Making the LED swap

[Heidi Mull]

So I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that we're only now switching our bulbs over to LEDs. Life's had a lot to throw at us.

Most of the light fixtures in our RV trailer take 921 wedge bulbs. I tried these and they were miserable... "When did our place become so creepy?" Says my fiance after I swapped them in. I returned them.

I found these bulbs to be far brighter and better color of lighting, though they're a bit too harsh and still too white for my taste. So they're tolerable, but not what actually makes me feel good and relax.

I experimented with some packing foam for diffusion, and like the effect enough that I've ordered some photography diffusion gel to soften the shadows and also CTO 1/8 gel to see if that corrects the color (I got the idea from this article). I've read you can also buy glass frosting spray like this, but I'm hesitant to make permanent changes when I'm not sure exactly what I want.

For our fancy dome light, these bulbs worked beautifully, much brighter than the originals and quite a nice color. I'm sure some of that has to do with the dome cover itself, which is why I'm interested in correcting the pancake lights too.

I still have an incandescent 194 bulb above my side of the bed, which is significantly dimmer than the original 921s. I like not being blinded at night when I need a little light. Ideally it'd be nice to someday get that switched to LED as well, but for now my focus is on the rest of the trailer.

I never before realized I was this picky about lighting, but apparently I am!

Has anyone else encountered these issues?

[Ballenxj]

Congrats! You guys will be so much happier with the leds. Plus, you won't be changing dead bulbs all the time. 
I'm sure we don't have to mention the power saving. You can now leave all the lights on without feeling guilty. 

[Gunny]

I bought and returned two sets of led’s and finally called M4 led’s and spoke to Steve, the owner. He asked each bulb was being used for and recommended which of his builds to buy.

Surprisingly he didn’t recommend the higher priced bulbs except for two that I need, or want, a brighter light.

Not cheap and I’ve only had them a week so no durability report but the bulbs and brightness were exactly as described.

Rob

http://www.m4products.com/

[Heidi Mull]

Not cheap and I’ve only had them a week so no durability report but the bulbs and brightness were exactly as described.

Rob

http://www.m4products.com/

I took a look, are the prices listed per bulb?

I paid $18.86 total for a pack of 24 bulbs. I'm mostly happy with them, except I just want them better diffused so the light isn't as "sharp" and make it a slightly different color tinge.

Edit: I might try one of the dimmer bulbs for above the bed, thanks.

[Gunny]

Hi Heidi, yes that’s a per bulb price. I only have ten fixtures in my small trailer and it cost me 100 or so to change over.

Someone more schooled in this than me may correct me but I was told a lot of the cheap bulbs were voltage sensitive. His aren’t, they are made for an rv.

Rob

[MN C Van]

Some interiors you can see are lit up like a prison fence, i could see what you mean by being harsh!

[sternwake]

I've gone through many T10 wedge base bulbs which correspond to 168/194/921 incandescent bulbs.

I really disliked how many which were 'cool white' and leaned heavily towards blue. I do not mind cool white without the blue, and the warm whites I've tried, almost seem too artificial.

My favorite and most recent bulbs have been of this appearance:



They are very bright and white without being blue. But they do not last very long. Mine were 50 cents each and I have about 3 or 4 left after 2 years.

I'd buy them again as they are very bright, and I tend to use PWM LED Dimmers to tame them down or allow full light levels.

I am kind of holding out hoping a better LED chipset/t10 design will come along. I first started buying t10 LEDs a decade ago and they have come so far since then.

Here is the style of cheapo PWM LED dimmer I employ:

https://www.amazon.com/BestLED-Dimming-Controller-Lights-Ribbon/dp/B00H8KTXNU/ref=pd_sim_75_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00H8KTXNU&pd_rd_r=V9636CWXS21HW8B22VYK&pd_rd_w=iv7jw&pd_rd_wg=dYl7K&psc=1&refRID=V9636CWXS21HW8B22VYK

While the plastic housing is quite bulky, The actual electronic guts are very small. I usually remove them and put them in my fixture or switch array and put the potentiometer where easily accessible for brightness adjustment.

So my strategy is getting bright white lights, and tame them with a PWM dimmer. My LEDs take a few seconds to swap out, and while they wear out faster when hot/bright, I have found their lifespans acceptable considering their low price.

PWM dimming is basically switcing the led on and off very rapidly. Some people report being sensitve to this. I am not.