Switching to energy-conserving LED interior lighting takes only a few minutes with Jirah’s conversion kits
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MotorHome, November 2008
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In keeping with the green movement, many motorhome enthusiasts are looking for ways to conserve resources when on the road. One way is to reduce the power needed to run their lights. Until the advent of the LED, most of us relied on fluorescent tubes to conserve electrical energy. Thinking that it’s not cost effective or convenient to replace fixtures inside the rig, the Jirah Company, Ontario, California, is marketing LED retrofit kits for incandescent and fluorescent lighting.
The heaviest abuser of power is the incandescent light bulb, which wastes an enormous amount of energy on heat. Jirah offers two products designed to replace incandescent bulbs, available in cool and warm light iterations. Making the swap is incredibly easy: All you do is pop off the lens, remove the existing single-contact bayonet bulb, twist in the new bayonet connector and stick the light panel to the housing. The wires are connected to the new base and make contact just like the original bulb. In about two minutes you have a fixture fitted with 36 LEDs.
These LED lights run with 900 percent higher efficiency than incandescent lights — to put this into perspective, you can run nine of these LED panels on the same amount of energy it takes to run one standard No. 1156 or similar bulb. And don’t plan on replacing these LEDs anytime soon: They are rated for 80,000 hours.
You have to acclimate to the cool light, which is much more white than the incandescent; the warm panel is better for those who don’t like harsh lighting. Illumination is about the same, although the LED light is more focused. Each replacement panel (part number JC-36-AB-CW or WW) sells for $20.
I was a little more hesitant to replace the tubes in the fluorescent fixture. For years we’ve relied on these tubes to give us light without using much battery — a feature really appreciated when we dry camped. Replacing the 12-inch strip with 18 LEDs takes a little more time, but the job is very easy. You simply wire the strips into the existing 12-volt DC power source, bypassing the ballast. A built-in constant current regulator and bridge diode eliminate the polarity requirement. The LED strip is attached to the housing (where the tube used to be) with two-faced adhesive tape. Presto, you now have a light strip that draws .13 amp versus the .7 amp of the fluorescent tube — and the illumination is brighter. The JC-18-FL LED strip sells for $28.
If you’re looking to conserve energy while using lighting that will likely outlive your motorhome, check out the Jirah company.
For more information, call (909) 297-1926, or go to Jirah.
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