LED Lighting project

[ClydesdaleKevin]

So here is a photo journal of the LED lighting project, nearly completed, on the Nautilus.

I'll start with the interior lighting.

This is the very pretty fixture I found last year in North Carolina at an RV store for 20 bucks, since it was missing its bracket...easy enough to make one!  It takes 4 912 bulbs, so you can imagine the power draw.  I replaced all four with 250 lumen 912 bulbs from Star Lights.



We have a lot of these little map lights in the RV, pretty much under each cabinet.  I replaced the bulbs in all of them with 250 lumen 1141 bulbs, also from Star Lights.  The first pic is just the fixture and new bulb, and the second is of the bulb turned on.  These run SO much cooler than the incandescent versions, which could get really hot! 





The most expensive bulbs were for the Thin-Lite florescent fixtures, each requiring 2 bulbs at 35.00 bucks a bulb!  Obviously we didn't replace them all yet, since they are so costly!  We replaced the ones we use the most...over the kitchen sink, the one in the bedroom hallway over the closet, the one in the bathroom, and the one hooked up to a wall switch when you first walk into the RV which had a short in the ballast.  Yep, very expensive...but a new Thin-Lite fixture is well over 100 bucks, and just a new ballast is 65 bucks.  The florescent bulbs don't last very long when used a lot...less than a year...at 8 bucks a bulb.  So its a good option if you have a bad ballast...70 bucks for a brighter than stock fixture that you never have to replace the bulbs in again!  Here are two pics of them all lit up.  They are 800 lumens, brighter than the stock bulbs, and draw a lot less amps.





The picture above, and also the next one, shows the LED vanity bulbs, also by Star Lights, that we installed.  A very nice light color, 250 lumens each.



The next 3 pictures are of the little LED night lights I installed to replace the whole fixtures that were on the floor...1 was burned out, and 2 were broken up.  One is at the base of the bed, one in the bathroom, and one on the floor mounted on the lower front dinette cabinet.  The are hooked into a switch on the bedroom wall and the switch cluster on the wall when you first enter the RV.  They light up the house enough at night to navigate, but draw a VERY small amount of amps.  They can be left on all night if you wanted to, with very little effect on the amp hours in your batteries.  Got a great deal on them on eBay...4 bucks a fixture, 2 LEDs each.







That's it for pictures of the interior lights.  I did put LED bulbs in the front map lights as well, and in the stove hood (230 lumens), but don't have pictures of those yet.  I also replaced the stock noisy high power draw 12 volt fan in the stove hood with a 12 volt muffin fan.  Way quieter, way more air flow, and way less power draw.  Pictures of that coming soon!

Okay, now the exterior lights. 

This is the new light fixture I installed over the desk window over the grill.  The first picture is of the fixture, the second of the switch I installed for it on the cabinet over the desk, and the third shows the grill mount location.  This light lets us see what we are cooking at night!  I used a 250 lumen LED bulb in the fixture, from Star Lights.







This next picture is of the only light we had on the the porch side of the RV, a Bargman handle with a built in light.  The lens crumbled into dust when I went to replace the bulb, so I bought a new cover for it.  250 lumen Star Light 1141 bulb.  I sealed the cover...as well as all the exterior porch light lenses...with clear silicone to protect the LED bulbs from the elements.



This is the brand new fixture I installed over the fridge vent, with a super bright Star Lights 400 lumen bulb.  It has its own switch on the fixture.  Sure lights up the whole porch!



This is the fixture on the driver's side over the sewer/power compartment.  The whole fixture crumbled into dust when I went to replace the bulb, so we had to get another fixture...250 lumens.  Also put another 250 lumen LED bulb in the sewer compartment light fixture, but don't have a picture of that one.



That's it for the actual porchlight type fixtures.  Now for the driving lights.

These are the lights for the front corner markers/signals.  Thanks to Dan, I knew where to get them and what they were!  NOT a Holiday Rambler part thank goodness, since they are belly up...they are the same fixtures used on 1988 Pontiac Grand Ams...found them on eBay.  Our passenger side was broken, and the driver's side was faded beyond belief, so we replaced both of them.  They both house an automotive spade type LED bulb.









The next couple of pictures are of the tail lights and license plate lights.  Some of the lenses had tiny cracks in them, and they ARE a Holiday Rambler part, unobtainable now.  So I reenforced them with 2 part epoxy.  They now all house LED bulbs.





We also replaced every single side marker light and upper marker light with LED fixtures...the whole fixtures.  Super bright and well made, the same ones from the same seller on eBay we bought the ones from on the Itasca.  Came out to about 4 bucks a fixture when you buy 15...we only needed 14, so there is a spare.









And that's it for now!  The front two in-the-bumper 1157 signal bulbs I had to leave as incandescent bulbs in order for the signals to work, even with an electronic flasher relay.  Someday I might replace them and wire in load resistors, but for now they act as the load resistors in the circuit, and with every other driving light replaced with LEDs, 2 incandescent bulbs aren't going to draw much!  I also still have incandescent light bulbs in the dash lighting which I'll eventually replace with LED bulbs. 

So that's the project so far.  Eventually every light but the headlights will be LEDs in the RV...There are still 4 Thin Lite fixtures that need the bulbs replaced in, but since they are so expensive we'll wait until Arizona starts and do them then.

Kev

[Mytdawg]

Has a woman tried to do makeup by those vanity bulbs yet?  I replaced all the bulbs in my house with the CFL bulbs.  I did not get positive revues on the CFL vanity lights.

At all...   N:(

Other than that question it looks good!  I'll definitely be looking into some of those when we go to fix the lighting.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

My wife Patti LOVES the light thrown off by the Star Lights vanity bulbs, but they weren't cheap for ones that threw off a similar light to the incandescent ones...I think they were 20+ bucks a bulb, times three!

I also bought her a new magnifying mirror for her makeup, battery powered and LEDs all the way, and she loves it...she said the light is the best she's had from a makeup mirror.  The 12 volt blow dryer was a complete bust though...pathetic airflow and barely any heat compared to the 120 volt uber hair dryer she usually uses...I guess it might work to defrost the windows in a pinch, or I can resell it on eBay!  The jury is still out on the 12 volt curling iron though.  We plugged it in and it got hot...took WAY longer to get hot than the 120 version...but she hasn't tried it yet.  I'll let you know how THAT works when we start our desert boondocking part of our vacation.

Patti likes a lot of light, so even with our superb battery setup and stellar 705 watt solar system and 60 amp charge controller, I decided on spending the money on all these LEDs to let her still have lots of light with way less drain on the batteries. 

She really loves the amount of light the LED bulbs put out, and the color...but I did a lot of research on them before buying.  Its all about the lumens and color.  If you look in the General board you'll see my post about LED lighting, along with details on lumens, colors, and links to the places I got them at the best prices I could find for the best lights. 

This is a link to that topic:  http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?topic=6689.0

Prices and lumens vary a bit since I'm a bit absentminded...the link above to the General board is dead on accurate since I checked it all before posting. 

Kev