Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Are there any particular 12v lights (preferably LED) that you REALLY like?

Thanks

Tony

I used two of these on my hatch, and one in the cabin as a reading light. Not too expensive, and low power consumption (3W) for the amount of light produced. I've had them for 3 seasons and am very happy with them. You can see them (white eyeball spot at left of photo).



http://tinyurl.com/lq542th (West Marine site).

<Chas>

I have a bunch of these.... http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo ... chrome/26/

Warm white on the inside



Cool white and blue in the galley

I found marine fixtures that take a standard G4 bulb and switched them to LED. The Grasshopper design is basically vertical so the three LED, two under the cabinet and one on the wall over the cook top are quite enough there are two of the large lights inside and two reading lights.

I got my LEDs from e-trailer. Good selection. I put in incandescent reading lights though. Someone mentioned the bluish hue that you get from LEDs being difficult for reading. Glad I did

Camp Inn puts a VERY nice classy looking light in their Tears. The one in the galley will light up in both a white light and a red light (for bug control). I WISH I had a photo for you.

My plan is to stick a strip of LEDs into the cabin and under the galley hatch.
They're reasonably bright and have a very low power consumption. The ones I've bought are 5050 and IP69 (or IP67) waterproof and can be controlled with a dimmer/colour changer.
They cost £17.99 ($27ish) on "the bay" and included a controller and no power-supply. you can buy single colour 5050 LEDS but I'm not sure if they are dimmable.
http://youtu.be/RSwDQ-VbQSk and http://youtu.be/3KwjyS-7y14

atahoekid wrote:I got my LEDs from e-trailer. Good selection. I put in incandescent reading lights though. Someone mentioned the bluish hue that you get from LEDs being difficult for reading. Glad I did

There are two different colors of white LEDs... "cool white", which is your typical white LED... used in flashlights, Christmas lights, etc. And then there is "warm white", with a color tone exactly like an incandescent bulb. Much easier on the eyes for reading.

For general lighting, I prefer flexible 12V LED strips, either bare or in a silicone sheath. I cut them into various lengths depending on needs. I prefer the warm while (yellowish) variants as the cool (blueish) ones look too clinical. Powers vary from about 1W/ft to 3W/ft, again select one appropriate for the job.

Rigid LED strips give more intense light in a smaller space and look much better but cost a lot more.

For task lighting nothing beats 4W to 6W MR16 12V "downlighter" lamps, most of them are OK with either AC or DC power. For outdoor use, put them in some sort of weatherproof enclosure, CCTV camera housings work like a charm.

As a rough guide: LED lights use about 10% of the power of and equivalent filament lamp, so you go much further on a battery charge.
LEDs can take a bit of abuse and most 12V models will tolerate up to 16V without too much trouble. Vibration does not do them much harm and they will survive knocks and drops that will kill any filament-in-glass lamp, CFL included.

Try them all, you will find uses for all of them!

atahoekid wrote:I got my LEDs from e-trailer. Good selection. I put in incandescent reading lights though. Someone mentioned the bluish hue that you get from LEDs being difficult for reading. Glad I did

I'm using some LED lighting around the house. I'm using some of the flexible strips in both warm white (2700k, & 3100k), and neutral white (4100k & 4500k). For warm white, get LEDs that are 2900k to 3200k. Above 4200k and there abouts will likely be too blue for most evening interior use, but some may like it. There is a blue lighting craze in bars and coffee houses. I'd stay away from them. It would likely interfere with the body's internal clocks which can mess all sorts of things up. There is a light sensor in your body that is sensitive to only blue light, and it helps regulate the sleep/wake cycle and digestion. Mess with it at the peril of your waist. From my reading up on lighting I learned that bluish light is good in the morning and during the day, but a few hours before bed, banish it.

Cree has a line of LEDs that have very high color rendering index values, but you will pay more for them. On the other hand colors will look more natural. If you want to photo edit or make stained glass windows in your TD or TTT, then get them. Otherwise spend your money elsewhere.

I love my seasense led lights. my galley has a red and white in the same hockey puck. been really happy

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H.A. wrote:I managed to buy a pile of led strips cheap from the 'as-is' shelf at IKEA.
Its one of their Dioder series of lamps,

they are a 12volt 12" strips what can plug into one another to make strips as long as one wants.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20119418/

+1 on the Ikea lights, and also their puck lights (also their foam mattresses). For simple 12vdc lighting, Autozone has various Alpena brand LEDs that I used for various spot lighting, in and outside the trailer.