desertranger
Member
Have you ever considered how much power would be used if you switched on all of yur houselights at once?
So much that the converter wouldn't handle it.
IN my North Country there are Fifty two type 1141 bulbs just for house lighting. That doesn't include exterior or storage lights. Ever put your hand near one? Ever remove the fixture and looked underneath? That's a lot of heat, wasted energy. The specs for the 1141 are 18.43W @ 12.8vdc which is ~1.5a. If you switched them all on at once that's ~958w or ~100a. Enough to burn out the converter fairly quickly.
A lot of stuff runs on 12vdc so in order to ease the load I'm switching to LEDs. Not just a bulb change out which is easy. But a complete change in the lighting system so I can set the mood, change the color or light up the galley while having just a background for the TV area. Programmable LED devices like the Thinkm Maxi (thingm.com) and strips of super bright led tape (from Supergrightleds.com) and instructions on how to do it from instructibles.com to show how it's done and to give me a few ideas. It looks very cool. I can have a spot of Warm LED light for reading a corner or cool white lighting up the head or galley.
The idea is to
When you think of the long term cost of running an RV (I'm a full timer) it's worth it.
So much that the converter wouldn't handle it.
IN my North Country there are Fifty two type 1141 bulbs just for house lighting. That doesn't include exterior or storage lights. Ever put your hand near one? Ever remove the fixture and looked underneath? That's a lot of heat, wasted energy. The specs for the 1141 are 18.43W @ 12.8vdc which is ~1.5a. If you switched them all on at once that's ~958w or ~100a. Enough to burn out the converter fairly quickly.
A lot of stuff runs on 12vdc so in order to ease the load I'm switching to LEDs. Not just a bulb change out which is easy. But a complete change in the lighting system so I can set the mood, change the color or light up the galley while having just a background for the TV area. Programmable LED devices like the Thinkm Maxi (thingm.com) and strips of super bright led tape (from Supergrightleds.com) and instructions on how to do it from instructibles.com to show how it's done and to give me a few ideas. It looks very cool. I can have a spot of Warm LED light for reading a corner or cool white lighting up the head or galley.
The idea is to
- cut down the heat and wasted energy and in the long run the cost.
- cut the working load on the converter which:
- extends battery life.
- Opens space to use on other 12vdc devices.
- Upgrades to the entertainment system. Let your router run on 12vdc instead of 120vac
- And never having to carry a replacement bulb. LEDs burn from 50,000 - 100,000 hrs.
When you think of the long term cost of running an RV (I'm a full timer) it's worth it.
