LEDs Conquer Luxury Yachts
With LED technology, new and unique lamps can be realized in short times. Because exclusivity and speed matter most in the luxury yacht business, LED lighting solutions are being used more and more.
A warm summer night, the yacht is at anchor and no mosquitoes are buzzing around the lights? It must be an LED light. Studies have shown that insects fly less toward LED lights than to traditional lamps. However, this is not the main reason that LEDs are increasingly used on board.
LED Allow Uniqueness:
Those who buy a luxury yacht want something exclusive. Until recently, boat builders had few choices to help them build unique, exceptional solutions. The forms and types of lamps available were limited. Today, however, LED technology has completely changed this situation.
Using LED technology allows a light source to be completely custom-designed regarding form, color and brightness. Specialized companies develop and produce LED lights exclusively for one yacht. They produce lights in very small series but excellent quality.
This is possible because LED lamps are produced using surface mount technology (SMD). Circuit form and size are not limited and LED types can be selected according to customers’ desires.
Ideal for Use at Sea:
LEDs are well suited for use on boats where the conditions are very rough. Other lamps have difficulties surviving water, salt, wave impact, vibration, UV radiation and the big temperature differences on board. But a correctly constructed LED light can withstand the harshest conditions.
It is much easier to build a watertight housing for LED lights than for others and if assembled correctly, the LED will withstand any mechanical load. Its life expectation is much longer than the one of fluorescent lights or incandescent lamps and their operation is almost maintenance-free.
Other strengths of LED include the ability to dim the light without flickering, which is in sync with the quality thinking of a yacht builder. Furthermore, LEDs use less electrical energy, which, on a boat, is the same as less diesel consumption.
React Quickly:
“Exclusivity and a short reaction time are of great importance in the yacht building business,” said Paul Leestemaker, founder and director of Paleco LED Applications in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The company specializes in LED lighting solutions for boats and yachts. Leestemaker's goal is to answer customer requests within one week, providing fast turnaround and a high-quality solution.
Therefore, Paleco builds its products entirely themselves: mechanics, software and electronics. The company has reduced its dependencies from external suppliers to a minimum. As such, they can offer maximum flexibility and exclusivity for their customers.
Quick Manufacturing and Modification of Prototypes and Qualification Samples:
Flexibility is especially important in electronics production and LED assembly because if a new light shows the expected effect, it can only be said when it is finished. Therefore, Paleco runs its own SMD assembly line with machines from Essemtec, Switzerland.
The flexibility of the automatic Essemtec Turnkey Line allows Paleco to build LED lamps in both small and large series quickly and at highest quality. Lamps with different colors or brightness can be completed fast and customer requests can be implemented on short notice.
New Possibilities:
LEDs are a great design element and also can be used to influence mood. Light planners often make use of the different LED colors and the possibility of programming them. Applications include the modification of pool illumination or a lounge light that changes according to the time of day.
New LED types are released almost monthly, offering yacht builders new possibilities to build something exclusive for customers. So while insects flying less toward LED lights may only be a side effect, it is a thoroughly enjoyable one.
About Essemtec:
The Swiss machine manufacturer Essemtec is a market leader in manufacturing flexible production systems for industrial users. Essemtec has been developing, manufacturing and marketing equipment and machines for all processes in the electronics industry since 1991: printers, dispensers, pick-and-place and soldering systems. Manual, semiautomatic and fully automatic systems are available. The range of products also includes transportation and storage systems, as well as software solutions for planning, simulation optimization and documentation of manufacturing. All Essemtec systems are optimized for maximum flexibility. Users can switch from one product to another in no time, making maximum use of available production capacity. Essemtec - Be more flexible.
