The summer season is an excellent time to hit the road for a super fun and incredible road trips. Most people look forward to the summers for that reason, among many others. Often times, you wish to get your whole crew or gang out on the roads before the fall season comes knocking on your door.
You do have a long vacation to spare, but one thing that is likely to make you a tad hesitant is simply being out on the road for so many days! Questions like where and how you are going to live, how you will spend the long nights with your friends, etc are probably going to run through your mind.
Well, for times and situations like these, there is no better option than an outdoorsy RV rental!
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What is an RV?
RV, the acronym for Recreational Vehicle, is a motor vehicle that holds great similarity to a trailer. These vehicles provide small and compact living quarters that are mainly designed to provide owners with a safe place where they can stay temporarily. Some common recreational vehicles include camper trailers, travel trailers, truck campers, fifth-wheel trailers, motor homes, campervans, and popup campers.
Some common facilities or amenities provided by these recreational vehicles include bathrooms, kitchens, and tiny sleeping spaces. These vehicles come in different and multipurpose varieties, ranging from utilitarian to luxurious. The latter variety typically consists of water heaters, air conditioners, satellite receptors, television and perhaps, even quartz countertops. The former type of RV, on the other hand, is very basic and contains simple cooking facilities and sleeping quarters.
The most common purpose served by most RVs is temporary accommodation while travelling however; there are people who use these vehicles as their main or permanent residence.
RV Lighting
When residing inside an RV whether temporarily or on a permanent basis, one very important thing that you have to consider is the RV lighting. RV interior lighting, in particular, has to be ideal because you are out on the road, it is pitch black outside and you probably want to stay out in the woods camping for a long period of time, considering that you on a road-trip vacation.
You also want to conserve as much power as possible for the complete amount of time period that you are out there traveling. So, what do you do? You switch on both your RV interior and exterior lights and have the time of your life!
How to Choose the Best RV Interior Lights
Before deciding on the type of light you need for your RV interior, you must know how to buy the absolute best and the ideal type of RV lights. This is important so that you can make the most of them and to further ensure that they don’t give up on you in the midst of your exciting road trip!
Choose the Correct Light
RVs can differ in size and space so you need to check first how much light you need for the interior of your RV. You can start out by examining the areas of the vehicle where you need to install the lights. There are also different types of lights that are specially designed for specific areas, for instance, the under cabinet or dinette lights are particularly meant for installing under the cabinets inside your RV.
Choose Your Light Color
When it comes to the color of any interior or exterior light, most people prefer yellow lights because they are very mild on the eyes and they don’t exhibit a very harsh glare. The variation in light colors can greatly affect the illumination inside your vehicle. There is natural light, warm light, and cool light.
Natural light, as the name suggests, gives off a kind of light that feels and looks like sunlight.
Warm light comes with a gentle brush and consist of very soft hues of yellow undertones.
Cool light, on the other hand, mostly appears as white and is probably the brightest of all three. Depending on your personal preference, you can either go for a single option or you can use a combination of all three lights.
Consider Top Quality
As mentioned previously, you don’t want your RV interior lights dying on you just when all the midnight fun has officially begun! To prevent that from happening, you must invest in excellent quality interior lights. This can include checking for features like durability, lasting power, the bulb wattage, and characteristics like anti-corrosiveness and heat-resistance. It is better to invest in top-notch quality lighting at a tad higher price than settling for poor quality lights just to save a few bucks.
The Bulb is Key
In any type of light, whether interior or exterior, the bulb is of key and utmost importance. The perfect bulb will provide the ideal kind of illumination which is exactly what you need when looking to update your RV interior lighting.
Why Buy Led Lights?
When it comes to interior lighting for RVs, most people recommend going for Led lights. LED is an acronym for Light Emitting Diode and these lights have been around since the early 1960s. LED lights are known for emitting a rich and bright kind of light that saves a lot of energy and display excellent performance efficiency.
They emit little to zero heat which suggests that they are safer than the traditional bulbs and you won’t end up burning your fingers when you touch them. LED lights used to be super expensive when they were first introduced which is why there weren’t exactly really popular options for RV interior. However, now, you will find most RV manufacturers and users installing different types of LED lights in their recreational vehicles not just because of their affordability, but also because of many other great reasons.
They Don’t Require Complicated Installations
Most bulbs, lights, and light fixtures are often really hard to install. They come with special instructions that you need to follow accurately if you are to install them perfectly. LED lights, however, don’t require any kind of special tools or devices for installation purposes. All you need to do is remove the exterior or the outer covering of the light fixture, unscrew the old, existing bulb and replace it with the new LED light bulb.
They Produce More Light
LED lights have gained much of their popularity due to the fact that they produce more light while using very less power to shine. For example, imagine that your RV has 12 incandescent light bulbs. They will need about 1.6 amps of power each so, in order to power all of them, you will require a total of 38.4 amps. On the other hand, if you replace these incandescent bulbs with LED light bulbs, you will only need a total of 2.8 amps in order to power all of the 24 bulbs. That is a very huge, considerable difference which goes to show that LED light bulbs indeed produce a whole lot of light at a very low power fra5te, through which they also save a lot of energy.
They are Incredibly Long Lasting
Did you know LED lights can last up to an approximate of 60,000 hours? That makes about almost 7 years of constant light! Isn’t that absolutely amazing? Incandescent bulbs, on the other hand, last up to 2000 hours and halogen bulbs are able to serve for only 1000 hours. So, whether you are a frequent traveler who uses their RV for temporary time periods or you live there permanently, safe to say, you will rarely have to replace your RV LED lights.
They Generate Minimal Heat
A common concern shown by most people when choosing to light is the amount of heat that the respective lights generate. When choosing the lights for your RV, you have to keep in the mind the fact that you will probably keep the lights on at a stretch for longer time periods, especially during the night. Incandescent and halogen light bulbs burn at almost 200 degrees Fahrenheit. On the other hand, the LED lights are able to burn at anywhere between 80-100 degrees Fahrenheit. This results in considerably cooler temperatures, preventing your fingers from burning when you touch the bulb and keeping the interior of your RV from heating up. This also further prevents the need for you to keep an energy-sucking air conditioner inside your RV at all times.
Types of RV Lights
Although LED lights are the most popular and commonly preferred options for RV interior lighting, not everyone will still be inclined to buy them. There is a vast variety of the types of lights that you can have inside your recreational vehicle. After all, it is always nice to know your options so that you can easily compare them and pick the best from the lot.
Double Incandescent Euro Light with Optic Lens
These lights offer an excellent replacement for incandescent dome style lights and offer multiple uses for your RV interior. They come with an LED bulb, easy on/off integrated switches and optic lenses that help provide maximum illumination inside your RV. The design of these lights is a mixture of sleek and contemporary that looks really nice inside your recreational vehicle.
It further consists of shiny double Euro-style lights that are 11 inches in length, squeeze-remove lens, replacement bulbs, and a white base. They provide excellent, bright lights and are also super easy to install.
Undercabinet or Dinette Light
This is an inverted dome-shaped, multi-purpose light that is almost 5 inches in height and 10 inches wide. It is particularly used for illumination purposes under the cabinet, as the name also suggests. It is the perfect kind of decorative lighting piece for any space-limited interior.
It consists of an oval-shaped light, oval backplate with convex edges, an integral on/off switch and brushed nickel finish on the entire light. The white alabaster glass dome looks incredibly pretty and provides great ambient lighting in a space-saving overhead.
Two Bulb Dinette Light
The two bulb dinette light is an excellent light for installing in an RV interior. It consists of a two-armed dinette light that provides adequate light to illuminate your RV. The lights are supported with a rectangular backplate that gives it a very sleek look.
This is a decorative type of lighting, featuring a contemporary style and design that significantly enhance the overall look of any RV interior. The back plate of this light consists of a square tube arm and raised edges that make it look super stylish and glossy. The two extending bulbs are enclosed within white alabaster cups that further add an ornamental touch to it.
Led RV Ceiling Dome Light
If old fashioned lights with bulbs that frequently burn down greatly frustrate, the Led RV ceiling dome light is the perfect replacement option for you. It consists of double dome lights that last longer than a standard bulb and consist of a life expectancy of more than 60,000 hours. The lights are anti-corrosive and heat resistant which means that they won’t easily heat up despite for how long they are kept on and the non-glass materials used in these lights won’t even corrode.
It comes with a super convenient on/off switch design with an in-built 3-way switch. The feasibility of the switch allows users to use either one side or both the sides, as per their requirements. The lights are really easy to install in your RV interior as they come with 2 wires minus any division, as well as nuts and screws that enables one to fix them up perfectly on any smooth surface.
The best part about these RV ceiling dome lights is that they are incredibly high energy efficient lights coupled with low power consumption. This is due to the LED bulbs present inside the lights since they draw very less power and provide maximum illumination.
Small Pin-Up Light
This is an interior light with a wall mount pin-up light that is almost 8 ½ inches in height, 6 ¼ inches in depth and 4 ¼ inches wide. The pin-up feature allows one to mount these lights wherever they want, on any given smooth and flat surface.
It is super easy to install and comes with a very convenient on/off switch and bulb. It has a round, flared cup with a straight round post that gives it an elegant and a modern look. The pin-up light is supported with a small square backplate that has a raised center.
The light has a brushed nickel finish with a white alabaster glass cup that greatly adds to its beauty in an RV interior.
LED Replacement Light Bulbs for RV Indoor Lights
This is an exceptionally bright type of light, owing to the fact that it consists of high brightness chips inside each bulb. This light is super environmental-friendly and also works as an excellent energy saver. The bulbs are really long lasting and can last up to 50,000 hours, which ensures great durability.
The installation of these LED replacement light bulbs for RV indoor lights is very easy and all you need to do is plug in directly into the ceiling space. After installing these lights in your RV, you will also notice that respond immediately. In other words, they are almost a thousand times faster than traditional bulbs or lights.
MICTUNING Light Bar
As the name suggests, this light is actually shaped like a bar which is one of its best features. This particular shape of the light allows it to exhibit great versatility in terms of providing maximum illumination that is also balanced all across your RV interior. These are sleek, white bars that come with a very minimalist style.
Many LED bar light can tend to be an absolute eyesore, however, these aren’t. These are actually very aesthetically pleasing and you won’t have to tuck them away, or put them out of sight. These lights contain about 72 pieces of bright LEDs that generate an excellent amount of luminous flux. It produces a very comfortable, cozy and homelike kind of lighting that allows you to easily do your work inside your RV even during the late hours of the night.
These light bars are exceptionally well-constructed with an easy on/off control switch that allows you to freely switch the lights on or off whenever you need. They are made of energy saving chips and an aluminum alloy base, together which produce excellent and adequate lighting that lasts up to hours.
Acegoo Ceiling Light
These are recessed ceiling lights that offer the perfect alternative to the typical double-sided dome-shaped light. They are meant for extremely design-conscious people and allow them to feel like at home.
These ceiling lights are super slim and thin with their thickness levels going up to only 0.52”. This utterly compact and lightweight body of these lights suggests that you fit them anywhere you like inside your RV. They are made from full aluminum that significantly increases their lifespan by keeping the heat away from the LED chipboard.
They don’t only display a super bright and radiant kind of illumination, but also save a great amount of energy by consuming very little power of your recreational vehicle. The lights come with spring clip mounts that don’t require any screwing and they provide a very neat and tidy finish once you are done installing them.
Another great feature of these lights is that they are highly durable considering how the LED chip increases their lifespan up to 50,000 hours, they don’t make use of plastic and die-casting and how the full aluminum body provides incredible heat dissipation.
White Halogen RV Light with Mounting Collar
This is another simple and decent lighting idea for your RV interior. It provides an amount of light to illuminate your RV, but you will need to install a great number of these lights, considering their size.
These lights consist of halogen bulbs, which is probably the second best option after LED lights. Halogen bulbs are one of the most efficient light bulbs compared to many other varieties. They produce a pure, white light so they make an excellent option to have inside your RV, especially when you need to carry out tasks that require a lot of light. This further reduces the strain on the eyes.
These bulbs are also super energy efficient, and they burn considerably longer and brighter, keeping in mind the fact that they are almost 20 times more efficient than the traditional light bulbs out there.
These white halogen RV lights come with a white, plastic mounting collar that is almost ½“ which is perfect for surface mounting. The overall dimension of this light includes ¾” depth and 3 1.8” diameters.
Lumitronics Double LED Light
With a life expectancy of about 70, 000 hours, there is no reason why you shouldn’t have this double LED light inside your recreational vehicle. These lights are super sleek and consist of a smaller profile compared to the traditional overhead dome light.
The double optic dome featured in this light comes with energy-saving LEDs that provide excellent illumination at fairly low costs and power usage. This light provides the natural type of light that is environmentally friendly and also gives you cozy, home-like feelings.
It has a 3-way switch that includes all off, one on, and all on. This allows for ultimate lighting versatility and flexibility. The total LED output for these lights is over 450 lumens which makes them the ideal type of lights to have inside your RV.
The choice of interior RV lighting should not depend on whether you’re just staying in your RV temporarily or living there permanently. Instead, the type of lights you choose should be according to your personal preferences and the amount and the degree of illumination you want inside the RV. After all, you will be out in the woods and on the roads and you need to make a well-informed decision in terms of the lighting you choose!
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