Lighting design question
Hi everyone! I'm building my camper van on a Ford E250 extended platform with high top. I've never done this before and I don't have much experience camping, so I need opinions and advice from y...
Forum Discussion
My general thoughts:
1. Spotlights/floodlights on the outside are probably excessive, though you know your usage better than I do. I think (but I do not know for sure) that you would be legal on the road in the US if you put opaque covers over the lights while driving.
2. I would not attach the only entry side outside light directly to the awning, mainly because it means you have no "porch light" if you do not have the awning extended. I'd suggest some sort of a light attached to the side of the van, either instead of or in addition to the awning light. If nothing else, you might like some light when deploying the awning. Having some low-power light to act as a sort of night light/porch light if you go out wandering in the dark is a great convenience, too; just enough to see where the door is, and maybe where a rock or hole right in front of the door is.
3. There's no great shock hazard from 12V lights, and so far as I know there are not any GFCIs available, certainly not as common standard parts. The resistance of the human body is sufficient to generally prevent a dangerous current from flowing from a 12V source. (With wet skin, the human body resistance does go down a lot, but even so 12V is no more than uncomfortable absent extreme circumstances.) In my class C, the light in the shower is identical to the other ceiling lights throughout the motorhome and they are not any sort of waterproof or damp location fixture so far as I can make out.
4. Consider putting a light in your outside accessible storage compartment(s). They are mighty handy. A simple stick-on battery powered light would probably be perfectly acceptable since it shouldn't be on for hours and hours at a time, and would need no extra wiring.
1. Spotlights/floodlights on the outside are probably excessive, though you know your usage better than I do. I think (but I do not know for sure) that you would be legal on the road in the US if you put opaque covers over the lights while driving.
2. I would not attach the only entry side outside light directly to the awning, mainly because it means you have no "porch light" if you do not have the awning extended. I'd suggest some sort of a light attached to the side of the van, either instead of or in addition to the awning light. If nothing else, you might like some light when deploying the awning. Having some low-power light to act as a sort of night light/porch light if you go out wandering in the dark is a great convenience, too; just enough to see where the door is, and maybe where a rock or hole right in front of the door is.
3. There's no great shock hazard from 12V lights, and so far as I know there are not any GFCIs available, certainly not as common standard parts. The resistance of the human body is sufficient to generally prevent a dangerous current from flowing from a 12V source. (With wet skin, the human body resistance does go down a lot, but even so 12V is no more than uncomfortable absent extreme circumstances.) In my class C, the light in the shower is identical to the other ceiling lights throughout the motorhome and they are not any sort of waterproof or damp location fixture so far as I can make out.
4. Consider putting a light in your outside accessible storage compartment(s). They are mighty handy. A simple stick-on battery powered light would probably be perfectly acceptable since it shouldn't be on for hours and hours at a time, and would need no extra wiring.
