12v lighting in a caravan ?

Submitted: Friday, Jul 30, 2010 at 23:31

ThreadID: 80419 Views:6801 Replies:5 FollowUps:4

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Member - Lionel A (WA)

Good evening all,

In the process of internally relining a mid 70's Chesney caravan.
The cavity between the lining and the roof is about 45mm and I was hoping to install a couple of 12v Halogen down lights, however, I recall when installing 240v units in my kitchen at home I had to make allowances for heat dissipation.

Would 12v units create anywhere near the same heat ?

Cheers......Lionel.

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Reply By: Motherhen - Friday, Jul 30, 2010 at 23:54

Friday, Jul 30, 2010 at 23:54

Hi Lionel

Forget the halogens and go LED. Very power efficient and now a huge variety of products with good lighting ability.

I think you will find that household halogens are in fact 12 v bulbs, so the heat/fire issue would still be valid in a caravan.

Motherhen

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AnswerID: 425789

Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 08:54

Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 08:54

House downlights come in both 12 and 240 volts.

The 240 ones get hottest and dont last as long as the 12 v.

Have had both and some 240 ones have lasted as little as 5 weeks.

CFL are the way to go at the moment in a house but you cant put downlights in a van as they are about 120mm high and need space for heat dissaption.

A bar fluro would be the way to go and a lot cheaper than LED's as well

We have oyster fluros in our van and they give a good spread of light and are surface fixed.

look herehttp://www.camec.com.au/catalogue%20pdfs/04-electrical.pdf

They had some for $20 each in Perth a while ago RRP $70

FollowupID: 696324

Follow Up By: Motherhen - Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 12:11

Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 12:11

Lionel, check out the range of LEDs at DealExtreme. They send from Hong Kong with no added freight charge - just watch the Aussie dollar as prices are in US dollars. I have bought good stuff from them over the years.

Also look at what can be done (from someone's blog converting to LED in a motorhome)

Converting to LED lighting

We changed most of the caravan light to LED some years ago, but the range is much better now. My husband had to make his own fittings at the time. I was interested in they was they used the LED strips in the existing fluro brackets, as we have one more to go - the light over the kitchen area which does need replacing.

Mh

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Follow Up By: Member - Bentaxle - Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 12:13

Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 12:13

Hi Lionel
I agree with Motherhen, LED is the way to go. See you tomorrow.

Mike

May the fleas of a thousand afghan camels infect the crutch of your enemy and may their arms be too short to scratch.

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Reply By: Roughasguts - Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 00:48

Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 00:48

The 12 volt down lights in my Rapid are 20 watt spade type ordinary globes that you see in a stop light on a Camry, and they get filthy hot.
And it also has 2 hologen for reading lights and they get even hotter.

Go the LED, or 12 volt fluro! if you need a better spread of light, that won't drain the battery as quick.

Cheeers

AnswerID: 425790

Reply By: Member - Bucky - Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 03:29

Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 03:29

GO LED man !
It's the only way

Cool running, and very low on power useage.

Cheers
Bucky

AnswerID: 425792

Follow Up By: outsider - Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 14:00

Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 14:00

I put a couple of led strips in the van and they work very well, amazing actually.
My missus likes reading at night so she is happy too.
Link to light

FollowupID: 696351

Reply By: Member - Peter (1) - Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 12:30

Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 at 12:30

G'day Lionel,

My van had 12V. halogen lamps in it but I recently changed over to LED lamps.
The lamps I used plug straight into the holes used by the halogen lamps, you can see the type by going to www.ledshoponline.com. and click on the 'caravan/motorhome' link and then click on 'G4 bulbs'.

I chose the 9 LED cool white which suits me but women seem to prefer warm white, which could be an issue if you are married. The cost is $21 each, including postage, and they plug into a light fitting that takes the two pin halogen lamp. I am very happy with my as they use very little power and throw out enough light for my needs.

Regards,

Peter (1)