Looking for real world experience with the best LED light bulbs for interior replacement. I have read a lot of reviews on Amazon but would like to hear from the family here on what works and what doesn't. Would like to stay with the warm lights (yellow) vs. the cool white look and feel.Thanks,Brendan

I really liked Command Electronics and LEDTrailerlights LEDs.

Here are two sites our friend used:http://led4rv.com/http://www.superbrightleds.com/

Best is pretty subjective. I see that most US based sellers sell a regulated bulb. That may have better longevity as the current is controlled at the fixture. As long as the components of the regulation circuit are durable and there is no RF interference, that could be considered a better lamp. I chose to use the Asian unregulated panels in warm white. The cost is significantly lower and I've had good durability. I figured that < $2.00 a bulb gives me some leeway if they prove to be less than adequate.

All depends on your application, but I have been very happy with the "Green Longlife" brand.http://www.amazon.com/LongLife-5050171-Replacement-Lumens-Natural/dp/B006JD5BRE

westend wrote:Best is pretty subjective. I see that most US based sellers sell a regulated bulb. That may have better longevity as the current is controlled at the fixture. As long as the components of the regulation circuit are durable and there is no RF interference, that could be considered a better lamp. I chose to use the Asian unregulated panels in warm white. The cost is significantly lower and I've had good durability. I figured that < $2.00 a bulb gives me some leeway if they prove to be less than adequate.Best is NOT subject in real world comparisons where members here have tried bulbs based on advertised specs and "sales pitches" only to find out that they are too dim or don't work. The "RF interference" is a moot point because 99% of people here are not looking at that. Just reply with what you have personal, first hand, experience with.

Best Interior LED replacement bulbs | Good Sam Community

46 Replies

SCVJeff
Explorer
Mar 18, 2014
mena661 wrote:
SCVJeff wrote:
I finally took some pix of these lamps that were selling in Q. Haven't seen a better lamp for this service. where it needs to look good both visually and make nice light.
Who makes those?
Golden Gadgets were the folks selling them at the show in Quartzsite. They were $7.50 at the show and sold hundreds.
myredracer
Explorer II
Mar 17, 2014
Our last TT had recessed puck lights in the ceiling and I liked them. Our new one has the old-fashioned pancake style lights (LED) and I do not like them.

I happened to come across the lights in the photos below at the last RV show I was at. Caught my attention right away and bought six at a reduced show price. I thought the price wasn't that bad considering what some dealers charge just for LED replacement lamps. They're new on the market. I've been looking for a light fixture that I can install in place of the pancake ones and not have any visible screw holes. This one is 11" long and about the same dimension as the pancake one. It's also only about 1/2" thick.

It has 39 SMD LEDs and I got the warm white version. They run in a strip along one side of the light which edge lights a piece of plastic. There's an opaque opal diffuser over that. I have not tested one yet and don't know how the light output will compare to our original ones. The data sheet has photometrics but I don't know if photometric data is available for LED pancake lights to compare to.

There's no switch on them but they are coming out with one.

Data says 4.67 watts. At 7' there is 0.36 footcandles. Not much but I don't know how this compares to the LED pancake ones. If inadequate, I could always add a few more. 0.36 footcandles is like a bright-ish moonlight night and for comparison, it would take well over 100 of them to approach what you'd have in an office. If these don't work out, they said I could return them for a full refund. They'll either be great or a total waste of time and money... Haven't got the new TT home yet to try them out so can't give any feedback.

On just LEDs, I bought half a dozen a year or two ago on ebay - the made in and shipped from China ones. At $3 or so a pop including shipping, I thought I could not lose. I found they worked just fine and lumen output was good. They were supposed to be warm white, but were a bit blu-ish. I don't like cool white lamps, especially in a TT where there are a lot of warm wood tones. In one LED array, a strip of LEDs kept flickering and I had to toss it. But at the price, it didn't matter a whole lot. At the time, local dealers were selling LED replacement bulbs for over $30 each. They've come down in price a lot lately.
OldRadios
Explorer
Mar 17, 2014
I've used these Gold Star LEDs in all my celling fixtures. They are the closest to the original incandescents I've found. Can run eight of them for less current than one of the incandescents they replaced. Nice and bright and $6 each.
mena661
Explorer
Mar 17, 2014
SCVJeff wrote:
I finally took some pix of these lamps that were selling in Q. Haven't seen a better lamp for this service. where it needs to look good both visually and make nice light.
Who makes those?
bigorange
Explorer
Mar 17, 2014
pugslyyy wrote:
All depends on your application, but I have been very happy with the "Green Longlife" brand.

http://www.amazon.com/LongLife-5050171-Replacement-Lumens-Natural/dp/B006JD5BRE

Tried one of these on our trip this weekend...in our OEM fixtures this bulb seems like more of a spotlight, so didn't care for it in the overhead fixtures. Would be okay over a counter or as a reading light. I ended up putting the bulb in our exterior light near the door and it worked nicely there.

We preferred these LED bulbs in the overhead fixtures...although now I see the price on Amazon is $3 higher per bulb right when I wanted to order a few more! :S
SCVJeff
Explorer
Mar 02, 2014
NinerBikes wrote:
SCVJeff wrote:
They did have a lumen spec at the show, why not here I don't know. They were lower than the cob, but that's to be expected.. Either way the cob lights may work on enclosed fixtures, but not in open end spot/ flood fixtures, and these are beautiful in that service. We have similar spot lamps in the news trucks at work and I bought a box to replace those as well. They replaced 1383 reflectors and are slightly brighter.

I've not seen them anywhere else.

Someone, somewhere, has them on Alibaba trading, in China /Hong Kong. The trick is taking the time to find them... they are out there, these lights are not being made or built in America, when most lights are Cree based or Phillips Luxeon.
I finally took some pix of these lamps that were selling in Q. Haven't seen a better lamp for this service. where it needs to look good both visually and make nice light. These pix are a very close representation of the color temp.
CJW8
Explorer
Feb 22, 2014
For all my interior lights I used these. 1156. I used the warm for inside and the cool for all my outside lighting. Been two years with no failures and have noticed no interference. They made a mistake on my original order and they promptly corrected it, no questions asked.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Feb 22, 2014
Now have boxes of Honorable CREE and LUXEON lamps manufactured in Guangdon Province China, USA

The only dependable way I have been able to come up with with regards to establishing Kelvin temperature color when shopping, is with aggregate customer reviews or individually based reports or reviews such as found in this forum.
NinerBikes
Explorer
Feb 22, 2014
SCVJeff wrote:
They did have a lumen spec at the show, why not here I don't know. They were lower than the cob, but that's to be expected.. Either way the cob lights may work on enclosed fixtures, but not in open end spot/ flood fixtures, and these are beautiful in that service. We have similar spot lamps in the news trucks at work and I bought a box to replace those as well. They replaced 1383 reflectors and are slightly brighter.

I've not seen them anywhere else.

Someone, somewhere, has them on Alibaba trading, in China /Hong Kong. The trick is taking the time to find them... they are out there, these lights are not being made or built in America, when most lights are Cree based or Phillips Luxeon.
SCVJeff
Explorer
Feb 22, 2014
They did have a lumen spec at the show, why not here I don't know. They were lower than the cob, but that's to be expected.. Either way the cob lights may work on enclosed fixtures, but not in open end spot/ flood fixtures, and these are beautiful in that service. We have similar spot lamps in the news trucks at work and I bought a box to replace those as well. They replaced 1383 reflectors and are slightly brighter.

I've not seen them anywhere else.