LED Bulbs

[Akibase]

Is there a reasonable advantage to switch to LED bulbs and if so where is a good source to purchase them. I am seeing the bank on Tuesday to put a mortgage on the house to get the funds to pay for them. LOL I understand they a quite abit brighter and consume only 20-25% percent of the power. I would appreciate any information, especially a cheaper source.

[tims52ford]

Try this web site www. ledlites4rvs.com.

[mythplaced]

Be aware that they will change the color of everything inside your coach

[ctpres]

With LED lights the A'Cond won't have to work so hard and if you want to add electrical devices you can use the new reserve power in existing wireing.

[NLOVNIT]

We tried several different LED bulbs in fixtures in our coach before finding ones we liked. Many LED's come in different color spectrums. We tried bright white (mimics sunlight), cool white (blue-ish tint) & warm white (mimics incandescent). I liked the bright white as they made the colors "pop" & are great for reading by.

It's very hard to tell what you will like from looking at bulbs on a website. I would suggest trying to find a local source for them so you can buy & easily return what you don't like so you don't have to pay to ship them back (or worse, pay a restocking fee). We were lucky to be attending a mfr rally & there were several LED light vendors. We were able to take samples back to the coach & I was glad for that because what I initially thought would work did not & we ended up getting completely different bulbs than I initially tried out. For example, the pics below show what I originally liked (left) & what we ended up with (right). Quite a difference in the way the light fills the lens.

Then, once you decide on the brand/light output, go online & buy 'em.

Lori-

[denochs]

ebay is the cheapest place I've found so far. If you find a supplier cheaper than ebay post it here.

Dave

[UFO Pilot]

I tried 3 different manufacturers before I found these:
Star Light Revolution LED 300 White

Two of the brands I tried flat out did not work, I think it was a polarity problem. The other brand I tried I didn't like the lighting. The Star Light Revolution bulbs are a little pricy but I am very happy with them. I replaced about 1/3 of the bulbs in January (Quartzsite) and plan on doing another 1/3 next January when we go back. Because of the price, I replaced the ones we use most often first.

[WheelingIt]

Brightness of an LED is measured in lumens while color is measured in kelvin. So when you're buying you want to look at both those items.

A higher lumens rating will mean a brighter bulb. I personally like ~130 lumens for accent lights and ~300 lumens for reading. Some people like brighter.

For color lower numbers are "warmer" (~3000K), higher are "cooler" (~5000K). Again this is personal. I personally prefer warm colors.

On switching to LEDs our power usage from lights went down by a factor of 10. These lights should last a very long time too. Very nice for boondocking.

If you're interested I've got more info and pics of our LEDs here
http://wheelingit.wordpress.com/2011...-led-lighting/

Like others have said, try one bulb before buying a bunch. Different manufacturers have different quality and you might find the light output to look very different even for 2 brands rated with the same apparent specs.

[mythplaced]

Originally Posted by wthomas1

I tried 3 different manufacturers before I found these:
Star Light Revolution LED 300 White

Two of the brands I tried flat out did not work, I think it was a polarity problem. The other brand I tried I didn't like the lighting. The Star Light Revolution bulbs are a little pricy but I am very happy with them. I replaced about 1/3 of the bulbs in January (Quartzsite) and plan on doing another 1/3 next January when we go back. Because of the price, I replaced the ones we use most often first.

OMG! A "LITTLE" pricey?

List Price: $38.79
Our Price: $27.16
You save $11.63!
Manufacturer P/N: Rev 200 White
Product Code: 55-1009

$28 for ONE 1156 light! They're kidding right?

Guess I'm doing something wrong, I found these for $9

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-x-C...item33673f0de4

and the same thing for $18,

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LED-B...item27afaa87ba

And and the entire 2 light fixture for $18


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LOT-5...44739754951192

[SSteve]

The best point I've seen made to go LED is to use an existing 12V light line for something other than lighting. Use LEDs and make the remaining current available for something else. If all of the planets align and the application fits this scenario, the cost of LEDs will probably offset the cost and effort involved in running a new 12V line. Otherwise, I wouldn't be willing to pry my wallet open that far.

Steve

[Billieg]

I just bought 12 LEDs for $50 on Feebay and They work well. They are long so it's easy to get them into the small space in the lamps. They aren't as bright as a regular 1156 but I just left 1 regular one in for reading. They give off a nice white light.

6X 1156 BA15S RV TRAILER 12V LED LIGHT BULB 13 SMD 5050 | eBay

[CD]

Originally Posted by Akibase

Is there a reasonable advantage to switch to LED bulbs and if so where is a good source to purchase them. I am seeing the bank on Tuesday to put a mortgage on the house to get the funds to pay for them. LOL I understand they a quite abit brighter and consume only 20-25% percent of the power. I would appreciate any information, especially a cheaper source.

Are you planning on putting the lights in our RV or your stick house? If it is the stick house, there are so many high energy items that changing the lights may not get the savings you are looking for.

[Stogie]

I bought mine on E Bay for about $5.00 each. I use them for outside (porch) and on some inside fixtures. For boondocking or as a night light they are great. If i want to read i use the incandescent, for general lighting without haveing to worry about running down the battery they are great. I am not ready yet to replace all my lights with them but I would not be without some.
They are IMO a nitch item. Good for some things but not good enough for others.

[plntmgr]

I've purchased from www.jclampstand.com and have been satisfied. Great products, great prices, great service. don