Lights: Which get used, which don't?

[noseoil]

I'm of the opinion that it's "better to have it & not use it than need it and not have it." I will have a light on the inside of the tongue box lid, so I can light up the back of the truck at night if necessary. Still need to run the circuit, but it's going in so it's there if necessary. Everything is LED, very little battery drain & wire runs are all in, so why not?

2 porch lights over the doors
2 reading lamps at the head of the bed
2 dome lights at the rear of the cabin
1 galley light on the hatch

[dales133]

Doing or done most or all of what you and sharon have done but im also going to glue lights to the chasis.
I figure if ive got to change a wheel on a desert track that weighs 20kg b plus i will apreciate being able to turn on a light to facilitate that.
And at camp on dimmers it will be nice mood lighting that warns yiu of trip hazards

[booyah]

In my tear, we have two 190 lumen LED reading lamps, that are directional.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQKC7LO
One seems to provide plenty of lighting inside, two seems overkill. Having both is nice though

On the outside we have two 150 lumen LED porch lights. These are indispensable for late night bathroom breaks.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EZY337E

They angle down so they light up the area outside and around the tear quite nicely. Very good for finding your shoes in the tub (we keep them outside the tear in a rubbermaid tub that does double duty as a kid step) as well as finding the tear in the dark. They also make the wife and kids feel better that you can see whats outside if you hear a noise.

What I dont have currently is any lighting in the hatch. I need to correct this BADLY

[Catherine+twins]

Or trip over Labor Day Weekend was minimal. I have a solar-powered LED rope light around the interior at the top of the camper, and it was fine for settling down and as ambient light while we were reading/gaming on our tablets/phones/etc. I also had a couple of puck lights, but being dropped about 4 times was their limit. New batteries didn't resurrect them. Finally, I had our old solar camp lantern, but no place to hang it.

I didn't have any lights outside, although I do have some solar path lights ("down" lights) that I have intended to put on the lower back corners of the camper (we have one door in the back wall). I really noticed the dark, as it was pretty much a new moon. I mean, it was REALLY dark for our "Moonlight Madness" party.

So at this point, the rope light seems like enough for inside. When all three of us are inside, only one person has enough room to sit up, and all reading/gaming (at this point) is on tablets/phones. What I really missed was outside lighting for cooking. I don't have a galley, so I'm working from a table and a grub box, so I need to finalize where the awnings go, and where we are comfortable working before I install outside lights.

Of course, everything will change when I have the trailer to myself (or build a new one.)

Catherine

[rowerwet]

I wish I had put a light on the front of the trailer to make hitching/unhitching in the dark much easier.

My tail lights and plate light give enough light for that. I am still planning on adding back up lights to the tear, LED driving lights, wired into the tail lights, and switched on with a toggle switch in the tear.
I removed the solar proch lights from my old tear as they attracted bugs. My current foamie has no lights except for the towing lights. I just put in battery operated tap lights for inside lighting, for the EZ up we use propane lanterns, oil lanterns, or flash lights.
Each of us has a head lamp for hands free lighting in the dark.

[Java Jack]

We have towing/running lights on our trailer. The running light directly above the door doubles as a porch light. It is amber so it does not overpower the campsite or light up the interior of the trailer. It is helpful at night if you need to get up in the middle of the night for a restroom break. It shines enough light on the ground so you can see where you are stepping as you exit the trailer but not so much to shock your eyes to the sudden change in lighting conditions.

[daveesl77]

All lights in mine are LED.

Interior I have a single white LED strip attached to the top ceiling trim piece. This is controlled by a wall switch (street side door) and a remote control with dimmer. It can provide a massive amount of light or dim down. On the corners by the head of the bed on each side I put in a small, yellowish, small LED panel (about 1"x1") These reside inside miniature mason jars and are below the mattress, but reflect off the ceiling. Each is controlled by a switch next to the wiley window on the appropriate side of the bed and are great for reading, but don't really disturb the other person. On the curb side door, there is a switch that controls another small, yellowish, LED panel like the bed lights, this gives us a kind of night-light for the interior when we are out.

Exterior - each side of Conch Fritter has "wing boards" and attached under these are LED / RGB strips. Main on/off control if from a switch just inside the door, but over the door is another of those small mason jar that contains the remote control receiver electronics. This allows us to adjust both lighting levels and color on each side of the trailer. Thus we can have an almost perfect yellow bug light, or bright white or pretty much any color and at any light level. The remote allows us to turn it on or adjust it from a distance of about 20' . For fun we can fire up the programmable automatic modes and make it look like a carnival. On the rear we have plug in LED strips for the galley. I also have an LED strip that I stuff inside a frosted 1 gallon gatorade jug, with the remote, which provides a great outdoor hanging light from the EZ up canopy.

Taillights are LED ovals. Side marker lights are small 3/4" led insets that fit into my bottom skirt. Almost invisible in daytime, nice and bright at night.

I buy all my LED stuff from either Banggood or Fasttech in China. They are dirt cheap and work pretty darn well.

dave

[coyote]

We used 5 meters of cheap Chinese led, off ebay, about $16, around the top inner edge, like you are thinking about. Yes use, love them. Put another string underneath, and love them. They are on separate remote switches, they can stay a single color, chase, blink, dim, alternate colors. I pick a color and leave the outside on all night, makes finding home ez in the middle,of the night. Our roof vent has two computer fans with dim, blue leds on them. All very ez on the battery, and well used! I will add some in the galley next. ( I am designated coffee maker, and sometimes very early). Coyote

[KCStudly]

Although yet to camp and still a work in progress, I have two round dome lights, one mounted at the top of either wall (not on the ceiling), each switched from just inside of the respective door.

I am using chrome hooded license plate style marker lights for various other applications, as follows: (2) white aimed for reading just behind our pillows on either side with switch just below; (1) red mounted under the inside rear cabinet facing the bulkhead for indirect night vision, switched near street side pillow; and (2) amber mounted as porch lights switched just inside each door (I figure these will cast less light out than the big porch lights, mostly washing down the side of the camper for less glare, but still adequate to fumble with keys, and shoes). They are inexpensive, compact, a retro style that appeals to me, and the hood makes them useful as task lighting (i.e. directional). Can easily add another in the tongue box, as that is where my battery and circuit panel will be. Oh yeah, and a white one for the license plate.

In addition to the small amber porch lights, I have (2) amber running lights aiming down as foot lights under the chassis at the side doors tied into the porch light circuits.

In the galley I have a light bar mounted between the ribs of the hatch. I tried to put this where it would be far enough forward to aim at the counter without casting shadows from a person standing there, but still be aiming forward for proper cutoff to avoid glare. It has its own switch and can be rotated to aim.

I didn't put any lights inside of the cabinets, or under the galley shelves/counter, which I may regret later, but figure head lights will do, or can mount battery op pucks.

Trailer lighting includes rear stop/turn/marker, side markers and side clearance lights front and rear; as well as rear clearance lights, including three individual "rear identification" lamps across the top of the hatch; and the previously mentioned lic plt. These can easily be connected and used as "porch" lights when the tow is disconnected, if desired, but I probably won't go there.

All above are LED.

In camp head lamps and white gas lanterns will be used; maybe my vintage TX900 propane single mantle, when I get it running.

I also expect to have long periods of time sitting in front of the campfire way out in the wilderness with nothing else but starlight.

[Vedette]

We have lots of lights in Miss Piggy and use the ALL!
Sometimes wish we had more!
We use solar lights around our tear and privacy tent when camping in very dark areas.
Next teardrop Kermit will have Red Led light inside the cabin that will allow who ever is getting up to go to the bathroom in the night to see without waking up the other person or blinding yourself with that harsh White light???
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[capnTelescope]

My tear is all LED lighting.

For finding the trailer in the dark, I have a switch that powers the running lights.

The white lights you see are the license plate lights.If you don't unplug the TV, it lights up too. At least mine does. YMMV.

For general non-glaring light that's easy on the night vision, I have a strip of red LEDs on the hatch to light the galley. This works well for me, and others have said they like it. I leave them on until I return from the campfire.

They light up the ground around, without being obnoxious. The running lights are also on in this pic, but you get the idea.

There are two strips of double-row white leds for galley lighting. The strips give a nice even light that is very bright.

They also light up the ground around.

Porch lights, of course.

I'm planning to replace the white leds with amber to keep the bugs away.

After my first experience of backing up in the dark without backup lights, I decided I was going to go overboard on them. They are two 18 watt led floodlight modules, also wired to a switch.

I honestly haven't used them for campground lighting, but they are very bright and have a high coolness factor. Night baseball, anyone?

[Ron Dickey]

I am still building mine. I plan to have outside lights under each door. Purple or amber. I can take the outside trailer lights and plug them into a battery. All it takes is a male trailer plug and run it to a battery, could even put in a switch as well. I have been told insects are not attracted to LED lights.


Ron

[Wolffarmer]

For a "porch" light I used a license plate light that can be gotten at a hardware store. toggle switch inside. Made plenty of light for what I wanted. Inside I put in a 15-18 watt florescent light for reading and such and another toggle switched license light for those times on wakes up in the night and do not want to blind themselves. It actually make enough light to do most anything in there one needs except read dead tree media. In the galley I put a light with a switch. It uses a bulb the size of a tail light. Then this past year the battery was needing replaced. I just took it out. I found I use led flash lights or a Coleman gas Lantern which I seem to have plenty of. Will probably hook up a rechargeable lithium battery and make at least the high wattage lights LEDs. ie the florescent and the galley light. The others are not use all that often or for long time.

Randy