Great price on really good LED bulbs

twinster2

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2016
Messages
737
Location
Kalamazoo, MI & Leesburg, FL
I have used these bulbs to replace all the incandescent bulbs in my FF. These LED look so similar to incandescent that I cannot tell the difference. And they have no blue hue like other LEDs I've tried. This is the second set of bulbs that I have purchased from Amazon and the price for a set of 10 for less than $20.

And no, I do not have stock in the company that makes these bulbs.:)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EZOUPCA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
That's a pretty good price. The difference in the color comes from the wavelength. If you want the color to be similar to incandescents you need to get ones advertised as warm white. These will have a wavelength around 3000K. You'll get the bluish color from cool white bulbs which have a wavelength around 5000K.

I've been gradually replacing the ones in the house and the only place I've used the cool white bulbs are directly over a work surface - like the kitchen counter where food gets prepared. Everywhere else I go with the warm white.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the info. Are they bright enough? I have heard that sometimes the replacement ones are not bright. I would like to replace ours in our 189FBR because we will be doing a lot of dry camping next year :)

Thanks!

Liz
 
I tried bulbs similar to these and was real excited about it. I put one in every socket except the front two above the bed where it take a different kind of bulb. I was disappointed in the brightness of these bulbs... I was so disappointed that I removed all lf my light fixtures and replaced them with new fixtures from Etrailer.com

These new fixtures do not have a bulb...they ARE the bulb and they are very very bright. It made such a big difference in our camping experience I cannot begin to tell you. It is worth making the switch.

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Lights/Optronics/RVILL34.html

:p
 
Hi,

Thanks for the info. Are they bright enough? I have heard that sometimes the replacement ones are not bright. I would like to replace ours in our 189FBR because we will be doing a lot of dry camping next year :)

Thanks!

Liz

Since I actually use these specific bulbs, I would say that they are just a bright as the incandescent bulbs they replace. I've used them in all overhead lights, bed lights, the hood light, the external storage area and the yellow outside light. They use about one tenth the amps as the incandescent. I don't think you will be disappointed if you try them.
 
I also used the LED bulbs for about two weeks.... and was disappointed. They were about the same as the regular bulbs but not quite as bright. The trailer felt dim even with all the lights turned ON (except for the front bed lights which we never use.) Without fail we would turn on every light in the trailer because it felt so dim. The only good thing about the bulb is that they don't drain your battery down fast.

When I got my new fixtures from Etrailer I was amazed at the difference! If you were to turn on all of the dome lights using the LED bulbs at the same time, ONE of the replacement fixtures is brighter than all of the LED fixtures combined. Now when we get into the trailer we flip on only ONE dome light and only turn on more when we want more light in a specific place (like when I'm cooking or when we are eating.) My trailer has three ceiling dome lights but now it only really needs one... one would easily be enough to get by because there is plenty of light....and they don't drain your battery down fast either.

I don't work for Etrailer and I'm not making this up. We like the new fixtures so much that we have now replaced the front bed lights with the half-sized fixture. Changing a fixture is super easy. Pull the lens off, remove several wood screws. Unscrew the wire nuts, or cut the wires if they use the press connectors...reconnect the wires to the new fixture and mount it with the same screws.

On the down side.... if the fixture ever burns out, you have to replace it...you can't just change the bulb (there is no bulb)....but they are pretty cheap and its easy to do.
 
Since I actually use these specific bulbs, I would say that they are just a bright as the incandescent bulbs they replace. I've used them in all overhead lights, bed lights, the hood light, the external storage area and the yellow outside light. They use about one tenth the amps as the incandescent. I don't think you will be disappointed if you try them.

What do you think of this style (click here), which looks like it would put out more light downward... Or is that not a good thing? They are by the same company. They also come in both warm and cool versions.

Liz
 
What do you think of this style (click here), which looks like it would put out more light downward... Or is that not a good thing? They are by the same company. They also come in both warm and cool versions.

Liz

The ones I have are similar to that style in warm white and they are very similar to the color and brightness of the incandescents. Mine only have 10 leds on them although I'm not sure how much difference that would make, if any. Hard to go wrong at that price tho.
It's amazing how much the prices have come down. I bought mine about 5 years ago and they cost around $10 each.
 
they still sell more expensive ones, which is why I'm concerned about the cheap ones. I'm tying to find a balance between cost and light output. Anything will be an improvement over the last dry camping where we only used one little battery operated light. It was very dark and very cold after 5 pm lol. (We did discover the non electric propane heater just about at the end of the trip lol)

Liz

2008 189FBR & 2014 FORD F150 :mrgreen: 147 Nights Camping this year
Tons of Free or Inexpensive Mods WackyPup.Blogspot.com
 
Trying to research replacement bulbs, I ran across an old post on this forum where the bulbs were $15 each. This is why I am not an early adopter LOL as my kids say buying buying new technology early keeps you on the bleeding edge. (They are both bleeding often lol)

Anyway, I ran across some comparisons of the light emitted from various LEDs. Seems like the 5050 is about 3 times as bright as the 3528, but if you got a bunch of the 3528 together they can actually be brighter than the 5050 which are larger.

So, I think these might work - they have 42 LEDs, which in my mind :confused: would be equivalent to 14 of the 5050 LEDs

Pack of 20 LED bulbs with 42 LEDs $16 (click here to see) these are bright white

Warm White pack of 20 bulbs with 42 LEDs $17

So my questions are

1 - does the change in K temp from bright white to warm white lose any of the illumination? In other words, are they dimmer?

2 - do you think the blue tint of the bright white would cause insomnia? LOL like light from the computer does?

I know I'm overdrinking this <<< haha! My spell correct did that!! I was writing over thinking, but that sounds like a better idea! :rolleyes:

Liz

2008 189FBR & 2014 FORD F150 :mrgreen: 137 Nights Camping this year
Tons of Free or Inexpensive Mods WackyPup.Blogspot.com
 
I also used the LED bulbs for about two weeks.... and was disappointed. They were about the same as the regular bulbs but not quite as bright. The trailer felt dim even with all the lights turned ON (except for the front bed lights which we never use.) Without fail we would turn on every light in the trailer because it felt so dim.

Do you remember exactly which bulbs you got?

Liz

2008 189FBR & 2014 FORD F150 :mrgreen: 137 Nights Camping this year
Tons of Free or Inexpensive Mods WackyPup.Blogspot.com
 
Last edited:
PAINTYLIZ- From my experience, I do not like the blue tint (cool white) LEDs. They remind me of the blue tinted headlights which I cannot stand to look at night. Since they are not that expensive you could always buy both and decide which one you like the best. As far as the type I use, the light fixtures have mirrored tape on the back side so even the 5050 LEDs not facing out will reflect some light outward. Good Luck.
 
The bright white will seem to be somewhat brighter. I'm not sure that they really are or if the bluish color just makes them seem that way. Bright white is a good choice above a work space like the kitchen counter where food gets prepared or on a workbench. The warm white is like a regular incandescent bulb.

I doubt they will cause insomnia - unless you leave them on all night.

Check out this site. www.superbrightleds.com. This is where I bought mine years ago. Their bulbs are bit pricier, but they have a ton of good information, so even if you don't buy from them the site is a good source for researching what you want.
 
The bright white will seem to be somewhat brighter. I'm not sure that they really are or if the bluish color just makes them seem that way. Bright white is a good choice above a work space like the kitchen counter where food gets prepared or on a workbench. The warm white is like a regular incandescent bulb.

I doubt they will cause insomnia - unless you leave them on all night.

Check out this site. www.superbrightleds.com. This is where I bought mine years ago. Their bulbs are bit pricier, but they have a ton of good information, so even if you don't buy from them the site is a good source for researching what you want.

Well there was all this information about how the blue lights from computers mess with your REM sleep. And it was really bothering me. Since I quit using my tablet couple hours before I go to sleep now I slept much better.

Thanks for the link to the super bright LEDs. They do have a lot of helpful information. I think that is where I got the information that the 5050 were three times as bright as the others. I don't know, I looked at an awful lot of sites LOL

Anyway, since I was going to have to buy 2 sets if I only got set of 10 - I bought the cheap set of 20. I figure if they don't work well I'll buy the set of 10, and then use a cheap set in the bathroom. They should be here Wednesday, so I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks again

Liz

2008 189FBR & 2014 FORD F150 :mrgreen: 137 Nights Camping this year
Tons of Free or Inexpensive Mods WackyPup.Blogspot.com
 
Since I actually use these specific bulbs, I would say that they are just a bright as the incandescent bulbs they replace. I've used them in all overhead lights, bed lights, the hood light, the external storage area and the yellow outside light. They use about one tenth the amps as the incandescent. I don't think you will be disappointed if you try them.

Okay my pack of 20 really cheap bulbs arrived today. Semi penny-wise and pound-foolish :rolleyes: LOL I am still happy with having gotten them because I would have had to buy 2 sets of the others anyway and these are OK for the bathroom. However, they are definitely dimmer than the existing bulbs were.

We will be doing a lot of dry camping next year and without a doubt they will be better than nothing which is what we normally use LOL we just use one little battery powered lantern . I will probably go ahead and buy the ones you recommended anyway and I'll let you know how much of a difference there is between the two bulbs.

My husband and I just decided that our camper has mood lighting LOL goes with the wine glass rack. :p

Liz

2008 189FBR & 2014 FORD F150 :mrgreen: 147 Nights Camping this year
Tons of Free or Inexpensive Mods WackyPup.Blogspot.com
 
Update: We waited until full dark to see how the lights work and they're fine. A little dimmer than before, but plenty bright enough to read and cook by. So I guess it's a win! Thank you for motivating me to replace the lights - the bulbs I took out were almost completely black! Now I can have all the lights on and the inverter fan does not come on. yay! And they're going to be wonderful when we have no electric hookup! :LOL:

thanks again!

Liz
 
We put these in after we bought the trailer. We aren't crazy about led lighting in general but they do the job just fine. We also use led lighting overhead in our home kitchen, but not in our under cabinet lights. The leds are much cooler and of course use less energy and last longer.

ZHOL® 20 X 1156 7506 1003 1141 LED 18 SMD LED Bulbs Interior RV Warm White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0148ICY2Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_N31bybZXXR8V3
 
I just bought the 40 pack off Amazon for cheap. Didn't expect them to be that good but not one has went out all year long. Absolutely a must when boon dock camping. Added a group 29 deep cycle battery to the rig and that was even more of a improvement. If I had a portable solar panel setup I'd never turn on a generator tgistime of year.
 
I think I will try your suggestion, Chirpz. I read all the reviews on ETrailer about the Optronics RV RVILL34 you installed and several of the reviewers said the color is warm, not bluish. Just like you, I have already done the bulb replacement dance and I am just not satisfied with the results. The brightest bulbs are barely as bright as the incandescents I took out and they are too bluish. The bulbs I bought with warmer color are too dim. I noticed that Optronics claims the unit puts out almost 900 lumens. No wonder you are impressed with the light. That is a little more than an old 60 watt incandescent bulb. I have a feeling that rating LED bulbs has a personal, non-objective side to it just like the tire discussions on this forum...everyone just has to find what works best for them. By the way, if you are an Amazon Prime person like me, Optronics products are available there for a few pennies less and free shipping.

I also used the LED bulbs for about two weeks.... and was disappointed. They were about the same as the regular bulbs but not quite as bright. The trailer felt dim even with all the lights turned ON (except for the front bed lights which we never use.) Without fail we would turn on every light in the trailer because it felt so dim. The only good thing about the bulb is that they don't drain your battery down fast.

When I got my new fixtures from Etrailer I was amazed at the difference! If you were to turn on all of the dome lights using the LED bulbs at the same time, ONE of the replacement fixtures is brighter than all of the LED fixtures combined. Now when we get into the trailer we flip on only ONE dome light and only turn on more when we want more light in a specific place (like when I'm cooking or when we are eating.) My trailer has three ceiling dome lights but now it only really needs one... one would easily be enough to get by because there is plenty of light....and they don't drain your battery down fast either.

I don't work for Etrailer and I'm not making this up. We like the new fixtures so much that we have now replaced the front bed lights with the half-sized fixture. Changing a fixture is super easy. Pull the lens off, remove several wood screws. Unscrew the wire nuts, or cut the wires if they use the press connectors...reconnect the wires to the new fixture and mount it with the same screws.

On the down side.... if the fixture ever burns out, you have to replace it...you can't just change the bulb (there is no bulb)....but they are pretty cheap and its easy to do.
 
You will not regret it. The fixtures are awesome. If you remain a little cautious, purchase ONE and try it out. You will soon purchase more. When I bought mine I threw caution to the wind and bought enough stuff to get the free shipping..
 

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