Club 80-90 Forums

Hi,
I'm wanting to replace the 2 strip lights and spots running of the leisure battery (I assume) in my camper. It's a 12v system - although in 2 different places it says 12v Lighting and 240v Lighting ... so not sure what that means - but I want to replace these current not very efficient and tired looking lights with some low energy modern alternatives. Does anyone know if I can simply trot down to Ikea, or wherever, buy some of their kitchen cabinet or LED striplights and simply wire them instead ...? Maybe a dumb question but I am not an electrician and anything beyond bulb wattage and fuse changing is a bit out of my sphere of operations Cheers!

Typical LED lights are very cold and lean towards the blue spectrum, they also have a small angle of light dispersion and you will find that they do not light up the van as well as a typical 12V flourescent tube. You will need quite few but they do consume less current (power so to speak). There are 'Luxeon' Leds which give a much warmer light and are very powerful compared to standard superbright white leds but you will need to check that the module is suitable for 12V. LED lighting is quite cheap these days and you could try a set and make your own mind up. Camper 12V flourescent lighting units are also cheap and available from most caravan accessory shops. If you have an invertor in the van then you could use a domestic low energy bulb (11W) in a small desk lamp and this will give you a flexible lighting unit that is far more efficient in terms of light output but you wuld need a shelf to sit it on. Not sure what lighting you have that runs off both 12V and 240V unless you have a transformer fitted somewhere in the van or it is a special lighting module.

Thanks for the advice. The pointers will be very useful.