LED Color Change in New Airstreams

[Msmoto]

On some other threads I have shown some changes to the Bright White LEDs offer as standard in the newer Airstreams. Many folks find the extremely white cool color temperature to be less than optimum. And am one who finds these alms obnoxious. By ordering color gels from Light On Retail, cutting these in circle which fit inside the pucks, one can alter the light to suit. Here is the source for the gels I used:

Lee Filters Color Effect Sheets - Lights On Retail

Lee Filters Sheets - 004 Medium Bastard Amber

Lee Filters Sheets - 013 Straw Tint

So, here is what they look like:

LED_COLOR_01.08.15 by Fantinesvoice.com, on Flickr

In the overhead cabinet are the 013 Straw Tint gels

The room lights and in the bathroom, seen through the glass are the 004 Medium Bastard Amber gels

The shower is bright white with no correction.... yet.

While this poor photo only gives a suggestion, I think the slightly pink color resulting from placing the 004 Medium Bastard Amber gels in the LED pucks is pleasing for my taste.

A sheet to cover a zillion lights is less than $10. A whole lot less expensive than trying to change out the pucks.

[ghaynes755]

Msmoto you brought back memories. Hadn't seen anyone use the term ' Bastard Amber' since I was in college running the stage/auditorium and doing lighting work.

Great idea. Lee filters are used in the lighting/stage/photography/film industries for exactly your use. If someone wants them they can often be found at a film or photo supply company if you live in a large enough city. Just ask them if they carry Lee filters.

[jcanavera]

I've always been turned off by the "office white" color that my fluorescent tubes that came in my 2004 Classic. We use them infrequently and pretty much depend on the incandescent/halogen lights which are much warmer. As those bulbs have failed I have been slowly replacing them with LED's. My choice has been the warmer colors which reproduce that look of the old bulbs. Outdor wise I have replaced the step and patio bulbs with LED's. In those cases I've chosen the cooler bright white temperature LED'ss which provide a little more brilliance.

Jack

[Msmoto]

The more I sit and think about it, I believe i will filter all the lights with the same 004 Medium Bastard Amber. This gives such a pleasant light,while maintaining enough to see by. The reading spots over the bed may be the last ones to be filtered, and I may just ignore them.

Lighting has many more influences upon our mental state than we might be aware of. And the warm, nearly pink color from filtering with the above, is very pleasant.

[daveswenson]

A lot cheaper shipping from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Medium-Bas...medium+bastard

[gecko]

Three years ago, we bought "conversion" LED bulbs and changed them out throughout our 2009 28' Ocean Breeze. We used the cooler brighter white lights throughout for maximum light, and then controlled the coolness (blue tint) by purchasing professional lighting gels in sheets and then cutting them out with a "compass" tool with a razor blade on the end. By trying different filters, we were able to find a very pleasing tone. This worked very well except that where the lights were close to a horizontal surface (kitchen counters, reading lights over front storage in front of front couch), the led's create a pattern on the surface that we find uncomfortable. No real solution for that one yet!

Not so incidentally, this cut the power consumption for boon docking from approximately 1 amp per fixture (or 14 amps/hr in the main cabin), to a total of 1.4 amps/hr for all the lights in the cabin! In a five hour evening if you leave all of your cabin lights on, that's a savings that cuts the halogen lights with a 70 amp draw from the batteries down to a 7 amp draw. Wow!

Once we saw the dimmers available on later models, had to have 'em. So we now have two dimmers in the main cabin--one for the over dinette lights, and the other for the rest of the main cabin lights. We had some trouble getting the dimmer switches working properly with the original fixtures and new LED bulbs, so reached into the pocket and bought a few of the new complete LED pucks, and now everything works fine. Obviously, the dimmers give much better control of the lighting, and allow a very pleasant lower lighting level with spot task lighting as needed. Not only is this pleasant, but it has also further lowered the amp draw.

If you're starting from scratch for a halogen to LED conversion, you have the option of going right to the new pucks, or still buying bulbs only, which are less than half the price. Converting the entire coach to LED bulbs (without the dimmers) was a bit under $400 in parts back in 2011.