LED lights

[klr650goldwing]

Our trailer has standard/stock lighting. We are thinking of changing all the interior lights to LED. What lights do you use/recommend. Please include brands and model/part numbers. Thanks.

[klr650goldwing]

Thanks every one. I'm very impressed and grateful for what you have all shared. This will get me started.

[RickLight]

There are not RV specific light bulb types, it's just not a big enough market. Automotive and instrumentation 'lamps' are the main types. Identifying your lamp is the hard part, but look in your manuals and inside the fixtures for the technical descriptions. Then you know what to search for.

There are many large website distributors for lighting of all forms.
bulbman.com
bulbtronics.com
1000bulbs.com
bulbs.com
lightbulbs.com
topbulb.com
and probably 100 others.

[garyp4951]

I just bought the wedge base bulbs for my Jayco, and yes they do cause tv interference if I leave the ceiling lights on.

[Lynnmor]

ZeeLet50 wrote:
As most have pointed out, dont go with cheap brands. I have also bought from M4. Sometimes the LEDs can cause radio interference. That is usually from cheaper brands.

Actually it is the voltage regulator on each bulb that causes interference. That is why I buy the real cheap ones without the regulator. I haven't had failures yet, but they are so cheap that I keep spares just in case.

[ZeeLet50]

As most have pointed out, dont go with cheap brands. I have also bought from M4. Sometimes the LEDs can cause radio interference. That is usually from cheaper brands. A .001 capacitor across the leads can fix that. You can also source buying whole fixtures with LEDs from camping world and such but it is not needed unless you want to change the type of light ex> from single pancake to dual for more light. They also make some nice reading lights and under counter ones. My 2017 camper came with all LED lighting and it even has some with motion sensing!

[alexleblanc]

RickLIght wrote:
I've been in lighting for 40 years.

Use 3000K color for most 'residential' uses. Looks like incandescent/halogen.
Use 2700K if you want a warm lamp feeling, not candles but like an old table lamp. Anything lower is a 'special effect'
Use 3500K for a brighter, clearer look. Very popular in contemporary looks and hot climates. (Truly tropical climes like even cooler 4100-4500K.)
Don't use 5000K+ without careful thought.

But don't mix colors within a space. Having your kitchen area look blue while the seating looks yellow is really ugly.

as a second generation lighting professional with 15+ years in the industry I came in to post pretty much this.

In my opinion, 3500K is the coolest I would suggest being used, not to go into a super long boring technical rant - my personal choice is and will always be warm white (3000K) for residential applications.

Imagine my shock a few years ago when new RV's were coming with 5000K LED lighting as a standard, I couldn't for the life of me live with that - it would be the first change i'd have to make.

[BobsYourUncle]

These lights are generally specific primarily to RV light fixtures, so you won't find a lot of them in big box stores. There are a few crossovers into the auto bulbs, but mostly older stuff.

Your local RV dealership parts department will likely carry a general selection but you won't find a big choice there, and not a lot of brand choice. And you will pay an inflated price.

Best bet is to order online for optimum selection and the best pricing.

[klr650goldwing]

Who knew there would be so many options. Are these lights available only online? Or are they available at the local big box building supply store?

[RickLight]

I've been in lighting for 40 years.

Use 3000K color for most 'residential' uses. Looks like incandescent/halogen.
Use 2700K if you want a warm lamp feeling, not candles but like an old table lamp. Anything lower is a 'special effect'
Use 3500K for a brighter, clearer look. Very popular in contemporary looks and hot climates. (Truly tropical climes like even cooler 4100-4500K.)
Don't use 5000K+ without careful thought.

But don't mix colors within a space. Having your kitchen area look blue while the seating looks yellow is really ugly.

[BobsYourUncle]

Here is a good reference chart that explains and illustrates the temperature, or brightness of light on the Kelvin scale.
All lighting is based on this. Warm white, cool white, daylight etc.

Light Color Chart

Scroll down a bit for the chart.

[Lynnmor]

I bought the cheapo imports from China. No TV interference, somewhat brighter than original and little heat. Good supplier: 2011_led

[Lwiddis]

% % %

[BobsYourUncle]

Wow, the forum let me use the percent sign, twice!!
I wonder if they finally managed to fix that glitch in their software...

[BobsYourUncle]

As mentioned, there's a wide variety of bulbs and also colors, intensity etc.
So a lot of this comes down to personal choice and preference. And of course, what type of bulbs your unit has.

There are a lot of suppliers out there and a huge amount of cheapo imports from China. I'd stay away from shopping by price only.

I converted my last TT to 100% LED. I even did the stove hood bulb.

I did a lot of homework for different suppliers and as mentioned above, M4 LED stood out well above many other suppliers. I initially bought a few to see how they were and then immediately ordered enough to do all the rest of them.

I maintain that you get what you pay for.

M4 LED bulbs is a very good quality company to deal with. The people there were extremely helpful and prompt with my order.
If you go in via the link in the post above they have an online coupon good for 5% off your purchase.