Forum Discussion
- 4x4vanExplorer IIIThere are alot of claims and counterclaims around about LEDs; "cheap is bad", radio/tv interference, warm white vs bright white vs cool white, voltage regulation vs current regulation, runaway heat...all I know is that a year ago I replaced every single bulb in my RV (over 20 bulbs) with "cheap" LEDs, mostly from China and most costing about $4 each. I have not had a single failure, no heat issues, no radio/tv interference, LOVE the light output (more), LOVE the color (bright/pure, not warm), and cut my current draw by more than 75-80%. I will never go back to incandescents in an RV, and I will never pay the ridiculous prices that some retailers and RV parts suppliers want.
Here's the post on my conversion. Scroll down a bit to see pictures; the color and light output is nothing short of amazing. Contrary to what some may claim, it CAN be done without spending an arm & a leg. The nice thing with the "cheapies" is that you can try a few different types without spending much, to see what works FOR YOU. That's key, since we all have different preferences (particularly when it comes to the "color"). - -LqdskierExplorerI went with M4 products and am very happy with the color of light. I went with the "natural" color to avoid the bluish color and am very happy with them. It's amazing how much less power they draw.
- mlts22ExplorerThere are two schools of thought:
1: Buy the cheapies (I've bought a number for $1 per, free shipping, although it takes a few weeks for them to arrive.) The lumens are not great, but they save very much on battery power. They may interfere with radio as well.
2: Buy the good type that have their own voltage regulation, put out a warmer light, and more lumens. Those can be ten to a hundred times more expensive.
Since I only use my rig on weekends, I went with #1. If I were using it more often, I'd go with the good quality bulbs. - jnolan72ExplorerThis is the LED I have replaced all light in my motorhome
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BMXVFG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
LEDwholesalers Bayonet Single Contact LED bulb Ba15s 8-30v Dc & 12v Ac 60 LED 5w 300 Lumen,Warm White 1422ww
No glare and no problems with any electronics devices - Snowman9000ExplorerI also use the ebay seller Tenbear recommends. Good products at good prices. No electronics issues on my end. Shipments take 2-4 weeks from China. He will take care of any defective ones. I have purchased several times from him and recommend it highly. Use warm white if you want a conventional looking color.
- JopopsExplorerI did it for the amp draw and for the simple fact that I don't want to worry about the bulb burning out. These bulbs will last longer than my rig will.
- RambleOnNWExplorer IIWe changed out most of our incandescent lights for LEDs a few years ago with flat stick-on panels from Rigid Industries. These were 315 lumen 3-watt 3 LED units. We ordered some more later and they sent some more amber 300 lumen units. Just bought a couple more and they sent 350 lumen glaring white. Those were supposed to be to replace 2 that failed prematurely in the kitchen area after a few hundred hours. No color choices were ever offered. I put those 2 down in the compartments and went to a local rv place to get some of the tubular style. No more Rigid industries, no response to our complaints. We should be set for a while with 24 LED units.
- Free_Range_HumaExplorerThese 2 videos by Rv Geeks were a life-saver for me; otherwise you can spend forEVer trying to figure it all out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KF_Ig8sutg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDYcODgaC_0
And P.S. Even for those who don't really care about the electrical savings while dry-camping, my secondary motivation was to reduce all the heat in the rig from the incandescents. Who needs that?! - tvfrfiremanExplorerI don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet but when buying, make sure you check how many Lumen's the bulbs put out. That is the brightness. One bulb may be a few bucks cheaper but only have a third the Lumen's. I have found you get what you pay for. We do some off the grid camping and have solar panels. I only changed out the more frequently used light fixtures like above the recliners, the bed reading lights, and the bathroom.
- WA7NDDExplorerI changed out all eleven lights to LED's in our Class C. I bought them from Amazon. Someone commented they did not think they were any brighter--WRONG. No more yellow light, nice bright white light and much brighter. I did not buy the cheap LED's, I paid about $7 each for them and glad it did. I liked the LED'd so much I went to Home Depot and bought 10 Cree LED 110 Volt lights for my outside pathway post lights, $6,97 each. Went from 300 watts of incandescent to 100 watts of LED power. The security light turns them all on when someone or something (We live in the country) comes around. We are careful walking outside at night, cougars are not uncommon. I am quite happy with the Cree's also.
Here are the LED blubs I purchased:
GRV Ba15s 1156 1141 High Power Car LED Bulb 102-3528 SMD DC 12V Super Bright Cool White Pack of 2 from Amazon.
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