Interior lighting upgrades

[Jaxon]

Anyone have a good source for interior lighting upgrades for trailers? The interior flourescent lighting is good for... cleaning and looking for something you might have lost on the floor... what I would like to do is have more indirect lighting - subtle, especially given the curved ceiling and walls...

Standard lighting is just that... standard. Thanks!

[vswingfield]

Hi Bill,

My Excella has indirect lighting installed in the wood valances above the curtains. You can see the valances at the top of the photo linked below:

http://airforums.com/photos/showimag...0&userid=17830

There is a switch behind the curtain on the street side. I replaced the original fixtures on that side with Cold Cathode Fluorescent (CCFL) lights. 12 volt. Computer modders use them in cases, and units are available for automotive applications. You can even get black light.

The biggest improvement I’ve made is replacing all the cool whites with soft whites. The more natural light color makes an unimaginable difference. I actually plan on pulling the CCFLs and putting warm whites behind the valances.

Vaughan

[Jaxon]

Originally Posted by vswingfield

Hi Bill,

My Excella has indirect lighting installed in the wood valances above the curtains. You can see the valances at the top of the photo linked below:

http://airforums.com/photos/showimag...0&userid=17830

There is a switch behind the curtain on the street side. I replaced the original fixtures on that side with Cold Cathode Fluorescent (CCFL) lights. 12 volt. Computer modders use them in cases, and units are available for automotive applications. You can even get black light.

The biggest improvement I’ve made is replacing all the cool whites with soft whites. The more natural light color makes an unimaginable difference. I actually plan on pulling the CCFLs and putting warm whites behind the valances.

Vaughan

Wow, love it. Do you have a link for where you got your lighting, Vaughan?

[vswingfield]

It’s been a while, Bill,

I actually bought the CCFLs to put in the 67 Trade Wind. I bought the 83 Excella in January and have concentrated on it since. It would be Monday before I could even lookup where I got them. I ordered them during lunch at work. I didn’t have a computer at home at that time.

The best thing would be to search for “Cold Cathode Fluorescent” and “CCFL” on eBay and Google. CCFL returns more results on eBay.

CCFLs are the lights behind the current generation of LCD TVs, flat panel displays, and laptops. The newest Mac laptops use LED illumination for less power drain and heat. Expect the rest of the industry to follow suit in the future.

The soft whites came from Home Depot. Another plus for that upgrade.

Vaughan

[Tim A.]

Originally Posted by vswingfield

The biggest improvement I’ve made is replacing all the cool whites with soft whites. The more natural light color makes an unimaginable difference.
Vaughan

We replaced all of the incandescent fixtures in our Bambi with fluorescent lights having warm-light or soft-white tubes and completely agree that the light is very pleasant. The lights we used are European and have electronic ballast. Attached is a picture of one. They take a single 8W tube. We sprayed the housings silver with clearcoat over that to make something we think matches our Airstream.

[HowieE]

Tim A

Do you have a model # or Brand Name?

[Tim A.]

Originally Posted by HowieE

Do you have a model # or Brand Name?

Howie,

We bought them from a company called Reimo in Germany. They do not ship outside of Germany. I do not remember the exact brand, and Reimo does not give that information on their website (Reimo - Alles für Reisemobile, Camping & Caravans. They have an English version of their website, but I was unable to locate the lamps on that version.

West Marine (West Marine, WM item #2667590) has a similar light from Hella, but it costs about $93.