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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15939
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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Mood: Everchangin'
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Travel Trailer LED conversion
We got a good deal on a travel trailer and the first order of bidness is to swap out all of the 1141 old school bulbs for a 90% more efficient LED
bulb. I'll settle for 85%, but I digress.
I would really like to hear some real Baja solutions to the power consumption dilemma. Should I even worry about the heat/power draw of the old style
bulbs or am I on the right track to want to consume less power....?
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J.P.
Super Nomad
Posts: 1673
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Punta Banda
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Mood: Easy Does It
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L.E.D.
I had a Toy Hauler that had more lights on it than a 18 wheeler, and never had a problem with power.
I now have a Wrangler that I tow behind the motor home and I have ben wanting to put Some LED lights on it I like the ones that the brake light's
looks like a Pin Wheel when they come on.
As far as safety factor the LED puts out more light.
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landyacht318
Nomad
Posts: 247
Registered: 7-28-2007
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LED bulbs are the easiest way to reduce power consumption.
However, Not all are happy with the light color and light output of LED's. I like the white led's but many have a Blueish tinge to them. I have
some warm white LED's which are closer to incandescent in color, but not quite the same.
LED's generally do not make great use of the original reflector.
Some of the regulated LED's can cause radio interference, knocking out TV or radio stations. I have some which knock out certain channels that are
full strength with the LED off.
I'd recommend trying a few before committing to a larger numerical purchase.
1141 bulbs use a Ba15s base. Most bulbs I've bought are the T10 base. They've gotten much better in the last few years in brightness and color, but
I've had one order of the same 4 bulbs have 3 of them white, and one very blue.
Since incandescent 12v bulbs are not polarity sensitive, if you install a ba15s LED bulb into the socket and it does not work, the light was wired
backwards at the factory, and you got to swap the wires before the light.
Lots of LED threads over on RV.net
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Pacifico
Super Nomad
Posts: 1299
Registered: 5-26-2008
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I changed out the lights on one of my trailers to all LEDs. I wasn't really worried about power consumption; mostly did it for reliability. I got
tired of replacing bulbs. Not a single problem since I went to LEDs!
"Plan your life as if you are going to live forever. Live your life as if you are going to die tomorrow." - Carlos Fiesta
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15939
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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Mood: Everchangin'
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good to hear! i've gone all LED on all 3 of our Toyotas for the brightness. when i open the door i wanna see inside!!!!
keep the knowledge coming!
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RnR
Senior Nomad
Posts: 839
Registered: 5-1-2010
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| Quote: |
I would really like to hear some real Baja solutions to the power consumption dilemma. Should I even worry about the heat/power draw of the old style
bulbs or am I on the right track to want to consume less power....? |
Depends on whether you are running just on the batteries and actually need to conserve energy or have some type of charging method to replace the
energy used each day.
Baja has lots of sun. I have one 75 watt panel on the roof of a 28 ft travel trailer. All bulbs are still 1141 incandescents. The panel charges
the batts to full charge before noon. ( And this includes energy used by the water pump, sound system, TV, etc.)
I prefer the color of the 1141's. Tried two LEDs and went back to the incandescents. LED's were a bit too harsh.
Comparing the published "expected life" of incandescent bulbs and LED's is like comparing apples and oranges.
Incandescent bulbs put out their rated light output until they eventually go POOF.
LED's have a long life but slowly dim with use. The rated hours published for an LED is usually defined as the hours until the light output falls to
50% of the original output. (Extremely high life ratings may be based on light outputs of only 30%. Read the "fine print" for the specific LED)
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Iflyfish
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3747
Registered: 10-17-2006
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I replaced all of the incandescent and florescent lights in my '06 Winnebago View and the energy consumption dropped significantly. That was an
upgrade well worth the price. I got mine online and they fit the sockets and were not that expensive given they allowed me a much longer time off the
grid.
Another upgrade was to install a Progressive Dynamic Inteli-Charger, about $150, a bargain as it pulses 14 amps into the batteries when needed to
de-sulphate the plates, saved me $300 worth of batteries that had started to sulphate.
Soft white LEDs were just fine for me.
A solar panel also added to the mix and provided good off grid battery charging.
Iflyfishconmiamigosenbaja
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tortuga
Nomad
Posts: 277
Registered: 8-11-2007
Location: Bellevue, Idaho or Los Barriles B.C.S.
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Mood: Muy Despacio
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Re. Travel trailer LED conversion
Dear Mr. Woody,
We have a 24 ft trailer that lives in Los Barriles area. We do not have grid power to lot as of yet. We provide power to the coach via a 100 watt
solar panel and one 12 volt group 27 deep cycle battery.
This has been capable of running our water pump, lighting, charging batteries for small electronics and our 110 volt led Christmas lights for
ambiance  (with 400 watt inverter).
Like another said here the battery is usually recharged by the early afternoon. Have not changed to led lights in trailer yet.
If you are in the market for a solar panel may I suggest checking out a company called Solar blvd. I think they have very good pricing on panels (12
volt)
Enjoy the new trailer , Tortuga
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oladulce
Super Nomad
Posts: 1625
Registered: 5-30-2005
Location: bcs
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Yes, the light bulbs in your travel trailer will make a huge difference in your power usage, especially in the winter when you'll have lights on
longer each night.
I just got some of these for our trailer and they put out more light than I expected. Only use 1.4 watts! I think a sneeze requires more power than
that.
LED 12volt Bayonet bulbs
You don't have to switch out all your trailer bulbs. I just put some of these LEDS in a few key lights that we use a lot like over the cooktop, over
the dining table etc. Places where you don't need a huge amount of light. You can leave the some of the original bulbs in place for extra illumination
when you need it and switch to the LEDS for background light. You'll find you can get by with the LEDs a lot of the time.
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15939
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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Mood: Everchangin'
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Thanks Dulce! just what i was looking for.
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5917
Registered: 7-18-2011
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Lots of great info here...........have fun with that travel trailer.....I expect to be chilling inside drinking a Pacifico someday.
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15939
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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Mood: Everchangin'
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soon! we are dragging it down on a one way journey mid nov.
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MitchMan
Super Nomad
Posts: 1856
Registered: 3-9-2009
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Been researching solar power. I recently read that a 100 watt solar panels, on the average, can only deliver about 240 watts of power to a battery
per day.
RnR and Tortuga,
since you both mention that your solar panels top up your batteries before noon in Baja, and that you use that resultant battery energy to power a
water pump, sound system, TV, etc. OR to power a water pump, lighting, charging batteries for small electronics and 110 volt
led Christmas lights for ambiance, my research must be wrong. ???
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Jack Swords
Super Nomad
Posts: 1095
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: Nipomo, CA/La Paz, BCS
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http://dx.com/c/car-accessories-799/car-lights-723
Replaced all of the lights in our sailboat with LEDs from the site above. Used clustered cells that provide lots of light, no heat. Lots of choices.
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landyacht318
Nomad
Posts: 247
Registered: 7-28-2007
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Incandescent bulbs do get dimmer with age until the filament breaks. They are rated at initial lumens, initial meaning when new.
Here is a 3497 bulb with a ba15s base( same as 1141) that is rated at 565 initial lumens. The 1141 is something like 365 initial lumens.
http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=COMMERCIALSPECPAGE&PRODUCTCODE=25835&BreadCrumbValues=Automotive^%20Miniature,%20
Single%20Contact%20Bayonet%20(BA15s)%20Watts&SearchFieldCode=null
I've never heard that LED's keep getting dimmer with age, does not mean it is not true though.
If one has needs for a bright highly directional task light, the CREE based bulbs with lens project a huge amount of light in a cone. Not good for
use with incandescent reflectors.
http://www.amazon.com/Jtech-1156-BA15S-White-Light/dp/B00B22...
I recently took a dollar store led gooseneck light, ripped out the LED, ran 18 awg wire through the neck, bypassed the triple AA battery box(4.5vdc)
and fed a 12v Cree based t-20 bulb directly to my 12v battery.
Draws 0.12 amps. Very bright, very white. Put the cone of light right where desired.
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tortuga
Nomad
Posts: 277
Registered: 8-11-2007
Location: Bellevue, Idaho or Los Barriles B.C.S.
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Mood: Muy Despacio
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Dear Mr. Mitchman,
You can figure on 100 watts x amount of sunlight hrs. I think 4 to5 hrs. per day in the winter months is a good assumption for 23 degrees latitude
(probably more like 6). So 400 to 500 watts per day easy . I have been pleasantly surprised by the performance so far. Certainly using the new LEDS
would be beneficial if you are off the grid. Might try some this year when we go down next. My main point was that solar is very practical with a 12
volt power system.
Saludos, Tortuga
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rts551
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6700
Registered: 9-5-2003
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| Quote: | Originally posted by tortuga
Dear Mr. Mitchman,
You can figure on 100 watts x amount of sunlight hrs. I think 4 to5 hrs. per day in the winter months is a good assumption for 23 degrees latitude
(probably more like 6). So 400 to 500 watts per day easy . I have been pleasantly surprised by the performance so far. Certainly using the new LEDS
would be beneficial if you are off the grid. Might try some this year when we go down next. My main point was that solar is very practical with a 12
volt power system.
Saludos, Tortuga |
You guys do way better than me. I can only get 75% maximum from my panels....many times only 50%. My controller tells me what is going to the
batteries in Watts.
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tortuga
Nomad
Posts: 277
Registered: 8-11-2007
Location: Bellevue, Idaho or Los Barriles B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
Mood: Muy Despacio
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| Quote: | | You guys do way better than me. I can only get 75% maximum from my panels....many times only 50%. My controller tells me what is going to the
batteries in Watts. |
To be fair I don't know the actual wattage per day with our set up. But I do know that it is sufficient for our needs. I was surprised that one 100
watt panel and one battery provides our power needs. We started out with 120 watts amorphous panels. We had a harder time then meeting our power
consumption. The panel I am using now is polycrystalline.
Maybe your controller is only telling you the wattage being delivered to your batteries and not the wattage coming from your panels . I put an
ammeter between controller and battery bank (@ my home 440 watt array) The ammeter is showing me what the controller is delivering to the batteries
not the amperage the panels are delivering to the controller. I have a PWM controller by the way.
Hope I am making sense here and I am getting of the thread subject.
Saludos, Tortuga
[Edited on 9-2-2013 by tortuga]
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MitchMan
Super Nomad
Posts: 1856
Registered: 3-9-2009
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Great info Tortuga and rts551.
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
Member Is Offline
Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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LED Replacements
Woody
Replaced all of my exterior marker lights from these guys, great service and fast shipping:
http://tinyurl.com/kcfo3xe
Stop, turn and tail with these:
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-lights/led-bargman-07-...
The above two conversions greatly increased the output & brightness over standard incandecent and are weather sealed.
And interior/exterior lights with these.......cool white lights for exterior (porch & hitch), kitchen under counter & bath, warm white for the
others:
http://www.m4products.com/super-bright-cob-led-plate-in-cool...
Makes a big difference!!!!!
Even the Minister of Finance/Director of Family Happiness likes them.
[Edited on 9-2-2013 by bajaguy]
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