Replace That Power Hungry Incandescent Light

When it comes to RV lighting, it seems that “imagination” isn’t exactly the industry’s ‘trump suit.’ If we had just a penny for every one of those old “pillow style” RV lights installed in rigs in just a year, we’d probably retire from the writing circuit.

Not that there’s anything really wrong with the pillow style lights–in their place. The trouble is so many manufacturers just throw them ‘any old place’ in the RV, and as a result, to keep your place lit up at night, you’ve got to turn on what seems like dozens of the little varmints. Equipped with the standard 1141 bulb, a double-bulb equipped pillow light eats two and a half amps–with a pretty paltry output of light.

Stuck over an area where light is important–say in the galley–you can go nuts trying to light up and still not bust your battery “bank” when away from shore power. In comparison, the typical “double tube” fluorescent lamp produces gobs of light for just two amps per hour. Wow! What a difference technology makes. Now compare the “latest technology” light fixtures that produce light with light emitting diodes. Super-efficient, they produce almost no heat (hence no waste), and use power measured in “milli-amps,” or thousandths of an amp.

We use all three types of lighting technology in our rig. Turning on an incandescent light to fish something out of a dark corner doesn’t take much power because we keep the use short. Fluorescent lighting is our “mainstay” giving us plenty of light to keep us working and safe at night. The pricier to install LED technology is perfect for a reading light. The latter may take you some time to get used to, as the “color” of the light is different, and it’s best used as a highly directional light, but when your power comes from solar panels or precious gas-fired generators, you want to keep your consumption down.

Installation of these newer technologies is easy. Remove the old fixture from the wall or ceiling, and carefully disconnect the wires from the fixture from the rig’s wiring. Don’t allow the wires to short! Reconnect the wires to the leads on the new fixture, carefully observing polarity. If you’re not sure which is which, use a digital tester to determine positive from negative. Some fluorescent fixtures just won’t work if hooked up “backwards,” while others can even be damaged if the wires are incorrectly installed.