Tunnel lights are, as their name implies, used in tunnels. They have two purposes, just like car headlights.
- They show you where you are going.
- They show boats coming the other way where you are.
Originally Chestnut was fitted with a plastic car fog lamp, of the Halfords variety. It didn’t look good.
So, in 2016, I replaced it with a nice Brass lamp that matches the roof vents.
However, our home mooring, in Stone, is just below the Harecastle tunnel which is long and narrow (no towpath). Going anywhere North of Stone, apart from the very pretty Caldon Canal means going through the tunnel. One thing that terrifies me is the idea of the single tunnel lamp failing half way through the tunnel. So I have installed a set of two LED headlights, each just under the roof overhang on the left and right. You can just make them out in the photo above.
These are the Head Lamps I chose, from Bedazzled LED lighting naturally, see this page about them. The brackets are Stainless Steel so, drill a hole and fix them in place with Stainless nuts and washers. The only thing that needs anti-rust treatment is the hole.
They are very bright and illuminate a tunnel wonderfully.
The LED headlights are much brighter than the tunnel lamp and would dazzle an oncoming boat if we were to pass in a tunnel, so the tunnel and headlights are on separate switches, so I can turn off the headlights should we ever pass a boat in the middle of a tunnel. I think I’ve done that twice in twenty years of boating!
Photographs will follow.