All finished, LEDs througout the coach!

[FIRE UP]

Ladies and Gents,
We've all talked about LEDs several times in the past. Well, based on their type, size, QUALITY, style, and more factors, I could only do a section of the coach at a time due to cost. Now here's the deal, all in all, I've changed around "43" lights to LEDs. Yep, that many and, that does not include the long, center isle, fluorescents in the kitchen/living room and toilet areas.

So, now, while it took me a series of orders and, about 6 months, we both can use lighting to our hearts content without worrying too much about the toll on the batteries and, adding the additional heat factor inside the coach. 99.9% of the LEDs I installed are very satisfactory in terms of the amount of light, type of light and quality of light. She's way more into the "natural" color of light and so, I used the "Warm White" versions of many of the types of bulbs I changed to. And those are not as bright as the same exact bulb in a cool white version.

I personally like the "Cool White" versions myself. Of course, I'm probably kinky in that matter but, I like'm. In my last order, I ordered up many of the single LED spot light bulbs that fit into those "rotatable" style that you can move around for your desire. Well, I've got some with Cool Whites and some with Warm Whites. But one in particular, it's one of those longer ones that we have over drivers left rear and, the passengers right rear. I installed an "experimental" (to me) bulb there.

"WOW", BIG WOW, You can perform surgery under that light. Anybody want me to fix a broken this or that? Man, that thing is some serious light. I installed it over the leather couch she uses to read but, it was too bright. So, I moved it to the one over the drivers left shoulder.

My only problem with that particular bulb is, when it was installed over the leather couch with intent for her to use to read by, it causes some serious damage to the picture on the TV. I've heard of LEDs doing that in some cases. Well, boys and girls, this is some first hand experience. So, when I switched the bulbs from the drivers left upper to that position and put that "WWII" search light bulb into my drivers upper, the screen resolution was not effected at all! Hmmmmmmmmm

Anyway, the interior, and all the compartments are all LED now(with the exception of the CFLs in the center isle) and yep, I don't want to admit what I've got into that whole batch of bulbs, I think I'm making payments on them. But, it's just something I wanted to do because, I like the light emitted from them, they're considerably cooler in operation, they draw a micro amount of juice the original bulbs did and, hoping as they all advertise, they'll be lasting a seriously long time.
Scott

[amzbrady]

Did you find a cheap scource for the bulbs and did you have to installe any load equalizers?

[87Rockwood]

I would do the conversion in a heart beat but for the price of it. And my 87 Rockwood came with a few extra boxes of bulbs. I have heard in these forums that some of the LED's run hot-how is that with lower current draw?

[MRBB]

I just bought these and they look good:

2x Xenon White T10 Wedge 38 SMD Light bulbs 168 194 W5W | eBay

Cheap too.

[Lincolnboy2]

I would love to upgrade too, I hate heat coming from lights, unless its 30 or below outside.....

I have all my sticks and bricks house lights replaced. Not to LED, but to the fluorescent bulbs, they were pricey, but it saves me every month and I don't melt in front of the mirror when the lights are on anymore. Would love to move to LED at home too, but too pricey for now.....they'll keep coming down in price.......maybe in a year or two I can affordem. Kinda like the flat screen tvs.....waited till 2009 and got a great deal....

[Sohapi]

Originally Posted by MRBB

I just bought these and they look good:

2x Xenon White T10 Wedge 38 SMD Light bulbs 168 194 W5W | eBay

Cheap too.

Do they heat up at all?

[MRBB]

Originally Posted by Sohapi

Do they heat up at all?

No, they stay cool. Not as much light as the bulbs but I kept 1 bulb for reading.

[Midniteoyl]

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by amzbrady

Did you find a cheap scource for the bulbs and did you have to installe any load equalizers?

amzbrady,
No Sir, I did not install any load equalizers. There was no need. The only time you need those is for the tail lights and, primarily for the turn signal operation. The running lights will work just fine if changed over. There is no issues at all when changing the interior bulbs to LEDs. As for "cheap" LED bulbs, there is no sourse that. I've purchased "cheap" LEDs before and realized it when they came. With very, very few exceptions, ANY quality LED bulb, that is, the exact same bulb, sold from many sources, will be very close to the exact same price. I've done enough research on this that when you compare apples to apples, the prices are incredibly close and, with that being said, I'll stick with the sourse I've used for years:
www.superbrightleds.com

Originally Posted by 87Rockwood

I would do the conversion in a heart beat but for the price of it. And my 87 Rockwood came with a few extra boxes of bulbs. I have heard in these forums that some of the LED's run hot-how is that with lower current draw?

Rockwood,
In all the LED work I've done, motorcycles, cars, motorhomes, and more, I have yet to see and or feel an LED get "Hot". While they are not "ice cold" they are far from being hot. I've had my compartment doors open for hours as I work on things in and around them and those LED lights have been on for the total duration. And I've shown interested folks how you can walk right up and remove the bulb with no fear of having your finger tips burnt off like regular bulbs.

And yes, the price is up there. I've been using the same sourse for quite some time now and it has not changed, up or down. I don't see them coming down anytime soon. It is what it is. You get what you pay for. That's why it took me a while to outfit all of my light sockets with LEDs. I'm just about dead sure not too many folks have invested as much money as I do in LEDs. But, it has a purpose, in fact, many. You got to do what makes you happy.

Originally Posted by MRBB

I just bought these and they look good:

2x Xenon White T10 Wedge 38 SMD Light bulbs 168 194 W5W | eBay

Cheap too.

Well Sir,
I hope the work for you. All the ones I've purchased are made here in the States. Yep, they're costly but, I have yet to have to replace any and, they're of very high quality. I'm not fond of what I have to pay for them, but, I only want to do this ONE time.
Scott

[336muffin]

I have almost all of ours changed over to LED's on the interior. G4 led cool white non polarity sensitive for $2.08 delivered, 25 of these was $52.00. I'm into changing out the side marker and side turn signal (8 lights) cost will be less than $16.00. This will be 7 led's in each light. This fall when it cools I will start the 10 clearance lights on the roof. You can find the EXACT same lights that are sold here on Ebay for pennies on the dollar. Same brand different package. 16ft 2in. of led strip lights any color you desire with 3M self adhesive tape for $12.00. These can be cut to any length and the (scraps) can have wires soldered to these and used inside or out since they are waterproof.

[DAN L]

about a month ago i purchased 1 led replacement for a 1383 reading light. the normal 1383 bulb cost about $4+ each and last my dw about 3 months.
i got the led jc-19-ab-l long lamp from jirah online for $15 plus $4.50 shipping.
this led is definitely bright enough for reading. the light is 4500k, almost soft white. i don't like the bluish color lamps. it burns cool. my dw is very satisfied with it. (whew!)
the cone of light is more focused than the 1383, but that is ok with my dw.

http://www.jirahled.com/

[lajuene]

Last month we finished installing our 48? I think? LEDs. Got them at rvledbulbs dot com. there is a discount code for ordering because the owner is a member of this forum. The code is "AC15". it gives you a 15% discount which really adds up. Make sure your led's are rated for low to high volts. Most of the ones I got are rated for 8v to 30V so when your DC volts change during different states of charging it should not effect the life of the bulbs. Also this makes them work well with the dimmer in the bedroom fixture. Did all the storage bays too. Did miss 2 so I may get them eventually.
It was expensive but we just went fulltime and when we start boondocking in September we will be without hookups most of the time and this will really make the battery storage last a lot longer or at least we will not have to keep all the lights off all the time. Maybe it's overkill but it's done and they are supposed to last a really long time.

[WheelingIt]

We changed out last year and really love them. Can leave all the lights on boondocking and never have to worry about it. I personally like warm white & I agree w/ lajeune for choosing LEDs that can handle varying voltages. We switched most of our internal G4s, our 1383 reading lights and our outdoor porch light (chose a Revolution 200 for that one -> what a great light).

I DO have one pic, but it's on the blog Boondocking Made Easy -> LED Lighting | Wheeling It

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by lajuene

Last month we finished installing our 48? I think? LEDs. Got them at rvledbulbs dot com. there is a discount code for ordering because the owner is a member of this forum. The code is "AC15". it gives you a 15% discount which really adds up. Make sure your led's are rated for low to high volts. Most of the ones I got are rated for 8v to 30V so when your DC volts change during different states of charging it should not effect the life of the bulbs. Also this makes them work well with the dimmer in the bedroom fixture. Did all the storage bays too. Did miss 2 so I may get them eventually.
It was expensive but we just went fulltime and when we start boondocking in September we will be without hookups most of the time and this will really make the battery storage last a lot longer or at least we will not have to keep all the lights off all the time. Maybe it's overkill but it's done and they are supposed to last a really long time.

lajuene,
Well Sir, you certainly know the "Pain" when shelling out the deniro for a complete change over to LEDs. I checked out your site and as I stated earlier, when comparing apples to apples, from site to site, the cost of good quality LED bulbs is NOT CHEAP! But, you, like me, got what you paid for. And, I thought I had a fairly close estimate of the number of bulbs I changed. The DW came out and did an accurate one and came out to 53 bulbs in all. There are around 10-12 different types of bulbs in total. We too do a considerable amount of dry camping and the cut-back on total battery usage for lighting alone is well worth the sacrifice of cost, to me. Not to mention the temperature inside the coach is now significantly reduced at any time we've got lights on.

It's real nice that knowing we can run as little or as many of those lights we want now and are still conserving battery power to the max.

[JC2]

What type of LED bulbs would you use to replace the 3-4 round clear/white incandescent bulbs over the mirror in the bathroom.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by JC2

What type of LED bulbs would you use to replace the 3-4 round clear/white incandescent bulbs over the mirror in the bathroom.

JC2,
Those are the only ones in the bathroom I've not changed. I would like to and, if I can find the right ones, I will. I've kind of scoured the site I use for my LEDs and as of yet, I see no "globe" type bulb with the "BA-15S" type base. Just in case you're not sure of what I'm talking about, it's simple. BA-15 means, the base is 15 mm in diameter. "S" means single contact at the bottom of the bulb.

In other descriptions on that site you'll see:
"45 LED SMD Tower bulb in CW. That means 45 LEDs, both radially and topical mounted on the bulb, SMD means side mounted device, that means usually those style LEDs that look like a little yellow square instead of the ones that look like a little nose cone. And, "CW" simply means cool white. Some will say "NW" or "WW" which of course is, Natural white or Warm white. You'll also see, BA-15-DC. Which means, Bayonet base, 15mm and "dual contact" like a stop/turn/tail bulb.

But, to your original question, I'm on the lookout for a replacement "globe" style LED. If I find one, I'll surely let you know.
Scott

[JC2]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

JC2,
Those are the only ones in the bathroom I've not changed. I would like to and, if I can find the right ones, I will. I've kind of scoured the site I use for my LEDs and as of yet, I see no "globe" type bulb with the "BA-15S" type base. Just in case you're not sure of what I'm talking about, it's simple. BA-15 means, the base is 15 mm in diameter. "S" means single contact at the bottom of the bulb.

In other descriptions on that site you'll see:
"45 LED SMD Tower bulb in CW. That means 45 LEDs, both radially and topical mounted on the bulb, SMD means side mounted device, that means usually those style LEDs that look like a little yellow square instead of the ones that look like a little nose cone. And, "CW" simply means cool white. Some will say "NW" or "WW" which of course is, Natural white or Warm white. You'll also see, BA-15-DC. Which means, Bayonet base, 15mm and "dual contact" like a stop/turn/tail bulb.

But, to your original question, I'm on the lookout for a replacement "globe" style LED. If I find one, I'll surely let you know.
Scott

Thank You.

[MntDriver]

I replaced all my bulbs with LED's also, puck lights, lamps, reading lights, etc for less than $120 total (Ebay), but the only bulbs I haven't replaced yet was the 8 globes in the bathroom beside the vanity. No Chinese sellers have these (yet) and I did find a few sellers that have these but they are expensive.

Here is one of the sellers of the 20-99 globes: Ming's Vanity 20-99 Green Long Life 230 Lumens LED Bulb - Replacement Bulbs - Lighting - Electrical

[Midniteoyl]

Changing the bathroom lights are done at your own peril.. If you happen to 'highlight' any new 'flaws', heads might roll

[WheelingIt]

Originally Posted by JC2

What type of LED bulbs would you use to replace the 3-4 round clear/white incandescent bulbs over the mirror in the bathroom.

The only ones we've not changed either. Keep trying to find a good replacement, but have not yet found one I really like yet.

This link is the only one I've seen that comes close in appearance and top of my list at the moment, but it's only in white (i prefer warm white) and it's pricey so haven't made the jump yet:
http://www.amazon.com/LongLife-90901.../dp/B006FINVQ6
Anyone tried these?

Here's a cheaper one, but it doesn't specify extended voltage range so I'm wary of it:
http://www.rvpartsnation.com/product...ulb-12-led-12v

These guys also have something, but it's a clear bulb so don't really like the look of it, but maybe others will:
http://www.jirahled.com/
Check out the JC-24SMD Vanity about half-way down the page

Again haven't tried any of these yet so keen on recommendations from anyone that has.