I asked the questions about "certification" and was told that it is a nearly impossible task now that would require so much time and related expense, it is rarely done. Specifically, for an LED navigation light fixture to be certified with an LED, it would need to have a specific LED manufacturer and model of bulb and go through the process. Therefore every LED bulb out there that can be retrofit into the fixture would have to go through the same process which neither the bulb suppliers or fixture manufacturers are willing to do. In our case, these answers were regarding a specific Perko masthead light fixture that was original equipment.

My experience with the changeover to LED's is this. 1. There are many, many different LED's available, more suppliers seem to appear every week. Finding the correct size is only a small part of doing the changeover. 2. The chances of things not working properly seem to be enormous based on the different suppliers, bulbs and related quality. 3. It was a huge learning process moving from incandescent to LED. The colors, wavelengths, temperatures and output are measeured differently. If you base your decisions soley on your your current incandescent knowledge it is likely that things will not go well. 4. The prices of LED bulbs have been dropping as the suppliers increase. A certified Hella or other fixture is substantially more expensive than a replacement bulb, however finding the correct LED is not easy. Finding the wrong LED on the other hand seems to be VERY easy. I discovered a line if bulbs that had specifi polarity. It was not stated in the packaging, I never realized it until after the fact and put them in backwards. They never worked........that was totally inconvenient as they were for the masthead fixture. That application took three tries to get it right. By that time it was more of the principle of the thing to prove to myself I could do it properly.

All that said, it took me roughly 2 months of research and experimentation before I was satisfied. I purchased from two suppliers that I found in sailing magazines and it was STILL difficult, in particular for the combination masthead light. Although the suppliers will not certify the fixture/bulb combination and make no bones about that on their websites, if you do your due diligence you will be pleased with the results. Our lights are by far brighter than with the incadescent bulbs and of course, use way less power.