Led Lights...

[Ole_Man_Dan]

Today I took the first step toward replacing my RV lights with LEDs.
I bought two LEDs to replace the lights nearest the kitchen living room area. I plugged them in and my first observation is that they are brighter than the old yellowish lights. Good light.
I'm replacing them one fixture at a time.
Pricey at $31.00 for two bulbs. (Bought at Dandy RV.)
I bought two to see how bright they are...
Work fantastic. No heat generated, not like the old incandescent bulbs.

This came about after camping at a campground that lost power for 18 hrs. during a tornado. I cut back to one light on and got by...
Motivation was to have at least one fixture with LEDs to use in emergencies. Should last a long time.

I may buy two a month till I change out all my lights. (Retired)

[wopachop]

Hi there everyone!!! Like others who posted i too have been playing around with LED lights for years. I put those suckers everywhere!!! Inside the house, on ATVs, on RC airplanes, and of course inside our Toy Hauler.
We are avid campers and go out once or twice a month. Starting the generator because we ran the batteries down gets expensive. So i started building my own LEDs for the Toy Hauler.
I have made many versions of lights over the years. Finally have what i consider the most badass RV retrofit light you can buy in DEC of 2013. (you guys see how fast technology progresses)
Using CREE leds matched with components designed for the fluctuating voltage of RV/Auto charging systems.

[danojeno]

I'm a slow learner. Despite reading posts on here giving me great advice about LEDs found on e-bay, I waited until the last minute before our summer trip to buy them. That left me paying a disgusting amount for 4 panels from my local RV dealer. The panels, packaged or manufactured by Next Wave, were bright and "warm" . Three of the panels have experienced partial failures. Last week I wanted to upgrade the rest of trailer to LEDs so I went to Amazon and ordered several different types. The ones I like best were 48 SMD panels which appear similar or the same as the ones referenced in the 2011_led link...but were about 7 bucks each. Don't make the same mistakes I did. These all seem very cheap, so you might as well buy them at the cheapest price.

[trail-explorer]

My LED write-up My EASY LED Upgrade

[4x4van]

Unlike many here, I (and my wife) do not like the yellow color of "warm white". In an older MH, it just makes everything look old and dingy. Of course, the blue tint of "cool white" is bad as well. "Bright white, or Daylight white" is what we ended up with and like, although everyone has their own preferences.

But I shudder when I read of those who are paying $15-20 each for LED replacements! I replaced every bulb in my MH, over 20 bulbs, for about $100 total, using Amazon & eBay. I've got at least twice the light output, at 1/5 the current.Here's my experience.

[westend]

tenbear wrote:

D.E.Bishop wrote:
I have to agree with all who suggest 2011_led as a great source. I bought a couple different types from him to test and they are as posted on eBay. The problem I have is the color, we just spent two weeks at the beach, this is the longest we have camped at one campground, ever and my DW had plenty of time to evaluate the LEDs. She is a quilter and uses OTT lights for that and I thought the bright white lights would make her happy. NOT! We have a lot of fixtures with two lamps in each fixture, If I have one LED and one incandescent or if both are incandescent the color is good for her, but just the leds, no. She has asked me to stop using the bright white LEDs both in the MH and the S&B.

So does anyone have a source as cheap as 2011_led with something in the 2800K to 3200K range.

I bought the warm white LEDs and to my eyes they are a very close match to the 1141 incandescent lamps I replaced. As I said before, buy a couple and try them before buying many.

Edit: I used the same panels that Ron3rd posted a link to.

X2 The 3200K range may even be more yellow than the original incandescent. I have these same panels mounted under clear glass and the illumination is very good.

[tenbear]

D.E.Bishop wrote:
I have to agree with all who suggest 2011_led as a great source. I bought a couple different types from him to test and they are as posted on eBay. The problem I have is the color, we just spent two weeks at the beach, this is the longest we have camped at one campground, ever and my DW had plenty of time to evaluate the LEDs. She is a quilter and uses OTT lights for that and I thought the bright white lights would make her happy. NOT! We have a lot of fixtures with two lamps in each fixture, If I have one LED and one incandescent or if both are incandescent the color is good for her, but just the leds, no. She has asked me to stop using the bright white LEDs both in the MH and the S&B.

So does anyone have a source as cheap as 2011_led with something in the 2800K to 3200K range.

I bought the warm white LEDs and to my eyes they are a very close match to the 1141 incandescent lamps I replaced. As I said before, buy a couple and try them before buying many.

Edit: I used the same panels that Ron3rd posted a link to.

[hershey]

LED's are a great improvement to the lighting system in an RV. But there isn't any reason to replace all the existing lamps with LED's. If your intent is to save energy when boondocking by replacing the lights with LED's, then only replace the lights you actually use 90% of the time. I replaced one floresent in the main area of the MH, another light over the couch where my wife reads and one in the bathroom. Any other lights are only used now and then especially when boondocking. Keeps the cost down to a manageable level.

[Ron3rd]

tenbear wrote:
I have replaced all my coach light bulbs with LEDs I bought on eBay. Most cost between $3 and $5.

If you buy on eBay, buy 1 or 2 and try them before buying several. Not all venders are selling good stuff and their claims are sometimes not very accurate. I bought many of mine from 2011_LED and am happy with them.

What tenbear said; That's the ebay seller I went with. I got a 10 pack for $25. This seller is in China and ships from there. Takes about 10-14 days to get them. They carry all the popular sizes at low prices. Good seller with good feedback.

These are the panels I ordered:
LEDs on Ebay

Looks like they've gone up about 5 bucks for the 10 pack, but still a good deal.

[tvman44]

I replaced every light in our 5er with the SMD LED panels from E_Bay at about $2.00 to $3.00 each. In the kitchen area I put 2 panels for each bulb and also over the sofa & dining table. Talk about a lot more light and much lower temperature. Everyone who comes into our 5er is amazed and several have done the same. 🙂

[Ivylog]

Other than buying 1-2 leds to experiment with in your RV, I'd wait until closer to summer to buy in bulk as the price will be even lower then.
While you are at HD buying the $10 Cree led lights for your home, buy the two cree led flashlights like these for $10 (with batteries) and put one in every vehicle you own.

[westend]

badboy368 wrote:
so guess we should just look on e-bay for our led lights ?

Yes, best game in town. Order a couple in different color ratings, ie. cool white, warm white, etc. so you can assess the color differences, make a decision later, and then buy the total needed.

[badboy368]

so guess we should just look on e-bay for our led lights ?

[D_E_Bishop]

I have to agree with all who suggest 2011_led as a great source. I bought a couple different types from him to test and they are as posted on eBay. The problem I have is the color, we just spent two weeks at the beach, this is the longest we have camped at one campground, ever and my DW had plenty of time to evaluate the LEDs. She is a quilter and uses OTT lights for that and I thought the bright white lights would make her happy. NOT! We have a lot of fixtures with two lamps in each fixture, If I have one LED and one incandescent or if both are incandescent the color is good for her, but just the leds, no. She has asked me to stop using the bright white LEDs both in the MH and the S&B.

So does anyone have a source as cheap as 2011_led with something in the 2800K to 3200K range.

I love the Cree lamps, our Mini-Halo recessed ceiling fixtures have the Cree floods in them and for general lighting or display lighting they are great. They do not do well as a reading or work light as they are not focused. I have one spot over the sofa and it needs to be a little brighter and doesn't compare to a 50 watt halogen spot for reading. More and more lamps are coming out and hopefully some good mini spots. The City of Los Angeles has gone to Cree street lights, not just lights but entire fixtures. Softer greyish light that is very close to moonlight but little glare and reduced reflection.

[westend]

WyoTraveler wrote:
I was over at Harbor Freight and bought a flash light that has 27 large leds for $6 and some of these companies are selling replacement led lights for $2 or $3 each because they can.

Are you saying that the replacement lamp array for your flashlight is $2-$3? I'm not quite understanding the meaning of your post, sorry.

I use the Asian LED panels with SMD's. Cost was around $2-$3 per unit in different sizes, colors, and lumen rating. My battery voltage floats at 13.6 V and rises to 14.5 V, in absorption cycle. I haven't lost a single panel, to date.