LED Light Fixtures

[Paul1944]

I'm considering changing SOME of the light fixtures in my MH to the LED type. I'm looking for recommendations from anybody who has any experience with this type of fixture. A couple questions off the top of my head; are the LED fixtures worth the cost?, are they that much better than the 12v bulb type?, how difficult are the fixtures to change? I have a 2000 Fleetwood Bounder Motorhome. Thanks in advance.

[Harvey51]

We went fully LED a year ago, 36 and 48 warm whites in small rectangular arrays.
We always boondock and don't have a TV so we don't need a generator. The lights are our largest use of battery energy for the warm part of the season so reducing the load by a factor of seven means no worries about the batteries going low. A short drive every few days tops them up. Love the quiet camping.

[DE88ROX]

Slowly replacing my lights that get used the most with LED's. Outside porch light and light above sink. Mainly due to the heat the incandescent bulbs create.

[JiminDenver]

Perceived value means different things to different people.

It would be a long time before you would save in electric what it cost to buy the regulated LEDs needed for having shore power. They do produce considerably less heat though. That may be a huge value on a hot night.

Power is costlier when you have to produce it yourself and we boondock. The gas saved by not running a generator as much or at all will add up and pay for the less expensive unregulated ebay LEDs in no time.

Actually, not having to listen to a generator is PRICELESS!

[tenbear]

I have replaced all my interior incandescent bulbs with bulbs I bought on eBay. Individual LEDs are directional but depending on the type of LED bulb, the bulb may not be. LED panels are directional but my fixtures are frosted so the resulting light is fine for overhead and/or task lighting.

Is it worth it? That depends on the type of RVing you do. It greatly reduces the current drain and the heat the lights produce.

[Ivylog]

You can find led's that have a 60 degree beam and 120 degree. Another item to check besides warm white/3000 temp.

[2manytoyz]

I've been buying 16' LED strips from Amazon for $13.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002QQ1YOM/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They can be cut to various lengths. About every 2", there's a mark on the strip where it can be cut.



I put three 5' long strips under the cabinets in the garage to illuminate the workbench below. Works quite well. There's an adhesive strip on the back of the LED roll. Peel -n- stick.







LEDs tend to be very directional. Narrow field of view. If you want to use LEDs for general lighting, you might be disappointed with the result. They are excellent for task lighting.

[Ivylog]

Here is a post where I converted a Thin-Lite to LED using four (48/5050 warm white) panels at a cost of $24.

[Sea_scape]

I replaced all of the inside lights in my TT with the 15 LED 5050 warm white panels that you can get on eBay at 10 for 37.50. Slightly less light output than the 921 bulbs, but great. The lights come with different connectors to replace different bulbs. They attach with double sided 3M tape. A bit fiddly to install.

I mostly camp where there are no hookups,so this was definitely worthwhile for me. If I camped with full hookup only, I don't know if I would have bothered. It is nice to leave more than one light on at night.

[wny_pat1]

I've been replacing some of the florescent tube lighting in my coach as the ballast units have been burning out, Using "Ultra Bright 12 V Home Tri-Chip Led lighting tubes in both 9" and 20" tubes" from Oznium.com. Used their "Warm White" 3363 degree K Leds, but offers a much nicer color lighting that the old florescents did. And on top of that, they are much brighter, without the harshness. Liked the outcome so much, that we plan on doing more this summer!!!

I removed the ballast and florescent fixtures from the Thinline light housing and intalled the Led tubes in the same housing, without taking the housing down. Put the plastic light defusers back in place once the tubes were installed. Very happy with Oznium, a company from Pagosa Sprongs, Co., and their products!

Above is with new LED tubes.


this is with the old florescent tubes.
Both shots were taken without flash and standing in same spot.

[korbe]

We didn't want to spend the money to replace all the lights. We figured out what lights we would need to use while dry camping in conserve mode and changed some of them. Some are bright, and others are dim for just getting around. Some of the lights we just don't use while in conserve mode.

[John_M1]

We changed some of ours to LED, but just changed the bulbs. Got LEDs from Amazon. It was easy to do, and sure helps conserve battery power when dry camping.

[lanerd]

First question... are the worth the cost? Well, I don't know. The main advantage to LED over incandescent and/or florescent is the electrical usage. LEDs use MUCH less. However, since most of us don't pay for our electrical hookup by the amount of electricity we use, rather than by a flat fee.... I can't really say they are worth the cost. However...if you boondock a lot, then there would be much less drain on the batteries and in this case, probably would be worth the cost.

Second question...how difficult are they to change. Well, those that replace the incandescents are exactly the same type of connection...so really no more difficult to change out. Florescents, are totally different and do require some cutting and splicing in the fixture.

Me... I'm waiting until the cost of the LEDs come down....a whole bunch. I think they are just too expensive right now.

My two cents anyway..

Ron

[Ivylog]

Normally all you do is replace the bulb. What # are your bulbs? The LEDs use 1/10th the power and very little heat. Plenty of posts on this subject, but helps to know which bulb. Assuming a 1156 they are not that expensive.