led lighting question

Purplewillie · January 04, 2015, 01:00:02 PM

Our bus has some led lighting , some g4 halogen, some 18" and 12" fluorescent, and regular incandescent 1141/1156 bulbs.
I ordered leds for replacing the g4's and others for the 1156's.
I was wondering if it is worth converting my 12v flourescent fixtures to strip leds?
How much more energy efficient are leds over fluorescent?
Thanks
Mark

mung · January 04, 2015, 01:02:16 PM

Sean has some really cool strip LEDs and they seem nice. They would use less power than any other bulb.

My daughters are now requesting the ones that Sean has on his bus, so I have to add that to the list of things to do.

daddyoften · January 04, 2015, 01:23:12 PM

Starting fluorescents is their large energy use, once started they are pretty efficient. But I agree that there isn't anything more efficient than LED's at this point. LED's will also last longer. Fluorescents will lose lumens, brightness, over time. Usually so slowly you don't realize it until you but a new bulb in and your like "wow" that's bright. I'm going to use only LED's in our conversion but we are starting from scratch so that's a bit easier. If I were converting I'd have to think about it as well.
Eric

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daddyoften · January 04, 2015, 06:07:59 PM

Oh, one other thing I was just reminded of in our sub zero weather we are having here.... LED's are much better in starting in cold temps then fluorescent, though this isn't as big of a concern in a heated bus I'm sure but I was just reminded of that when I turned on our outside LED lights here.

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lvmci · January 04, 2015, 06:42:44 PM

hi Mark, going all led on the C3 conversion, had great success on the 5A with converting over to leds. home depot sells strip led, brand called commercial lighting, around $60 for 8 feet, interesting part is the 120v part including dimmer, is converting to 12v, so I'm gonna make a parallel 12v/120v recessed on the Ibeam that goes down the center of the bus and stick them next to eachother, only powering one with 12v the other with 120v and the transformer/dimmer, light will look the same and will come from the same place, lvmci...

DrLed · January 05, 2015, 04:48:10 AM

In my motorhome I replaced the fluorescents in four of my 18" (F15T8) fixtures and two of my 12" (F8T5) fixtures, using Revolution or Ming Led tubes from RVledbulbs.com. Power consumption is about half, so not as large an advantage as with incandescents. My main reason for replacing them was longevity - the F15's get switched on/off dozens of times daily and would go bad every 6-9 months. The Leds are essentially impervious to on/off cycles. I was also able to reduce the bulbs per fixture from two to one in the F15's - the Led tubes produced plenty of usable light with only one tube/fixture.

The F8's were replaced with Led tubes (Ming brand) when the old fluorescents got tired. Perhaps not so cost-effective, but I'm happy to know I'll never have to replace them again and the power consumption is more efficient as well. I replaced those bulbs one-for-one to get adequate light (lumens).

I'm also replacing the big F40 tubes in our stick house kitchen and bath with 120v Led tubes, again primarily for the longevity, though the kitchen lights are on a lot and will contribute to keeping power costs down.

goutoe · January 05, 2015, 06:34:22 AM

I am making the change to leds replacing all of the flouresents, I am going with led strips under the counters, I like these because you can cut them any length you need, and they are 12 volt, and dimmable.>>>>> John.

jbskone · January 05, 2015, 07:10:30 AM

Some of our customers have replaced their existing flourescents tubes with our Rigid Strip lights right in the existing fixture.

http://www.rvledbulbs.com/product-p/hp-rs20.htm

The Rigid Strip lights are 20" in length and can be cut to any length in 1" increments. Remember to bypass the flourescents ballast and wire the Strips directly to the incoming 12 Volt incoming supply.

Jay or Brian at www.RvLedBulbs.com 800-241-2122

RJ · January 05, 2015, 08:06:00 AM

Jay or Brian -

What's the availability status of 24v LED bulbs for those of us w/ 24v exterior lighting?

digesterman · January 05, 2015, 08:22:45 AM

RJ many on eBay, just put 24 volt led in search field , have bought many there, good selection

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luvrbus · January 05, 2015, 08:23:48 AM

RJ there is a guy at Quartzsite that sell all types of LED lighting and he has better than the internet prices or Ebay, he is right across the street from where you will be parked and he deals for cash FWIW

Lee Bradley · January 05, 2015, 09:22:29 AM

Quote from: RJ on January 05, 2015, 08:06:00 AM
Jay or Brian -

What's the availability status of 24v LED bulbs for those of us w/ 24v exterior lighting?

Check the marine sites and check the bulb specs; a lot of 12 volt bulbs are actually 10-30 volt.

yvan · January 05, 2015, 09:45:42 AM

I got all my LED lighting from montrealimport.com , very low prices and good service. All interior lighting for my bus came in under $300. We have 2 white LED strips running the length of the bus , Colour adjustable strips under the cabinets to act as accent lighting, white strips under kitchen cabinets and in bathroom, and round surface mount pucks in closets, in bed room storage bays. Everything is 12V so no conversions or transformers needed.

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179/repare-brise/bus/4CCD2760-BAFB-424C-92F3-45006340E9C5.jpg

TomC · January 05, 2015, 11:27:02 AM

I got this 18" from SuperBright LED's. If it isn't bright enough, I'll just add another. https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/dome-recessed-puck-led-lights/185-swivel-utility-led-light-bar-with-rocker-switch/1230/#/attributes/2 Good Luck, TomC

Oonrahnjay · January 05, 2015, 12:14:15 PM

Quote from: jbskone on January 05, 2015, 07:10:30 AM
Some of our customers have replaced their existing flourescents tubes with our Rigid Strip lights right in the existing fixture.

http://www.rvledbulbs.com/product-p/hp-rs20.htm

The Rigid Strip lights are 20" in length and can be cut to any length in 1" increments. Remember to bypass the flourescents ballast and wire the Strips directly to the incoming 12 Volt incoming supply.

Jay or Brian at www.RvLedBulbs.com 800-241-2122

I had installed about 24 "puck lights" - they came with halogen bulbs, G4 type (I think that that means that the little wire prong contacts are 4mm spacing). I replaced thebulbs all with RVLed LED lights. They are wonderful. Gary Throneberry ("Garhawk") had both the warm-white (golden) and blue-white (ummm, blue ...) bulbs in his bus; I picked the bluish tint because a lot of my interior is blue or blue-grey. Great light, tiny current draw. Love them.
If I need strip lights, that's exactly where I'll be going. Oh, good service from them, too.