# I have gone LED



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

Hello,

Our Frankia lighting consumed lots of power at night, a problem when not on EHU.

So It all started at Discover Leisure last weekend.

I replaced the 5 Halogens over the cooker & sink with 5 of These Lumo 24 LED G4's at a Fiver each.

Result is a brighter area as these are cool white - Very Impressed.

The three Central lights in the rear lounge and bathroom access area I have replaced with These for RS

Result is as we wished, not too bright but gives off plenty of light.

I have replaced One half of the spot lamps halogens with These from RS

Result again as we wished.

For my reading light on one of the above spot lights, I put one of These Expensive Philips LED Capsules

Result is very good. But, cant say much better than the above. Capsule is also very heavy and I am concerned that the bulb may fall out when we are on the road.

Finally, I have one of these These and one of These cheaper units off eBay so I can compare.

But the best thing is that instead of using 20 amps with a few lights on, we now use around 2!. With no loss of lighting.

TM


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

What took you so long Trev  

We replaced all of ours a few years ago, Its one of the best and simplest investments around if you don't hook up often.

Pete


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

He caught up in the end Pete :roll: , and as you say - I think Trev will be quite delighted.

I agree, it's the most cost effective investment we ever made too.

A timely word of warning though (_repeated from a long dead post I made_) *not *to assume that just because you have LED lighting your current consumption will be minimal.

Our van came with LED strip lights. "_Great_" I thought . . . but they consumed a massive 4.5Amps!! 8O 8O 8O

I found out why when I counted them . . . there were over 450 SMDs in total, spread along three strips of about a metre long each. 8O 8O

Dave


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## Addie (Aug 5, 2008)

When ordering SMD (surface mount) style LED's - which are the ones which are not the traditional domed style ones try and buy ones rated at 5050.

There are generally 3 types - 1210, 3258 and 5050. A 3285 is 6 lumens while a 5050 is considerably brighter at 18 lumens and is what is used on daytime running lamps on modern cars.

I've never paid more then £1 delivered for a lamp and £5 for a strip which you can create some nice lighting effects with. You can even get adhesive strips 1m long with a remote control for brightness and colour changing for £10 delivered!

There is a lot of rubbish on eBay but if you look for '5050' you tend to get the newer brighter leds unless the seller is unscrupulous and misrepresent them.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Good move Trev. I did mine years ago, all except for the lights above the cupboards which use very odd bulbs and a lot of power. I just avoid using those. The total number of lights in our van is a bit crazy, Alan.


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## spatz1 (May 19, 2011)

i notice the 24 led are 62 lumens....

be interested if you ve tried them as i ordered these and am waiting at 140 lumens a piece...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290614569497?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

tried the bulb shaped ones not impressed...


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## 96299 (Sep 15, 2005)

We have only changed five bulbs in our lounge area and are well pleased with them. we have four warm white for the sliding spot lights and a bright white for the main over the dinette table light.

We still have loads to do, and the kitchen area I cant make my mind up on. Warm white or bright white? Any ideas.

Steve


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

A great power saving move, first thing to do when you get a van.

Interested also how much the LED strips use, our van we have just bought has 3 of these strips put in by the last ownes, i really need to invest in a battery monitor to check.

Paul.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

coppo said:


> Interested also how much the LED strips use, our van we have just bought has 3 of these strips put in by the last ownes, i really need to invest in a battery monitor to check.
> Paul.


They do vary Paul - the more modern ones are not nearly so power hungry. Mine would have been made at least two years ago, which is a long time in terms of LED development.

I pulled ours out and cut them a lot shorter, and we now use them for ambient light when we are watching the telly.

Dave


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

Zebedee said:


> coppo said:
> 
> 
> > Interested also how much the LED strips use, our van we have just bought has 3 of these strips put in by the last ownes, i really need to invest in a battery monitor to check.
> ...


Thanks Dave, may reduce them in length a bit then as i don't know how old they are or when fitted as its a 2004 van.


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

All LED's now, including the 6 strip lights, which a nice man fitted for us at the Lincoln show. The best so far is the outdoor, overdoor light which really cuts down on power consumption but up on brilliance in its bayonette fitting.
Perhaps the vans external lights will be next.
Alan


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Bright*



Chigman said:


> We have only changed five bulbs in our lounge area and are well pleased with them. we have four warm white for the sliding spot lights and a bright white for the main over the dinette table light.
> 
> We still have loads to do, and the kitchen area I cant make my mind up on. Warm white or bright white? Any ideas.
> 
> Steve


Hello Steve,

Bright White for cooking or working areas.

Warm white or Natural for TV or Bedrooms.

TM


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*long time*



peejay said:


> What took you so long Trev
> 
> We replaced all of ours a few years ago, Its one of the best and simplest investments around if you don't hook up often.
> 
> Pete


I was letting you lot be the Guinea Pigs!

To be fair, cost. Almost always LED's were expensive. Or Very cheap with a bad write up.

The Lumo ones from Discover would have set me back £50 for 5!

Bus as it was 50% off I gave them a go and was very impressed, as I am with all the ones I bought. These will do for now and if the cheap eBay ones are okay, I will do the rest.

But another reason is that we are going to try and motorhome a bit different from now on. I am fed up of turning up on sites at 8pm and having to pay the full whack, as though we had arrived at noon.

Some sites we have ended up paying as much as £45 for a late night arrival or overnight stop. But we paid because we wanted EHU for the TV and lights etc.

But we have 440ah of Leisure batteries, 240w of Solar and I have finally got around to fitting our inverter on an automatic contacter changeover.

For winter, I am probably going to fit Gaslow or a tank. This means we can stay in the Car parks in Scotland and Aires, Stelplatz and Motorcaravannas Parking.

We are off to Spain soon and have a Campsite booked for a couple of weeks so the Gas project can wait.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Trev.


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## 96299 (Sep 15, 2005)

*Re: Bright*



teemyob said:


> Chigman said:
> 
> 
> > We have only changed five bulbs in our lounge area and are well pleased with them. we have four warm white for the sliding spot lights and a bright white for the main over the dinette table light.
> ...


Cheers TM-you just confirmed what I was thinking.

Steve


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Test*

Shall be putting them to the test next weekend.

TM


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## ojibway (May 9, 2005)

Hi TM
I think I started the thread on LEDs some years ago. Kitted out our Rapido but some started to crackle and blow! But got newer ones and they worked fine but Rapido electrics was cr*p, fluctuating all the time.

In our James Cook we have LEDs everywhere. The latest generation are great and there is so much choice.
We've replaced all the spots and added solar desk lights (from Ikea) which I have made special holders for, adapted mains LEDs which we plug in to the rear area cigarette lighter socket and added a strip. We've also replaced the Sprinter cab light bulbs.
We always go for warm white.
We still need to replace the fluorescent bulbs though we don't use them much.
Mike and Annie


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Led's*



ojibway said:


> Hi TM
> I think I started the thread on LEDs some years ago. Kitted out our Rapido but some started to crackle and blow! But got newer ones and they worked fine but Rapido electrics was cr*p, fluctuating all the time.
> 
> In our James Cook we have LEDs everywhere. The latest generation are great and there is so much choice.
> ...


Thanks Mike n Annie.

Nice Motor!

TM


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