Thought some of you might be interested in this little upgrade I did today:
All the lighting I'm installing in my caravan is LED or is being converted to LED for the basic reason of more light output for less energy required.
Today I did the lights surrounding the Remi rooflight, the original ones are festoon bulbs, I found replacements at Campercare Products
And the result was very good:
We're halfway through the changeover at this point - the lights on the left are still the old ones while the ones on the right are the LEDs
These are the two bulbs side by side:
All you have to do is make sure that the polarity is right, I just touched the bulb on the terminals in the light - if it lit the terminals were right, if not I turned them around, the other thing you have to do is make sure the 'fried eggs' are pointing downwards. I also pulled the terminal clip aside with my finger rather than rely on the bulb doing it
So what have I gained?
20 watt equivalent light output per bulb instead of 10 watts
1.5 watts power consumption instead of 10 watts
around 30,000 hours of light per bulb and no filament to break if knocked
I also got a couple of lengths of SMD tape - that's a strip of LEDs in a stick on form - we tried them around the mirror today... tempting - so tempting
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Lights in yer Remi ! What ? I've just rushed out to the caravan thinking I must have missed these all this time and found two plastic blanking plates instead ! I'm so jealous !
Very nice upgrades, though the prices seemed a bit high for me. Especially for the tape. I found good tapes on eBay, for roughly half the price this company offers, and contain twice as many LEDs per metre. eBay LED strip
So, what I plan to do is basically cut the tape into shorter pieces and use them beside the bed and in the kitchen. They are very bright when used together, will do the cutting at the weekend.
Michael the price of the festoons are around £6 a piece - quite a bit more than a ordinary one but giving twice the light output at a saving of 85% of the input power - and they do have a life of 30,000+ hours.
Joe, I have seen the cheaper tapes and LEDs on eBay and nearly bought some but they are the older type LEDs with half the light output and very often using the same input power which is why I didn't buy. Decent output LEDs are also reasonable here and cheaper if you buy in bulk.
Micheal the festoons are about half the price here as well (which is a bit annoying for me )
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Rune, I checked out the strips you sent... what do you mean they are the "new type of LEDs"? They are one and the same: SMD power technology. Besides at a really poor price, because they contain exactly half as many diodes per metre than the one I linked you to for almost the same price. I think you should check this product before you buy.
I checked with the company on eBay, those strips contain Edison chips - which are quite good. (not CREE, but still...) and offer two years warranty.
The tapes you have linked to Joe, yes have 60 LEDs per metre but have an output of 4.8 watts per metre but the 30 LEDs per metre tapes have an output of 7 watts per metre.
But everything really depends on what you intend to use the lights for - in our case for illumination rather than decoration so the extra cost was worth it.
BTW have you bought any yet? The eBay advert says in 5 metre rolls sold by the metre which to me means you have to buy 5 metres of it at £18.57 a metre = total cost of £92.65?
------------- Caravanning is a way of getting a cheap holiday out of an expensive hobby
Micheal the festoons are about half the price here as well (which is a bit annoying for me )<!-- Signature -->
not like you to miss a bargain
thanks will have a look.
<FONT color=#0000ff>just a thought i wonder if i am allowed them at the front sides of the van? do you think to bright for this?
Post last edited on 05/10/2010 11:29:30
Problem is Michael the technology is getting cheaper all the time with sellers leapfrogging prices downwards and you have to look out for the output all the time to compare like for like - so I missed out on that price but got another light I wanted that no one else is doing so...
Regarding using them in front markers - I don't see why not - you can get all the bulbs for all the lights - tail/brake, indicator, numberplate but you may get a problem with the indicator one as the loading will be lower for the flasher unit. I haven't as yet bothered as I'm more concerned with saving caravan battery power so we can last a couple of weeks or so off EHU
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Yes, you are right, I have switched from eBay to the company site afterwards, and ended up buying a different product... just when searching I saved the eBay site, and forgot that those original ones are the less output ones. Sorry for the mistake, wasn't intentional.
These are the ones I ended up with, and bought only three metres, so didn't have to buy a whole reel. They sell it by the metre. http://www.ledcentre.uk.com/211-48-smd-power-5050-strip-led-light-bright-white-12-v-dc.html
But in any event, I will cut them on Saturday, and will find out if it was worth it. Together they look really really bright, I am planning to use them in 20cm length, but will try with one at a time.
It is hard to find a good bargain with the loads of companies selling LEDs nowadays.
Regarding using them in front markers - I don't see why not - you can get all the bulbs for all the lights - tail/brake, indicator, numberplate but you may get a problem with the indicator one as the loading will be lower for the flasher unit. I haven't as yet bothered as I'm more concerned with saving caravan battery power so we can last a couple of weeks or so off EHU
will look into more as is a bit naughty to have your fog light on without the presents of fog.so will the brighter side lights contravene some lighting law?
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
The bulbs should be OK as direct replacements - these are the brake/tail
Pretty little things aren't they - there are replacements available for all the different types of bulbs including wedge - I would presume that they would be the correct light output for regulations.
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There is no "lumens" limit to the amount of light produced; the legal bit only says wattage, ATBH I have LED lights in my car and you wouldn't actually notice they are any brighter. The brake lights do come on quicker though!
Pretty little things aren't they - there are replacements available for all the different types of bulbs including wedge - I would presume that they would be the correct light output for regulations
thanks.like those.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
In my old caravan I replaced the eyeball spotlight bulbs for LED bulbs & they seemed to work fine but over time a few of the LED's started to fail. The "fried egg" type look good though.
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Topic: Lighting Upgrade
