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kellertx5er's avatar
kellertx5er
Explorer
May 08, 2014

LED lighting

OK, I'm really gonna stir some of you up because I'm having a hard time understanding the LED craze. Being a professional EE, I understand those of you who dry camp gain additional battery capacity through the reduced wattage. Does EVERYONE who writes in about LEDs dry camp regularly? We never do.

Is it about lamp life? In my seven years of camping in two different trailers I have yet to replace even one conventional lamp which had burned out.

I really would like to get some honest feedback to find out if there is any benefit I can get from installing LED lighting.

23 Replies

  • If you don't dry camp there is less benefit obviously.

    One area you may want to consider is your brake lights.

    Once power is applied, an LED usually takes around 0.1 sec to produce light. An incandesant usually is closer to 0.5 seconds. That means the guy is tailgating has a little better chance of stopping or even if he doesn't, he hits you going a little slower.
  • There are other aspects you may not have considered. Incandescent bulbs can get very hot to the touch. We have reading lights over our sofa, recliners and bed. These have 1383 incandescent bulbs that get very hot to the touch. If you reach up to adjust the beam of light, you can easily burn your fingers. I replaced all the 1382 bulbs with LEDs, and you can touch them without getting burned. Hot incandescent bulbs can also melt and disfigure plastic light fixtures.

    Even if you're staying in a commercial RV park with shore power, some of them require you to pay for electricity. I've never done a cost/benefit analysis of purchasing and running LED bulbs vs. paying for electric, but if you are in your RV enough days of the year, I'll bet it comes close.

    Then, there is the "green" effect. Why consume more electricity than necessary?
  • Almot's avatar
    Almot
    Explorer III
    You have answered your own question. Since you never drycamp, there is no immediate benefit in spending money on buying LED (and possibly - more often replacing) over your conventional bulbs. Not at today's electricity rates.

    There is a benefit of going "green", saving the planet with those few saved KWH a month etc etc, but I would rather not open a debate on this subject since this is not what you were asking about.

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