On Tue, 26 May 2009 13:07:40 +1200, "WBH"
wrote:

You can put led lights in series, but then you always have to switch more
lights on than you need. The whole idea of led lighting is to be more
efficient with DC and that translates to being able to switch lights
individually. The only way to efficiently supply power to leds is by using
constant current regulators, that use PWM (pulse width modulation). Any
other circuitry, be it transistor or Vreg, produces heat and is therefore
inefficient. Cheap led drivers can be found he
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13553
cheers,
wbh



Unfortunately, switch mode regulators often introduce noise that
affects other more important things on a boat.

Save power where you can, but it is not the be-all end-all.