LED upgrade

Topic: LED upgrade (Read 2066 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #25 – June 24, 2014, 08:40:38 pm

Quote from: drcscruggs – June 24, 2014, 08:28:26 pm

I realize that these may not fit the 2001 (fit my 1996). I personally like the disc type with the smd leds a little better, but do have some of these and they work fine in my puck lights. These are a little different shape and they may be helpful. I bought some similar to these and so far so good (have had about a year). This a listing off ebay.com. They are also inexpensive.

G4 1.5W High Power SMD LED Cabinet Marine Boat Light Bulb Lamp Warm White 12V

I like the form factor, very much like the halogen bulb.

I like the prism to direct the light.

But I'll pass on this one because it is 12 volt only and appears to waste a lot of power in a series dropping resistor. 1.5 watt is a lot of power to produce a meet 80 lumens of light.

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #26 – June 24, 2014, 08:55:55 pm

I plan to buy this one:

New G4 AC/DC 12V 5050 3528 5730 SMD LED Car Boat Light Pure/Warm White Bulb Lamp

By checking other sellers for specs and looking at the photos, I believe this is 300 lumens using 1.7 watts of power and has a switching regulator for efficiency and a capacitor to reduce ripple (flicker).

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #27 – June 25, 2014, 04:19:11 pm

I ordered one of these from Super Bright (G4-WWHP 12 DAC) and installed it this weekend ... you can't tell the difference between it and the halogen. I just ordered 15 more this afternoon.

Jimmy

1998 U295 36ft

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #28 – June 25, 2014, 04:52:36 pm

$9.00 a bulb unless I buy 50. If these covers don't cooperate We could be looking at north of $15.00 real quick!

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #29 – June 25, 2014, 08:58:54 pm

LED ceiling lights from Foretravel.

These are the lights currently in production use at Foretravel. They have frosted glass lenses.

4.5" 3000°K 360 Lumens 8.3 watts (these need a bigger hole, about 3.5") $18+ - discount
3" 3000°K. 160 Lumens 3.6 watts (these fit in the existing holes) $15+ - discount (might be on Amazon)

Front side, back side, halogen existing lamp near front door, 3" LED lamp in the same place, color chart.

Easy to put in. We were surprised at the amount of light from the 3" lamp. The glass lens spreads the light out nicely.

These LEDs at 3000°K are a bit whiter than the halogen incumbent and are closer to the LED replacements for the fluorescents that we put in. As we get older we seem to need a bit more light and these might be just the ticket.

I will try to get better pictures.

Roger

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #30 – June 26, 2014, 09:09:56 pm

The smaller lamps are available at Amazon $12.65 with spring mounts, $12.03 with screw mounts

Amazon.com: ITC (69231B-3K-DB) 3" Radiance LED Overhead Light/Spring Mount:
A couple of dimmers are available as well. This one is pretty nice.

Amazon.com: ITC (21030-BKBNBK-DB) Black LED Digital Dimmer: Automotive

These come from ITC RV in Indiana.

http://itc-rv.com

Nice site, lighting, plumbing and more.

I am going to try out a dimmer. If all is OK then I am all in.

Roger

As an Amazon Associate Foretravel Owners' Forum earns from qualifying purchases.

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #31 – June 26, 2014, 10:45:43 pm

That settles it! just ordered 10. We'll do bedroom then front of coach later. Bathroom can ride for foreseeable future.

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #32 – June 27, 2014, 08:50:43 am

What are these lights intended to replace?

best, paul

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #33 – June 27, 2014, 10:52:51 am

I have been using Dimmers on my LED lights since I changed them over. Not the fancy ones Roger is getting as did not see them 2 yrs ago but Digital rotary that work fine. At low low light you do see a slight flickering but I just turn it past that and all is fine. LED's have to be able to accept low to high voltage's of course.
JohnH

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #34 – June 27, 2014, 05:41:06 pm

I am replacing the ceiling halogen lights in the LR to start as well as the two lights under the medicine cabinet in the bath room. At some point the bed room ones too.

Yes it is a fancy dimmer but it is also back-lighted and has an on/off switch. ITC makes a rotary dimmer as well but it wasn't clear if it was just a dimmer or if it had an on/off function as well. Lots of others available as well. These 3" lamps at 160 lumens and the glass lens appear brighter than the halogen lights. A dimmer will be nice. After my test light being on for quite a while it was not even warm to the touch.

Roger

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #35 – June 27, 2014, 06:29:58 pm

Mine Roger do have on and off functions, and I changed the wiring in both living room passenger side and the bedroom so that all these lights(in each room) are on all together instead of the way Foretravel had them in seperate banks. Now the current draw is so small I do not mind them all being on at same time. (that is each room seperately-not together)
JohnH

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #36 – June 28, 2014, 05:03:34 pm

My 270 has nearly all florescent lights. What's the power consumption difference between the florescent and an LED and what options are available?

I don't need to upgrade all at once, but I figure as they burn out, replace with LED's.

And lastly, does anybody have any idea how to get to the florescent lights that are in the dropped "ducted ceiling? All the Thin-Lite brand covers I can pop off, but the lights in ceiling are behind that clear plastic and a wood frame outlines it like a picture frame.

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #37 – June 28, 2014, 05:47:51 pm

It is hard to say exactly especially in an RV setting. LED replacements for fluorescent tube lamps use about 30% less power per lumen. Since LED are much more directional you may be able to get by with less lumens. The RV fluorescents get warm when they are on.

You can get LED tubes. We just took the guts out and replaced them with LED strip lighting or any of many other stick on LED light modules. There are good LED bulb replacements for the incandescent bulbs in the wall lamps and vanity lamps. Prices vary widely depending on the source. The same bulb sold in an RV store can be many times what you might pay at Amazon or eBay or AliBaba (China). It pays to shop around.

We have fluorescent lamps in the LR ceiling, the bathroom ceiling and the BR ceiling as well as under the cabinet in the Kitchen and one on the Pass side and two under cabinets on the Drivers side. All are now LED. The under cabinet lamps and the Bedroom lamps have a wooden frame around the lamps. It does not need to come off to get the plastic lamp cover off. You just have to pry the edge of the plastic in a bit to get it loose and then it will come off. The other ceiling lamps have a frame with a flat plastic panel over the lamps. It is held on with some cabinet door latches, one at each end and on the sides Just pry it down and they will pop off. Mark which end is which because they are not generally reversible.

We put about 2/3 more LEDs in the Kitchen lamp and maybe 1/3 less in the bedroom based on what we wanted for light level. Very nice to have higher light level in the kitchen.

There are almost 30 10 watt halogen lamps inside the coach as well as nearly 20 other incandescent bulbs. The halogen replacements use about 3 watts. It all adds up.

Dave M reminds us to do what makes us happy. If you don't need to be or want to be careful with power consumption then this may not be something you need to do.

Roger

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #38 – June 28, 2014, 07:33:09 pm

Roger, I agree with you 100%

My first step was to use the fluorescents instead of the halogens when wanting to conserve battery power. These will be the last on my list to convert to LED as they are so close to LED in efficiency to begin with. But the conversion will come.

Next, I went after the easy ones. I have two vanity lamps, one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. I found direct replacement LED bulbs, but only have them in the bedroom. The Bathroom, for now, is using the original incandescent bulbs. The LEDs i have are not bright enough. These were bought a few years back, and there might be something brighter now. If not, I can supplement them with stick-on LED strips between the sockets.

The next easy step was replacing the wall lamps, the ones on swing arms with shades. I have five each on these, each with two bulbs. Again, an easy upgrade, once I found the LED bulbs in the correct oddball socket. Not very bright, but great for evening use other than as work lights.

I just bought some G4 discs on eBay, and when they come in, I will go after the halogens again. In the past, I have found these difficult to install, but the G4s I bought are smaller in diameter this time. If needed, I can take the reflector out too. But until this is done, I just avoid using the halogens most of the time.

Lastly, I will stick some LED strips in the fluorescent fixtures, starting with the one over the sink. This one fixture is unique in having two switches, one on a cabinet sidewall and one on the fixtures itself. I suspect the fixture was replaced before I bought the coach. I plan to wire the LED strips so the fluorescent tubes can still be used (optionally).

ps I almost forgot, I replaced the guts of the porch light with LEDs years ago, I got tired of ballasts burning out.

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #39 – June 28, 2014, 08:26:59 pm

Guess I don't understand watts.
My old tube lights drew 30 watts each +heat, lasted about 18 months cost $3 each.
LED replacement about 1- no heat, cost about $9 each last - so far 3 years.

12v usage is 1/30 so that looks like a lot less batter hours. May not need that 2nd battery with the solar.

Payback - ? 3 replacements so 4 years?

DW says cooler in summer and winter

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #40 – June 28, 2014, 09:20:04 pm

Amps are equal to watts divided by volts.
amp = watt / volt

Your batteries (simply put) can put out so many amp for so many hours (amp-hours)

A 10 watt halogen bulb at 12 volts draws 0.83 amps. If you have 12 lamps on then you are drawing 10 amps. If they are on for three hours that is 30 amp-hours. Maybe your battery capacity is 500 amp-hours. You can see how it uses up battery capacity.

Everything else is using battery power as well. The refrigerator, the radio, the air compressor, the level system, the LP and carbon monoxide detectors, the water pump, the furnace, the bathroom fan, the furnaces and more. It all adds up.

If you replace the 10 watt halogen lamps with LEDs that draw 3 watts then those 10 lamps will use only 9 amp-hours instead of 30. Lighting is something you can use less of or use more efficient sources. It is probably the easiest thing on which you can have a big impact.

We like them.

Roger

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #41 – June 28, 2014, 11:12:46 pm

Some bright LED florescent lamp replacements use about the same measured amps as original florescent and the back side circuits put out quite a bit of heat, but they are much brighter. Heat comes from 'over driving' the LED's to make them bright.

So I don't assume all LED replacements use a lot less current. I have even seen some amp/watt current specifications that are understated when metered.

We have LED lamps where we want brighter lights, but still prefer cool-white fluorescents in some places where soft is preferred.

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #42 – June 29, 2014, 12:24:47 am

So, it sounds like the improvement over florecescnets wouldn't be that much in the power savings department, but it may be better in the longevity. We'll see how long the florecscents last.

My '98 u270 only has 2 halogens that I can think of: the map light, and the one light shining on the bathroom sink from the bottom of the vanity. There are 4 valence lights (is that the right term???), 3 vanity round bulbs, 3 floor lights including the steps, and of course all the storage bay lights that are incandescent--and all these are hardly used.

Just don't use halogens while boondocking and replace them with LED when they burn out sounds like my plan!

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #43 – June 29, 2014, 12:36:51 am

Here's something else to add to your plan, a Bogart Electronics Trimetric battery monitor.

I bought a Trimetric 2020 on eBay a couple of years ago, and finally got a round to installing it a few months ago. I wish I hadn't waited so long. One glance tells me exactly how many Amps are being consumed. Turn something on or off, check again, and know instantly how much power it is using. The remaining battery percentage is also useful, that way I know if I need to run the generator or plug in before taking the batteries into the danger zone below 50% of full capacity.

Without the Trimetric, I wouldn't know how wasteful my inverter is. Turn it on, and watch 10A being drawn from the battery. And this is without actually turning on anything. Just the 26" Sony Trinitron TV on standby, the satellite receiver, the VCR on standby, the Bose, the Bose clock radio, and the microwave on standby.

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #44 – June 29, 2014, 01:48:32 am

Krush, just put your finger nails behind the wood frame and pull down. These are only held up with the cheap plastic spring grips. When you put them back just be sure you have them centre as you can have the too far one way and will fall out when hitting a bump!!
I have replaced all lights with LED, way better than original, and less power used-believe it.
JohnH

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #45 – June 29, 2014, 10:35:34 am

Tom,

I added a switch into the 110v circuit that provides power to the TV, the Bose up front and the DVD player. No need to have that stuff on standby.

Another amp burner is the Base base speaker (in ours, under the kitchen). It is plugged into a 110v outlet and draws up to 3 amps. That could be up to 30 amps via the inverter from 12v to 120v. Another place for a switch. There is a box plugged into the outlet that the Bose base box plugs into that cuts the power if it doesn't have a 12v powered line (same kind of thing that makes your TV not work while driving). I am not sure where the 12v line is powered. Another thing using 12 volts all or most of the time.

Roger

Re: LED upgrade

Reply #46 – June 29, 2014, 12:59:39 pm

Quote from: Tom Lang – June 24, 2014, 08:55:55 pm

I plan to buy this one:

New G4 AC/DC 12V 5050 3528 5730 SMD LED Car Boat Light Pure/Warm White Bulb Lamp

By checking other sellers for specs and looking at the photos, I believe this is 300 lumens using 1.7 watts of power and has a switching regulator for efficiency and a capacitor to reduce ripple (flicker).

I like those too, wasn't sure if they would fit your fixture or not.
I have some of those and they work well.

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