Covers for LED Interior Lights

Bhfromme · 02-24-2019, 02:30 PM

We love our 2018 Micro Minnie but we find ourselves using little battery powered lanterns because the interior lights are soooo bright. Are there different fixture covers available that would make the ceiling lights less bright? Or can the bulbs be replaced with less powerful ones maybe? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

WinnieView · 02-24-2019, 03:17 PM

Depending upon the fixture, cover, and lens you might try a plain piece of paper placed inside to act as a filter.

Bhfromme · 03-05-2019, 12:40 AM

I know LEDs are relatively cool burning but wouldn't paper inserted inside the fixture be a fire hazard?

WinnieView · 03-05-2019, 08:18 AM

In our opinion not an issue for concern with LED.

BobC · 03-05-2019, 09:57 AM

Less powerful lights are available (both bulbs and fluorescent tubes) and some fluorescent tubes are rotatable so that the LEDs point up into the fixtures instead of down. Replacing fluorescent tubes can get expensive.

Rather than paper, I'd use a piece of thin, flexible, translucent plastic.

There are 12v dimmers available but it's not that straight forward and they can be expensive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv7h8jDPZ8g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f843IYqifmk

Tucsontoy · 03-05-2019, 01:55 PM

My vote is do the dimmer switch. Boon it one night rather than a camp ground and you are even.

larrys · 03-10-2019, 02:19 PM

I don’t like the daylight color of the interior LED’s. So cold and bright.
Switching to soft white is on my to do list.

Fred K · 03-10-2019, 06:20 PM

We had 3 12v dimmers added and it make a huge diff in the lighting inside the RV. They are expensive costing about $115 each, but now my wife is very happy.

Bhfromme · 03-10-2019, 08:05 PM

And at the end of the day it's all about keeping the wife happy...

Ray,IN · 03-10-2019, 09:16 PM

LED lighting is measured by lumens, the higher the number the harsher and whiter the light. I buy no brighter than 3,500K, which have a slight yellowish tint, which equals a warmer more natural color.

Not all LED's are dimmable, reducing power can cause them to flicker and fail rather quickly.
I agree with the reply recommending using opaque plastic inside the lens before spending serious money. It will help you decide what color, and brightness you prefer too.

portpro · 03-11-2019, 08:43 AM

Actually the brightness or intensity of light is measured in Lumen’s. The color or temperature of the light is measured in Kelvin’s. The lower the temperature the more yellow the color of light, Soft White (2700K – 3000K), Bright White/Cool White (3500K – 4100K), and Daylight (5000K – 6500K). The higher the Degrees Kelvin, the whiter the color temperature.

brican · 03-15-2019, 12:33 AM

If you're dimming LEDs directly (i.e. 12vdc, not a power supply that provides 12v to LEDs), you can a Switchex (example for the 60 watt version, https://www.amazon.com/Diode-LED-12V.../dp/B01L0EDVKU approximately $142) light switch and power supply all in one. If you are dimming a power supply that connects to LEDs, you can use a Lutron Diva (example part number DVCL-153P-WH, see on Amazon for approximately $28). NOTE - THESE ARE EXAMPLES. Applications dictate the exact unit to use. Both are not cheap but effective. When dimming the power supply on the 120 vac side may cause flickering at low levels of brightness. I prefer a rheostat on the DC side or the Swithex over the Lutron type solution. The Switchex is expensive at $142 but eliminates the need for a power supply and comes in a neat all-in-one package.

On the other hand as others have mentioned, you can change out all your lights for 2700K or 3000K LEDs. I would and add dimmers too.

SCVJeff · 03-23-2019, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred K

We had 3 12v dimmers added and it make a huge diff in the lighting inside the RV. They are expensive costing about $115 each, but now my wife is very happy.

what? !!!!

You can buy PWM dimmers all day long on ebay from $5-40

brican · 03-26-2019, 11:11 AM

Of course you can. I've done that, but if you want a dimmer and power supply (120vac to 12vdc) in a wall switch it will cost you. How will you mount that knob on a wall switch? I'll post a picture of the one I mentioned.

SCVJeff · 04-04-2019, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brican

Of course you can. I've done that, but if you want a dimmer and power supply (120vac to 12vdc) in a wall switch it will cost you. How will you mount that knob on a wall switch? I'll post a picture of the one I mentioned.

There are LOTS of 12v PWM dimmers on the market. You can easily spend an hour on ebay alone looking at them. Theres no reason to convert to 120 v (at great expense] simply to drop back to 12v again.. for that matter you can also go totally wireless on the dimmer, bury the dimmer in the wall behind the switch and see nothing. All for $10

brican · 04-08-2019, 06:48 PM

Just to clarify, I'm proposing a solution for just one application. I was referencing a
situation where you need to install LEDs and the supply is 120vac. I recently installed LEDs where I had a 12vdc supply (from a power supply connected to 120vac) and used a simple ($30) PWM dimmer switch (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to turn LED strips on/off and dim them. Both of these were in my home. In an RV if the supply is the 12 volt from the RV, the simple solution is a PWM switch with dimmer. If the supply is 120vac in the RV, a solution like the one I referenced works albeit a bit expensive but convenient. There are many solutions, too many to discuss here.