Community Forums

Boomster · 05-15-2015, 08:24 AM

I want to change my interior light bulbs over to LED....picked up one bulb as a test at local RV dealership...cost for one bulb...$10.99...OUCH!!!

Anybody know of a lower cost source??

Help!

Thanks!

Sidewinder4 · 05-15-2015, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomster

I want to change my interior light bulbs over to LED....picked up one bulb as a test at local RV dealership...cost for one bulb...$10.99...OUCH!!!

Anybody know of a lower cost source??

Help!

Thanks!

Amazon has a huge special going on right now!

Walt Bennett · 05-15-2015, 09:10 AM

I've changed almost all ours over. Went with a reputable but lower cost source for first half and it still ran just over $200. Decided to try eBay for second half at under $100. The eBay ones are clearly factory seconds - several had a few diodes flickering after a month of use. One seller of the three sellers sent me one lamp that was damaged and wouldn't work at all. They never sent a replacement either. While the cost was attractive, I'll not go that route again.

Mentor · 05-15-2015, 09:17 AM

I have purchased many from China and not had any failures. When I checked with several suppliers in my area the lights they were selling were identical to mine but triple or quadruple the price. One shop actually admitted they buy from the same source I did.

pops2 · 05-15-2015, 09:28 AM

Try M4. The truth is you only get what you pay for. Cheap is as cheap does.

SilverBob · 05-15-2015, 09:33 AM

Mentor is exactly correct. ALL the LED lights on the market today are made in China. The only advantage to buying from stateside suppliers is that they buy them by the hundreds, and usually weed out the bad ones before passing them off to the customers.

When you say, "the ones on Ebay.." you really need to be more specific. There are at least 30 LED suppliers that sell on Ebay. I've had bad luck with a couple and very good luck with two of them. When I get home from work, I'll dig up their usernames and post them. I typically spend $2-3 per bulb, except for the odd ones, like the ones inside the fridge, for example.

89sandman · 05-15-2015, 10:01 AM

Ebay, I just buy twice as much as I need at a quarter of the cost you still come out 50% ahead.

BeachDude · 05-15-2015, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverBob

Mentor is exactly correct. ALL the LED lights on the market today are made in China. .....

In reality, the center of the universe for truly low cost LED assembly is currently the country of Pakistan.

Even factories in China, (labor is too expensive there now), will outsource all of their assembly to Pakistan and re-label them as "Made in China"!

mbridinger · 05-15-2015, 10:50 AM

I bought mine on amazon. "hot system" $20 for 10 bulbs. they have been great

RodK · 05-15-2015, 12:06 PM

I have had very good luck and service from ebay seller 3c-made-in-china. Great price, good quality and most importantly the warm white color from them is exactly what I wanted.

J Birder · 05-15-2015, 12:48 PM

I too bought some cheap ones on ebay. About half of them failed within a month. It wasn't the LEDs that failed. Rather, it was the electrical connections

Next, I went to RVLEDBulbs.com - RV LED Bulbs, RV LED Lights and Light Accessories and bought some high quality bulbs. That was almost two years age, and none have failed yet. If you use the code FORUM at checkout, you will get a 10% discount.

Joel

HoneyBadger · 05-15-2015, 06:22 PM

I've been happy with SuperBrightLEDs

Motor7 · 05-16-2015, 04:52 AM

I bought mine off ebay & they average a dollar a bulb or panel....no problems at all and very bright. Just make sure you get the correct bayonet connector for your light fixtures.

Bamaman · 05-18-2015, 09:03 PM

My 2015 model fifth wheel has eighteen 12 volt bulbs in the living/kitchen area alone.

They switched over to LED's later in the model year. I cannot afford to switchover to LED's right now. Maybe I'll get around it in the future a few at a time.