Don't know if anyone uses them or not, but I found a good deal on 36" fluorescent lights at Northern Tool for $5 each plus $1 for the bulb. At least I thought it was a good deal. I bought 6 of them for my project. They are a clearance item, so you won't find them in the catalog. They are advertised as cabinet lights. Hope this helps someone..
Boyce
The one thing I found in buying lights is check the price of the bulb. You may got it cheap on clearance but the box store may have the bulbs for $10 when you need new ones.
I been thinking about that. Bulbs seem to last a long time, but since they have them on sale too, I think I'll go back and get at least 6 spare bulbs. The bulbs rang up a dollar each, so for six bucks I'll have one spare for each fixture. Hopefully these will work out for me!
Boyce
I'm cheating -- I left most of the luggage racks in place, and with them, the 24V flouro lights, wired to single switches in the bath and bedroom, and 3-way switches in the front half (kitchen / living room), with an extra switch to go between the main lights at the walls and the softer lights over the aisle. I also still have the reading lights, wired directly to the house batteries.
I left the instrument panel switch for the lights, so I can still work them from the front, but I put the front 3-way switch on the modesty panel, where I can easily reach it from the driver's seat.
Having taken out half a dozen of the 24V ballasts, I don't think I will ever have to buy new ones, and the several flouro tubes that came out of the racks are safely stored, so I won't need to buy them, either.
I was even able to do a lot of the new wiring using the wire harness that I cut off when removing the racks which did come out, and the aluminum sheet is also going to good use on various jobs.
BG6.....that sounds like what I would like to do if I end up with a unit that has the enclosed racks. How long ago did you do it and is it working out well for you?
I wish I had enclosed racks -- mine are open, but I've taken off the upper securing rope to make it easier to store and get stuff.
It's working out just fine. Each light draws 1 amp to 1.25 (the 4-footers), and gives plenty of light. I took a look at the LED lighting, but couldn't see spending a couple of hundred bucks to save half an amp per bulb -- and lose most of the light.
The only added lighting that I have are the reading lights in the bookcase / headboard of my bed and the lighted mirror in the bath. Everything else is where TMC put it.
I'm going to modify the wiring to make a bigger difference between lighting levels, and at the same time cut consumption at the level I will use the most but still have max light when I need it.