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What You Need To Know About Adding LED Security, Entry and Reading Lights

This post was updated on March 15th, 2024

Have you noticed how many lights RVs have? There seem to be various shapes, styles and sizes hidden all over our motorhome, both inside and out.

We started our LED conversion by swapping out the most-obvious, most numerous and most-used bulbs.

But just when we think we’ve pretty much done them all, we realize that there are still more. So we’ve continued to order more bulbs and we’re sure there are still more left!

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Adding LED Lights for Added Security and Better Living

This time around, we’re converting our security, step well and reading lights. While LEDs are known for their energy efficiency (and these are no exception of course), there are other factors that are sometimes more important.

Lowering heat output is another benefit. You wouldn’t think that a reading light could produce enough heat to matter all that much. Then you kick back to read a book in bed on a hot summer night and realize that heat output is a real problem.

This is especially true when boondocking, when we not only need to conserve battery power, but there’s no air conditioning available (without running our generator of course, which we prefer to avoid).

Some bulbs, like the entry light in our step well, aren’t really a big problem from either a power or heat perspective. But some lights are getting upgraded just because we hate leaving them out of our overall LED conversion!

And since every power-hungry incandescent, halogen and fluorescent bulb can add up, the fewer we have left on board, the lower our overall power draw.

Now, whether we’re outside using our security lights, walking into the RV, or reading a good book, we won’t be using more power, or generating more heat, than necessary.

Original video by RVgeeks

If you’re upgrading your RV lights too, we’re really pleased that our favorite LED supplier offers a special discount to our viewers. Visit M4Products.com and use the discount code “RVGEEKS5” when you check out, and they’ll give you a 5% discount off your entire order.

Visit this link for other videos in our LED Your RV series.

NOW WATCH: Ignore These 10 Quick And Dirty RV Tips At Your Peril




2 thoughts on “What You Need To Know About Adding LED Security, Entry and Reading Lights”

  1. Hi Thomas! We don’t have any experience re-coating old plastics, but some quick Googling revealed some potential options that should be available at a hardware or home improvement store. They seem to be epoxy-based solutions and the process appears to involve sanding the existing surface to rough it up, then applying the 2-part epoxy. From what we’re seeing, some won’t work on acrylic… so we’d recommend checking with Winnebago to identify what the sinks, shower and toilet are made of first. Then a trip to your local Home Depot should uncover some options if you ask a helpful person in the plumbing department. Hope this helps get you on the right path.

  2. Have you ever heard of any coating product that will refinish old and discolored plastic RV sinks, shower pan, and toilet? I have an old RV, a 1982 Winnebago Warrior, which has 80’s-chic dull yellow plastic sink, shower, toilet, even the bathroom and cabinet doors. Since I have a limited social security income, refinishing rather than replacement is called for. Any ideas? BTW, I am slowly LED’ing my interior lights! Getting rid of buzzing fluorescents that gave me headaches (literally) prompted me. Thank you.

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