Converted All Florescent & Incandescent Fixtures To LED
I shared details of this inside another post but thought it would be nice to post this independently to share across the entire Class C, B+ & Super C forums.
Our rig was equipped with 9 twin-tube florescent and 6 incandescent light fixtures. I converted (not replaced) all of them, the 9 florescent fixtures to LED for around $30 total, the 6 incandescent bulbs-only for about $60 total. I wanted to re-use all the original fixtures to avoid scars, holes, & imprints in the cabinets and on the ceiling. My primary goal was to reduce power consumption, but I did have other hopefuls including changing the ambiance from cool blue to warm white, increase the amount of light a little because of our dark cherry cabinets, and adding night-lights inside each of the 9 florescent housings.
My primary goal to reduce power consumption ended up less than expected but not the fault of the LEDs. It turns out, the original florescent fixtures were already quite energy efficient. After I completed the project, I took the components to work and had an electrical engineer determine the power consumption of both florescent and LED fixtures. Here is the conclusion based on 3 samples of each type tested. The differences between samples were too close to bother with averaging them.
Florescent: Only 9 watts (I expected them to be 16 to 18 watts)
LED: 6 watts (exactly what I expected)
So I am not saving that much battery power, but our rig is much nicer from all my hopefuls.
Here are the details.
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Parts Purchased, Sorry but the Ebay links get rejected in the editor.
Ebay, 3-Way Switches, $8.34 for 20 switches (including shipping)
Search For: "20 X ON/OFF Rocker Switch Power Switch 6A 250V 3 Pin Black Square 15*21mm 3-ways"
Ebay, 5 Meter Reel Warm White LEDs, $12.05 per reel, 2 reels required for my project (including shipping)
Search For: "NEW Highlight 5m 500cm 3014 600 LED SMD Cool/Warm White Strip Light Lamp DC 12V"
Amazon, Sealed & Frosted, BA15S Socket LEDs, $14.99 for a pack of two (including shipping) HERE
Here is 1 of 9 fixtures with florescent components removed. They simply snapped out.
Here the adhesive-backed LED strips are installed. I selected the inside angled surfaces for they offered a flat surface to bond to, and direct the light outward.
Note the 3-way switch in the center/off position. Also note the tiny 3-LED nightlight circuit. The main light has 66 LEDS, 33 per strip.
If you look close, the other long surfaces had raised lettering which did not offer a flat surface to bond the strips to.
After pre-cleaning the surface with rubbing alcohol I hope the strong adhesive backing will permanently hold them in place.
Here the light is turned on. The camera adjusted the exposure. It shows how the LED light is dispersed.
I had taken this picture for comparison after my first LED fixture was completed. An original florescent light is forward and a completed LED light farther back.
The cool blue florescent appears to be just as bright, but it really is a little less.
In this picture all fixtures have the main 66 LED lights on.
The room is actually much brighter. The camera adjusted the exposure.
In this picture only the 3 LED night lights are on.
The camera adjusted the lighting to look much brighter than reality. They actually provide a nice glow throughout the coach.
I am disappointed in that the camera could not capture "True" lighting. Sorry about that.
Here is the sealed LED porch light. I made a reflector from some industrial aluminum foil, not for food handling, quite rigid. I cut and shaped it to line the inside of the fixture. You can see how the fixture illuminates bigger than the bulb. It seems to be a softer light than before, I think because the LED bulb is frosted and sealed.
For the other incandescent fixtures, I just simply replaced the bulbs with very good results. This picture was taken from the Amazon seller.
Our rig was equipped with 9 twin-tube florescent and 6 incandescent light fixtures. I converted (not replaced) all of them, the 9 florescent fixtures to LED for around $30 total, the 6 incandescent bulbs-only for about $60 total. I wanted to re-use all the original fixtures to avoid scars, holes, & imprints in the cabinets and on the ceiling. My primary goal was to reduce power consumption, but I did have other hopefuls including changing the ambiance from cool blue to warm white, increase the amount of light a little because of our dark cherry cabinets, and adding night-lights inside each of the 9 florescent housings.
My primary goal to reduce power consumption ended up less than expected but not the fault of the LEDs. It turns out, the original florescent fixtures were already quite energy efficient. After I completed the project, I took the components to work and had an electrical engineer determine the power consumption of both florescent and LED fixtures. Here is the conclusion based on 3 samples of each type tested. The differences between samples were too close to bother with averaging them.
Florescent: Only 9 watts (I expected them to be 16 to 18 watts)
LED: 6 watts (exactly what I expected)
So I am not saving that much battery power, but our rig is much nicer from all my hopefuls.
Here are the details.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Parts Purchased, Sorry but the Ebay links get rejected in the editor.
Ebay, 3-Way Switches, $8.34 for 20 switches (including shipping)
Search For: "20 X ON/OFF Rocker Switch Power Switch 6A 250V 3 Pin Black Square 15*21mm 3-ways"
Ebay, 5 Meter Reel Warm White LEDs, $12.05 per reel, 2 reels required for my project (including shipping)
Search For: "NEW Highlight 5m 500cm 3014 600 LED SMD Cool/Warm White Strip Light Lamp DC 12V"
Amazon, Sealed & Frosted, BA15S Socket LEDs, $14.99 for a pack of two (including shipping) HERE
Here is 1 of 9 fixtures with florescent components removed. They simply snapped out.
Here the adhesive-backed LED strips are installed. I selected the inside angled surfaces for they offered a flat surface to bond to, and direct the light outward.
Note the 3-way switch in the center/off position. Also note the tiny 3-LED nightlight circuit. The main light has 66 LEDS, 33 per strip.
If you look close, the other long surfaces had raised lettering which did not offer a flat surface to bond the strips to.
After pre-cleaning the surface with rubbing alcohol I hope the strong adhesive backing will permanently hold them in place.
Here the light is turned on. The camera adjusted the exposure. It shows how the LED light is dispersed.
I had taken this picture for comparison after my first LED fixture was completed. An original florescent light is forward and a completed LED light farther back.
The cool blue florescent appears to be just as bright, but it really is a little less.
In this picture all fixtures have the main 66 LED lights on.
The room is actually much brighter. The camera adjusted the exposure.
In this picture only the 3 LED night lights are on.
The camera adjusted the lighting to look much brighter than reality. They actually provide a nice glow throughout the coach.
I am disappointed in that the camera could not capture "True" lighting. Sorry about that.
Here is the sealed LED porch light. I made a reflector from some industrial aluminum foil, not for food handling, quite rigid. I cut and shaped it to line the inside of the fixture. You can see how the fixture illuminates bigger than the bulb. It seems to be a softer light than before, I think because the LED bulb is frosted and sealed.
For the other incandescent fixtures, I just simply replaced the bulbs with very good results. This picture was taken from the Amazon seller.
