LED lighting - a boon for caravanners?
Chris Hogan, 6th November 2014, Caravan
Whether you're a committed ecologist or not, one great benefit for caravanners has emerged from the focus on energy saving and that's LED-based lighting. Although the bulbs are (at the moment) still a bit more expensive than conventional bulbs, we feel they just play right into caravanners' hands.
The main benefits are lower power consumption and lower heat levels. The lower power demand means that leisure batteries, when you're not plugged into a mains outlet, will last much longer . The heat issue prevents badly designed or fitted light units from being a fire hazard as nearby materials and housings don't heat up so much.
What types are there?
If your 'van is only a few years old, it may well already be equipped with LED lighting anyway. But if not, but it was built in the last decade, perhaps even older, the chances are that you'll have surface mounted or recessed halogen spotlights with a GU10 fitting (two small metal knobs that go into the tear-drop shaped slots in the light fitting).
If that's the case you can replace the halogens with LED bulbs as and when they wear out, but there are two points to be wary of. The first is that the LED bulbs often give out less light and particularly with cheaper bulbs it's a bluer light than the bright white of a halogen.
Look closely to get the effect you need
But the number of different LED bulbs on the market is increasing all the time and wider spreads and whiter light are both available, although at a price. Cheap GU10s will only offer a dim blue background light, fine for areas where you don't need precision.
These bulbs are actually made from groups of small LEDs in one bulb. A GU10 can have anywhere between half a dozen and thirty individual units, so look at the output in Watts before you buy - 5.5W or 6W will be very bright.
Long term saving
A bulb like that will cost more, around £5 at the moment, but should last ten times longer and use about a twentieth of the power. So you should end up paying a lot less on bulbs in the long run, as well as getting more time out of your leisure batteries.
If you fancy a little disco glamour in your caravan, then there's this interesting design, complete with remote control, for the princely sum of £16.50:
Other fittings
LED bulbs are now available for all other fittings commonly in use in the UK at the moment. Both sizes of bayonet and both sizes of Edison screw fittings can be found, in various sizes and shapes too, so you should be able to find bulbs for any fitment.
They do tend to be more expensive, particularly the candle and small globe designs, but as with the GU10s above, with the longer life and lower power consumption you should save money in the long run.
Accessory lights
One of the other benefits of LED lighting is that it can take so many different forms. Strip lighting is easier to achieve than with conventional bulbs because each light emitter is so much smaller. This leads to lights like this step light, which would have been very difficult to make at a reasonable price without LEDs.
There are many strip lights which can easily be attached to various surfaces in your caravan, allowing you to add light exactly where it's needed. Leisure Shop Direct has a wide selection here.
Torches
Handheld torches work well with LEDs too, for much the same reasons - low power consumption and heat - so the batteries will last much longer. You can even get workable hand-wound torches, great for leaving in the 'van as they are far more likely to work when you go back to it than a conventional battery torch.
In our caravan Christmas present article in this newsletter we picked out this particular torch but there are many others, battery, clockwork or both.
What do you think?
So what have your experiences with LED lighting been like? Have you tried it and been pleased with the results?
Let us know by email and we can pass on your expertise to other caravanners.
