How to get more Light for your Money
Save Money & Power by Changing your Lights to LED!Everyone from children to grandparents love a camping adventure, but there is nothing more annoying than your lights failing when the battery goes flat. Here we show you how easy and straightforward it can be to convert your Caravan to LED lighting which can multiply the battery life by a factor of 10. Alternatively, you can increase the brightness of your existing light fittings to make your Caravan a bright, cosy and fun place to be – whilst still massively extending the hours of use from the battery.
Recently we were contacted by the owner of a 2001 Pennine Falcon Trailer Tent who had a relatively small yet frustrating issue with their lighting and power consumption. So we invited them down to our offices at Whilton Locks in Northamptonshire to take a look. After swapping some camping stories over a coffee or two, we set about erecting the trailer tent and quickly established the problem. The whole trailer had one light fitting and worse still it contained two fluorescent 8w tubes, every campers achillies heel when it comes to power consumption.
T5 LED Tube Replacement Project
The double 8w tube light fitting was drawing a huge 1.3amps from an 80aHr ( Amps per Hour ) leisure battery resulting in just 30 hours of running time for one light,. Realistically it could be less than 30 hours due to the inefficiency of the inverter board which all fluorescent fittings are fitted with
After converting this to a singular T5 LED tube, the power consumption dropped to an incredible 0.44amps with a new running time of approximately 90 hours whilst also running brighter than three conventional fluorescent tubes, Not to mention barley registering on the ammeter
Note: Figures stated are based on the 12v battery being discharged to 50% of capacity (standard leisure batteries can be damaged or have a short life if discharged further)
Having replaced the tubes the customer then asked if we had any ideas to light their kitchen area, and it didn’t take long before our most popular low profile fitting was getting built into their shelving unit. As with all trailer tents the ability to breakdown and be stowed away is essential for transportation, and thanks to the minimal 20mm depth of the cabin lights this was still easily achievable.
Although a very small project, we thoroughly enjoyed helping our customer achieve their goals. The added bonus of substantially reducing their power consumption and creating more light ensured they left as very happy customers. The end result can be seen below:
Power usage before conversion: 2 x 8w Fluorescent Tube = 16w equal to 1.33 amps per hour = approx 30 hours of light
Power consumption after conversion : 1 x 5w T5 LED Tube equal to 0.44 amps per hour = approx 90 hours of light
Power Consumption of Low Profile Lights: 2 x 8 LED Cabin Light = 2.6w equal to 0.22 amps per hour = approx 180 hours of light
Combined power consumption: 0.66 amps per hour ( 0.44 +0.22 )
Total Saving 0.67 amps per hour and a 90% increase in light output
Power consumption after conversion : 1 x 5w T5 LED Tube equal to 0.44 amps per hour = approx 90 hours of light
Power Consumption of Low Profile Lights: 2 x 8 LED Cabin Light = 2.6w equal to 0.22 amps per hour = approx 180 hours of light
Combined power consumption: 0.66 amps per hour ( 0.44 +0.22 )
Total Saving 0.67 amps per hour and a 90% increase in light output