Halogen vs LED vs G-4 Xenon

[glacierrunne]

I want to upgrade my 12 volt interior lights and would appreciate some advice. I am looking at three different 7 inch lights. One has a 10 watt Halogen bulb, second has a 18-LED cluster and the third has two 10w G-4 Xenon bulbs. What are the advantages of one over the other? Thanks, Don

[lewster]

Don,

Lots of differences here. The LEDs will run forever and have the lowest amp draw BY FAR....great for boondocking but you have to like the pure white light they throw. I have 10W halogens in my CCD.....nice light but draw a lot of amps if not hooked to shore power and burn hot. Xenons run cooler than halogens and have a longer burn time but still draw a lot of power, especially 2 10watters.

A new LED fixture just came on the market that is identical the halogens found in the new Airstreams, right down to the bees eye lenses. I have several on order and I'll post about the results as soon as they arrive. At this point, they are only available to RV OEMs and the trade.

If they work as advertised, they would make the perfect addition to any Airstream as they are round, easily placed and installed and will have a very low current draw.

[overlander63]

They DO make "warm white" LED's now, if you can find them. They give an almost incandescent yellowish-white light.

[glacierrunne]

Lew , Thanks for the info, is the new LED fixture stainless steel or plastic? Don

[lewster]

I belive that they are brass, but definitely metallic finished in chrome, nickel or white. I won't have the final colors until I get the samples.

[myoung]

When we remodelled our home 5 years ago, we chose Xenon 10-watt lighting for undercounter and in-cabinet lighting in the kitchen. The light that these bulbs produce is pure, even (not bright hotspots), and of course dimmable. Knock on wood, these lights run 12-18 hours a day and we have yet to have one burn out. Pretty amazing.

Xenon was a pricey alternative back then, but we have been more than satisfied with the performance. I hope that one day we might find Xenon in a fixture that could replace the many incandescent fixtures in our 2006 Safari. Those fixtures are huge by comparison to the ones in the SE models and something small and efficient that would cover whatever damage might remain after removing the big plastic fixtures would be most welcome. Sure would be nice to have dimmers built-in to the Airstream, just like we have on every incandescent and Xenon light in our home.

We'll keep looking.