LED or other upgrade for 12v fluorescent light?

[Teleman]

Our new (used) Airstream Land Yacht has fluorescent lights that neither my wife or I care for. What options are there to get a warmer light?

[wopachop]

Little tip if you use the LED strips that are not regulated try to turn them off if you notice your inverter is running a 14v charge cycle.

[KangaBunnyRoux]

Yeah my 97 Holiday Rambler has the ice cold harsh flourescent tubes as well. I lean towards the warm 2700k temperature lights myself. Being an idiot when it comes to wiring I am not going to try this bypass the ballast thing. I need 15 inch diameter lights if I wish to buy and simply replace the entire lamp. Not a bad idea as I rather like some of the circular covers I see out there.

[Waiter21]

I replaced the bulbs and ballasts with LED strips. I chose warm white as I like the color of an incandescent bulb.

The LEDs use about 1/2 the energy as the fluorescent bulbs. I installed three strips in the kitchen fixture. This is a lot brighter than the original

https://www.1999southwind.com/convert-fluorescent-fixtures-to-led/

[johnsonbert]

Recently I came across some LED tube bulbs at Walmart. They had them in both warm white and cool white. They slip right in and the ballast need not be removed. Not expensive either. Hope this may help, Happy Trails Bert

[MrWizard]

Yes they will, I use to buy my replacement tubes at home depot, I did the same thing in the Safari LED strips inside the Fl fixtures, I got tired of buying replacement tubes, one pair of tubes paid for the reel of LED LIGHTS that converted 5 or 6 fixtures, and a big bonus in 12v power savings, this RV was all incandescent fixtures , replaced most with new led fixtures, and put LED lamp replacements in those fixtures that I did not replace, almost all the interior lighting is now LED, there are a few wall sconce fixtures that still have the old incandescent bulbs but very seldom get turned on, they have dual pin sockets and the wring polarity is backwards, and the LED REPLACEMENT lamps I have will not work, I need to correct the wiring and find the correct LED lamp, since I seldom use them, I have let them be as is

[2112]

Home Depot has a variety of warm tube sizes. Would they not work if they have the proper size?

[wa8yxm]

Teleman wrote:
Our new (used) Airstream Land Yacht has fluorescent lights that neither my wife or I care for. What options are there to get a warmer light?

First different Florescent tubes. They come in COOL white, WARM white and a few other "Flavors"

Now I like the Whiter COOL but respect your WARM choice.

What I did. Took the fixture down. gutted it (removed the "Ballast" (it's really an inverter) and the sockets leaving just the flat metal. Took a roll of LED"s (Five meters or about 16 feet) sliced, diced, soldered on jumpers (I'm a certified electronics technician) and put it back up. the led strips were backed with 3-M double stick so they stuck well.. Nice, Bright, outlasted the Tubes 2-4 times (depending on the fixture) before the RV went to the bone yard.. Still working as when sent. I did have a few segment failures on one light but not enough to warrant replacement.

I got mine on Amazon but I won't provide a link as you want WARM and I like COOL. I paid less than 10 dollars a reel for them Still have a reel or 2 left.

[Teleman]

Thanks! I found some LED replacement tubes in warm white. I need to bypass the ballast but a fairly simple install I think.

[BigRabbitMan]

I did not change the fixtures. I just removed the innards of the fixture retaining the switch if it had one. Then got some 8” and 10” strips depending on the size of the fixture and wired them into the existing fixtures.

[rlw999]

If you really want a warm light, here's a thread about an RV propane light.

But I'd just go with one of the many LED fixtures, look for a lower color temperature like 2700K for a warmer looking light.

Here's an article comparing the different color temperatures