We have 39 light bulbs on the inside of our RV. They come in all shapes and sizes. We’re especially proud of this one, which looks like it belongs in a Star Trek ship or at an 80s dance party. (Seriously, who comes up with half the “decor” we find inside our RVs?)
Meriwether’s spaceship light fixture
Why LED?
Alas, our 2004 model lacked LED lights from the beginning. You probably know the benefits of LED. But just in case, here’s the quick rundown:
- They last forever (20ish years), resulting in cost savings over time
- They require remarkably less electricity, especially useful for RVers who like to dry camp
- They require remarkably less electricity (did I say that already?), which = savings if you stay at RV parks where electricity costs extra
- This one was a surprise to us: they emit cleaner, more vibrant light
No-brainer, right? But on the cons side, LED bulbs cost more up front. At one point, someone quoted us $2,000 to replace all our lights with LED. So that project got put on the back burner for a while.
Finally Switching to LED Lights
Cori and Greg of The Restless Youngs
Fast forward to December 2015 in Austin, TX. We made some new friends, Greg and Cori of The Restless Youngs. In addition to both being fun, adventurous and generous people, Greg happens to own RV Solar Solutions. In fact, he and Cori were at McKinney Falls State Park, so he could do a big solar install for some other friends of ours.
Compared to the intricacies of solar installation, which we’re also considering, LED lights are small potatoes for Greg. After guiding us through the process of choosing the color we wanted, he was kind enough to order and install the bulbs for us. We decided to start with changing out all of the florescent bulbs on the ceiling. We have six of these fixtures, with two bulbs each.
The installation took about two hours, and involved cutting and splicing wires. I’m pretty sure most normal people could handle this themselves, but Eric and I are completely helpless. Greg, on the other hand, didn’t even ask us to unplug the electricity. Living on the edge!
RV Solar Solutions installing our LED lights
We chose 4100 for our color. This falls in between 3000, which is like the light from a 100W halogen, and 4800, which corresponds with direct sunlight. I mentioned earlier that we were surprised by how vibrant the LED bulbs ended up being. It took some getting used to, and I always squint when looking directly at our illuminated lights! Nevertheless, the light is clean and more than adequate. You can read more about LED colors here.
Consider these stats from RVShare.com:
“The average 60 incandescent watt bulb will cost $4.80 cents to run over a period of a year. Most bulbs will average 1,000 hours of use. In comparison, a 12 W LED light (the kind used in RV’s) will cost a mere $1.00 to run. This LED bulb will work for up to 25,000 hours providing the same volume of light as its incandescent friend.”
Switching to LED lights really is a no-brainer.
And as for the cost? Our 12 florescent bulbs put us back only $210. So I’m not sure how anyone could’ve quoted us $2,000 for 39 bulbs. Suffice it to say, Greg’s price was more than fair and the quality of installation work was excellent. Definitely check out RV Solar Solutions if you’re thinking of solar or LED.
Do you have LED lights? What else do you do to conserve electricity in your RV? We’d love to hear about your experience in a comment.
-B
Disclosure: RV Solar Solutions provided installation at no cost. We paid for the LED lights themselves.
