LED Light Considerations
I'm looking at replace all my RV incandescent light bulbs with LED's but I've read that some LED's will cause interference with some electronics such as televisions. What considerations do I need to b...
Forum Discussion
Maybe the statement "... no known problem" might be a little extreme :-).
We spend over 70 days a year winter camping and in ski areas with our TC. No hookups. It gets dark early, no one is sitting outside around a fire after dark, as the temperature drops into the single digits or less, even if allowed.
Even with 440 Ah battery bank and an insulated 4 season camper, the furnace is running a lot and sucking amps. While it is possible to sit in the camper with a incandescent light or two on, it is like sitting in a cave for 5 hours before going to bed. Switching to all LEDs we can turn on more lights for the same number of Ah. This makes the inside of the TC less of a cave, and more a cheery and comfortable place.
I guess I should talk to those people with their TC lit up like Las Vegas, as I've only found warm white LED bulbs with a single contact bayonet style (BA15s) in the 200 to 250 lumen range. Their lumen output is not any where near the 264 lumen output of an 1141 bulb, nor the 189 lumen output of a 1003. I'd like to find warm white LEDs with real 400 lumen output as it allows higher contrast when reading with old presbyopic eyes, even with reading glasses.
As far as RFI with the LEDs, the newer ones are better. When I first got LEDs I didn't notice the interference when the radio signal were strong, but it quickly became obvious with a marginal signal when we were out in the middle of no where. I fixed the RFI issue by soldering a surface mount capacitor between the bulb contact and base, but it is just easier to screen bulbs for interference with a weak radio signal.
We spend over 70 days a year winter camping and in ski areas with our TC. No hookups. It gets dark early, no one is sitting outside around a fire after dark, as the temperature drops into the single digits or less, even if allowed.
Even with 440 Ah battery bank and an insulated 4 season camper, the furnace is running a lot and sucking amps. While it is possible to sit in the camper with a incandescent light or two on, it is like sitting in a cave for 5 hours before going to bed. Switching to all LEDs we can turn on more lights for the same number of Ah. This makes the inside of the TC less of a cave, and more a cheery and comfortable place.
I guess I should talk to those people with their TC lit up like Las Vegas, as I've only found warm white LED bulbs with a single contact bayonet style (BA15s) in the 200 to 250 lumen range. Their lumen output is not any where near the 264 lumen output of an 1141 bulb, nor the 189 lumen output of a 1003. I'd like to find warm white LEDs with real 400 lumen output as it allows higher contrast when reading with old presbyopic eyes, even with reading glasses.
As far as RFI with the LEDs, the newer ones are better. When I first got LEDs I didn't notice the interference when the radio signal were strong, but it quickly became obvious with a marginal signal when we were out in the middle of no where. I fixed the RFI issue by soldering a surface mount capacitor between the bulb contact and base, but it is just easier to screen bulbs for interference with a weak radio signal.
