Dimming Fluorescent
April 8th, 2011 | 
Author: Dimming Fluorescent deals on Amazon:
|
|
Earthmate EP05129 5-Watt Dimmable Candle 2700K Bulb, 6 Pack $80.00 … |
|
|
Earthmate EP085250 8-Watt, Dimmable BR30 2700K Bulb, 6 Pack $146.94 … |
|
|
Philips 409904 / 423343 Dimmable AmbientLED 12.5-Watt A19 Light Bulb $16.85 Philips AmbientLED (TM) Dimmable 60W Replacement A19 LED Light Bulb – Soft Warm White Philips AmbientLED (TM) Dimmable 12.5W A19 LED light bulb has earn Energy Star (R) qualification and offers light quality comparable to that of traditional general incandescent 60W light bulb. A19 emits light in all directions and are commonly used in table and floor lamps, pendants, ceiling fixtures and general… |
|
|
LWS A19 LED Bulb, Warm White By Ledwholesalers, 1012ww $9.99 LWS A19 LED Bulb, Warm White By Ledwholesalers, 1012ww… |
|
|
GE 75368 Energy Smart 13-Watt Spiral Compact Fluorescent Bulb, Candelabra Base, 2-Pack $11.50 GE, FLE13HT2/2CANDP, 2 Pack, 13W, Mini Twist Compact Fluorescent Bulb, Electronic Ballast, Equivalent To 60W Incandescent, 2700 Kelvin Temperature, 80 Cri, 8,000 Hours Rated Life, 850 Lumens, Candelabra Based, Energy Star Compliant, Carded…. |
|
|
Lutron DVCL-153P-WH Diva Dimmable CFL/LED Dimmer, White $20.04 Lutron DVCL-153P-WH DIVA CFL/LED BOXED… |
|
|
GE 20708 Energy Smart 15-Watt Indoor Floodlight R30 CFL, 65-Watt $6.25 … |
|
|
Fluorescent Lamp Dimming with SCR’S and Associated Semiconductors … |
Ebay listings for Dimming Fluorescent products.
|
|
NEW 24V DC INPUT 28W T5 (2) BULB HIGH EFFICIENCY FLUORESCENT DIMMING BALLAST $129.00 |
|
|
Lutron GRX-FDBI-16A-120 fluorescent dimming balast $50.00 |
|
|
LUTRON NTGRX-FDBI-16A-120 Grafik Eye Fluorescent Dimming Ballast $45.00 |
|
|
T8 Fluorescent Dimming Sleeve Tubeguard NEW $11.50 |
|
|
LUTRON NTCF-1-WH NOVA T COMPACT FLUORESCENT DIMMING CONTROL NIB! $199.95 |
|
|
LUTRON FLUORESCENT SINGLE POLE DIMMER 120VOLT 16 AMP WITH 2 DIMMING BALLAST $175.00 |
|
|
LUTRON NTF-10-277-WH NOVA T FLUORESCENT DIMMING SWITCH $169.95 |
|
|
LUTRON GRX-FDBI-16A-120 FLUORESCENT DIMMING BALLAST NIB $129.95 |
|
|
LUTRON VF-10-IV VAREO FLUORESCENT DIMMING BALLAST NIB! $99.95 |
|
|
2- Lutron Grafik Eye Fluorescent Dimming Ballast Interface NEW GRX-FDBI-16A-120 $79.00 |
RV Patio Lights Are Dim Until You Add LEDs
What good are the exterior patio lights on your RV? Decoration? Have a party? Find your way home at night? Scare critters away? See to install water or dump hoses after sunset? See to complete your woodworking project? Makes your rig look like your RV neighbors? And then, maybe you just like the way they look.
As you gain experience, you find that those exterior lights are both useful and a pain. They can make the area outside your RV pleasant and useful in the evening, and they sometimes offer protection. But when they just are not bright enough to be useful, or the outside lights attract flying insects, or if they drain your batteries or melt the fixture lenses because you left them ON all-night, you may decide they are just not worth the bother.
That’s not right. Your rig already has a set of standard patio fixtures; they belong to you; you paid for them, so you expect to get something in return. What can you do to make them worthwhile?
When LED lighting became a part of my RV life, I succeeded in cutting down my electrical power usage while boondocking. I fully equipped the interior of my RV with LED lighting, and could suddenly stay out on the desert until my tanks filled. In the process I began to experiment with using RV LED lights in my patio fixtures and learned a bundle.
* The standard Bargman patio fixture uses the same incandescent bulb as my ceiling fixtures. That meant I could install LED replacements outside as well as inside.
I tried different LEDs in different weather and driving conditions. They survived as well as incancescent bulbs.
Those fixtures with the hot 1156 bulbs required that I replace the lenses. The new lenses stayed cool with the LEDs.
* I noticed that flying insects collected around the few incandescent bulbs remaining. Bugs were not interested in the Led Light.
* I replaced the fluorescent tubes and ballast in my Thinlite patio fixture with a fLEDescent and had much better light.
* With configurable zipLED lighting, I increased the light level where I needed more light. Suddenly I could see well enough to do things.
* I removed the hot 1295 incandescent bulb from my scare-light and added LED LightSticks to reach the light level I wanted.
My experiments using RV LEDs in the patio environment were a total success.
RVs have three basic types of patio lights. The first is a single bulb fixture (for example Bargman) with either a 912 glass wedge bulb or a 1141 bayonet bulb. Both burn about 1.4 amps of electricity at 12.8-volts DC and produce about 280 lumens of light when new. They produce less light when covered with a yellow lens and when they age. Some people think by increasing the amperage of the light, they get more light without penalty. It uses 2.1 amps to produce 400 lumens of light when new. It gets so hot it is known as the “lense-melter.”
The second type of patio fixture is a fluorescent patio light, like the 162 from Thinlite. It uses two F8T5 tubes to provide about 800 lumens of light using 1.5 amps at 12-volts. It, too, most often comes with a yellow lens cover, supposedly to keep the bugs at bay.
The third type of exterior light fixture is the round 8-inch “scare-light” seen high on the sides of some RVs. Its standard is a 1295 incandescent bulb that burns 3.5 amps at 12.5-volt to produce an initial 629 lumens, dropping to less than 400 as the bulb ages.
LEDs can replace them all, for an 80% savings in power and a 100% increase in useable light.
Ask yourself, “Are the patio lights on my rig bright enough to be useful?” Most patio light fixtures equipped with a single incandescent bulb like an 1141 or 912 are just not bright enough. You may be able to see to get around, but do you really have enough light to cook.
On the bother side, have you noticed that the lights most often left ON all night are the ones you don’t see: the patio lights outside your door on the side of your rig and in the rear of the coach. If you still have those incandescent bulbs installed, they typically use 1 to 1.5 amps each, and in 12 hours could suck out 18 amp-hours per light of the power stored in your battery. That is over a third of the 50 amp-hours you can safely pull from a typical type-27 battery before doing it damage. If you leave four or five bulbs ON, you can find your house batteries exhausted the next morning.
But what happens when you replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs and then forget to turn the lights OFF when you go to bed. An LED replacement for an 1141 or 921 bulb will draw only 0.14 amps, using only 1.7 amp-hours in 12 hours. Your batteries are safe.
An RV patio without LED lighting is like a dimly lit cave at night. You see enough to stumble about, but you cannot enjoy the beauty of the evening or make use of your patio.
Be a Prudent RVer and recommend that everyone use RV LED lighting in patio fixtures.
About the Author
Sam Penny travels full-time about the USA in a 5th-wheel RV. Since 2006 he has helped develop and sold LED lighting for RVs and Boats at
The Prudent RVer and Boater
website. Penny offers advice, support, and the most reliable LED products to those who pursue a prudent existence with low-energy lighting in their RV and their home. The
B15s.nZL3
with 4 LED LightSticks replaces a 1156 bulb with 240-lumens of bright light in a patio fixture.
CFL Dimmer That Works
Posted in 
Tags: