LED reading lights bright enough?

[VermonTear]

I am interested in using LED lites in my new little Tear, but have no personal experience with them. Is one LED reading lite a couple of feet above my book going to be enough good light for reading? The specs are: LED Bulb id
svc-Lg4s10ww Warm White LED: 10-30 Volts DC, 1.6 watts, 140 Lumens* but that doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Here's the fixture I'm considering http://www.sailorsams.com/mall/nova_8777_LED.asp.
Any insights before I buy two (one for me, one for her) and cut holes in my headliner, would be welcome.

Ken

[parnold]

I read using a 160 lumin lantern. I would think directional 140 lumin should be plenty. Two of them even better. Before you cut your holes, try them out in a dark room to be safe. A cheap battery charger for power is all ya need for a simple test like that.

[legojenn]

The reading light that I clamped to my bed is 12v. It's so bloody bright that I point it to the ceiling when I'm reading in bed. I'm sure that the right LED could light up a whole teardrop.


http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70169694/
I am the easier it will be to camp.

I'm going to get this rechargeable one before my first camping trip to see if I can light up my trailer. The less dependent on batteries and electrical I am the happier I will be.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90154371/

[SteveW]

From my limited experience, LED is very bright in one direction, but tends to give much less "glow" than an incandescent bulb. Should work find for a reading lamp with only a few LEDs, but won't do much to illuminate the rest of the space.

My pocket flashlight with 3 LEDs works very well for focused lighting, but is useless for trying to find your way around in the dark. We also have some of the rope LEDs in/on our office cabinets. They give a nice reflected light off the cabinet contents and ceiling without being overpowering. They are recessed a bit so they don't give direct lighting, because otherwise they would be quite overpowering to the eyes. I'll probably be using something similar in my TD.

[VermonTear]

Paul...

Thanks. You mean a cheap battery charger like you would use to charge a 12 volt battery?

[Shadow Catcher]

We have two LED reading lights in Compass Rose and they were made to use a standard G4 array, they work very well.

[parnold]

Paul...

Thanks. You mean a cheap battery charger like you would use to charge a 12 volt battery?

Exactly!

[droid_ca]

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/260734924581?ssP ... 1438.l2649
this is what I was going to use for when I set p my trailer and get some nice fixtures for them

[GuitarPhotog]

I use these LED Cockpit Lights from West Marine as a reading light in the cabin and as down lights in the galley. Plenty bright for reading and only ~350 ma current draw. The wattage info on the WM site is wrong, they draw .31 Watts, not 31 W.

http://tinyurl.com/884mr2l

I'm adding LED strip lights in the cabin, in addition to the galley (see http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=48692) for more info on how I installed them in the galley.

The strip lights are much brighter, but draw more current (~350 ma per foot) than I can afford except when plugged into shore power.

<Chas>

[droid_ca]

I like the WestMarine swivel lights thanks for sharing the link

[Martiangod]

I found in the last trailer I had put LED bulbs in each two light fixture, first click LED, second click Incandescent.
90% of the time LED was fine, but when we were sitting playing cards neither one of use could read the cards by LED, so i switched the table light back to Incandescent so we could see the cards.
The fixture I've put at the table on this build is a Marine cockpit light, 2 bulb, one white for evening and the other red for night cruising. I changed out the red for white LED, So I have choice of LED or incandescent depending on what we're doing.
I have quite a bit of LED lighting in the house, cheaper to run, lots of light but my eyes find it a wierd light,

[Mightydog]

We had incandescent lights in the first trailer and liked them a lot. In building the second one, we've been looking at LED lights and decided to use incandescent in the galley and cabin for reading lights. LED's are going to be used for running lights and markers, but their light is weird when they are used to illuminate a work or reading space. I've wanted to have indirect lighting as a warm light when inside. We're using amber colored LED strips with light that will bounce off the paneling. Once again, it's not to illuminate a work or reading space, so we'll see how it goes.

[Gary and Cheri]

We have the Paradise Valley Amish built tear drop and it came with incandescent lights. I went on the internet and replaced them with the led equivalent and I can not tell the differance. I got the soft white leds which are more like incandescent lights. I have no problem reading with a center mounted ceiling light.

Gary

[VermonTear]

I ended up ordering some great little LED lights from http://sailorsams.3dcartstores.com/. Here's one of the reading lites I ordered (only I ordered it with a Gold bezel):

We took one out to my build last night and hooked it up temporarily to see if it was going to be bright enough. WOW! Plenty bright for reading at night. 1.6 watts puts out a lot of light. They're small but they're good looking and I think at .13 amps they're going to be pretty easy on my Amp Hours too.

best..

Ken

[MiaDoderer]

LEDs works very well for focused lighting, led strip but is useless for trying to find your way around in the dark. We also have some of the rope LEDs in/on our office cabinets. They give a nice reflected light off the cabinet contents and ceiling without being overpowering. They Flexible LED Strip Lights are recessed a bit so they don't give direct lighting, because otherwise they would be quite overpowering to the eyes. I'll probably be using something similar in my TD.Outdoor LED Lighting