of our lights when compared to traditional lighting. These results are based upon calibrated testing and NOT the hypothetical output of the LEDs themselves.

Yes. We would argue that they are significantly better. We compare HID, Xenon and LED lighting in an earlier question.

You can not know for sure without some research. There are many claims in the marketplace ( many false)  which confuse the issue. All we can do is help you in arriving at that decision. Firstly you will have to decide whether the lights on offer are fit for purpose. That means powerful lights. There is no point having lights which produce little or no light or have narrow beams creating uneven effects. Here are some questions you should ask yourself.

• - What kind of lighting system do I want? - We would suggest that LED is the only answer on  practical and cost of ownership grounds
• - Are the  manufacturers specialists in LED technology or just assemblers, assembling parts that are not proven as integrated lighting systems ?
• - Are the units manufactured from the best available materials?
• - What output do I need ? -- remember light does not travel well through water ... higher outputs will never disappoint.
• - How bright are the lights really? - you will need to consider both wattage ( Watts = Volts x Amps) and, most importantly,  the Fixture Lumens  (the best manufacturers always quote these, but again, make sure the tests are independent - if not ask the manufacturer why not?)
• - How can I work out value ?  -- A coarse method of price  comparison is Lumens / Watt,  but do not forget other issues .. they need to work properly underwater and be built to last.

We believe that when you have done that research you will know that Lumishore products are not only the best but provide amazing value-for-money.

When you have made the decision to purchase and  install underwater lights the next decision is always what colour should you go for? Different colors transmit light better in differing water conditions, Once you have made your decision you are stuck with it unless you change your lights. When you buy our color-change lights you do not have to chose any one color and you get the added advantages of your own color palette, fish attraction and color cycle modes. With an infinitesimal choice of color options you are not restricted to just one color for ever but can match your underwater lighting experience to the prevailing water conditions or simply your mood.

The power consumption of our units is as per the following tables for standard marine power systems:-

24 Volt

Yes. We provide a range of isolation sleeves so that our lights can be used with metal hulls.

We produce Blue, White, Green & Red lights – however if you are having difficulties choosing then buy our Color-Change lights and you can match the light colour to the prevailing water conditions and your current mood! `It is generally believed that Blue is the most enjoyable color where a wide range of water conditions are encountered. Green works particularly well where the water is highly colored (e.g. the Bristol Channel where our lights were originally developed!) and on inland waterways. White works particularly well over shallow sandy bottoms. Red makes the water ‘come alive’ .

Yes. We recommend all our Thru-Hull lights are anti-fouled. This can then be routinely done at the same time as the hull antifouling is performed.

The hole cutout required is only 25mm( 1 inch) . In designing our lights with a small cutout we ensure integrity of the vessel hull and the small diameter shaft also ensures that Lumishore LED lights can be installed in restricted or unusually shaped transom interiors where competitor products cannot.

Yes. These are manufactured to order only. If you wish to use AC power then please Contact Us

There is no need to change an LED; they are not ‘bulbs’ as we understand in traditional lighting. Our LEDs have an expected life over 50,000 hours and should not fail, as you would expect with traditional underwater lighting systems which have very low bulb lives.

No. The solid state LED is not affected by pulsing so there is no shortening in LED life as there is with traditional technologies. This also explains why the LED is an effective solution for ‘strobe’ lighting and enables us to build in our ‘Fish Attraction’ modes to our Color-Change underwater lighting.

This really depends upon the clarity and phytoplankton content of the water. We all know that light does not travel as well through water as it does through air  although  green and blue wavelengths travel the furthest in water. We have designed our lights to produce an even throw and spread of light and you can see that this provides an excellent underwater effect from pictures in our image gallery. Customers have reported ‘light throws’ of up to 35 meters in the Mediterranean over clear bottoms but that is obviously a subjective judgment. Having said that - we know we have the highest outputs and more output will mean further throw of the light in any given set of water conditions.

Thru-Hull Bodies
All our Thru-Hull light bodies should have a proprietary anti-foul coating applied. This should be re-applied at the same time as the vessel hull on an annual basis. Some customers prefer the aesthetics of our lights in their delivered state i.e. Aluminium Bronze. However, as with any exposed surface in the harsh marine environment, a build up of algae and barnacles will occur.
Drivelite Bodies
The Drivelite body does not require any anti-fouling as generally its application lends itself to frequent cleaning. However the customer may anti-foul if he or she  wishes. Cleaning should be performed with a soft brush dependent upon the build-up of detritus and/or marine growth.
Drivelite Heads
Drivelite Heads are treated with an anodized coating which includes a polymer. This inhibits the growth of algae over time.
Lenses
Lumishore lenses require infrequent / no cleaning if in regular use. Lumishore LED arrays ensure absorption of light not infrared with the light wavelengths we use.  This results in the ‘photons’ being absorbed into the body of algaes trying to attach themselves. In the event that your lens requires cleaning we suggest the use of a soft cloth or brush – particularly during extended periods of the lights not being used.

All Lumishore lights and drivers  are warranted for 2 years.