Light Bulbs overheating????

LEDs will overheat when the voltage is too high. The less expensive RV LEDs are designed for 12.6 volts. As the voltage increases from there the same current is drawn, creating the same light power output while the increase in electric power goes to make heat. Check yours when on shore power.

Higher quality LED lights have built in voltage regulators to prevent damage to the LEDs - but wouldn't the regulator chip dissipate the power reduction as heat?

Had same problem, went to leds they don't get as hot. Hope you can find lens for your fixtures I couldn't had to replace. Brought all on EBay..

No comparison in the heat of an LED and one of the 12 volt bulbs. I could feel the heat off the regular bulb at least a couple inches away. I can put my hand on the plastic cover and can barely feel any heat at all with the LED bulbs. And they're brighter.

Harvey51 wrote:
Higher quality LED lights have built in voltage regulators to prevent damage to the LEDs - but wouldn't the regulator chip dissipate the power reduction as heat?

I don't know a lot about the regulators used in LED lights but I believe they use switching circuits that turn the power to the LED off and on very rapidly. That is what causes radio interference from some regulator LED lights. The switching circuits cause much less heat than using resistive limiting of current.

I switched all my 1141 lights to non regulated LEDs some years ago and while a few have had some LEDs go out, they are still giving off lots of light. I think the problem I had was that when I attached the panels to the light fixture I bent the panels and damaged the connections to the LEDs. The cob style lights are still working perfectly.