LED's are getting brighter

Over the last few years we have not been too impressed with the performance of LED bulbs (lamps) for general lighting but some recent changes are promising. We know that when it comes to these ultra-energy saving LED light bulbs technology will soon catch up with our expectations but you may want to check them out now.

Recently one of our employees (Tony) at Vegas Trailer Supply has been testing some of the new 12v LED lights for his motor home and he's found one that has the best lighting we've seen. LED lamps are bright when you look directly at them, like street lights and tail lights on vehicles or displays in a Vegas casino, but they have been lacking when it comes to general room lighting. The "white" lights have been a pale blue or purple and the cheaper red, blue or amber bulbs are ok for mood lights but you don't want them for general lighting.

We always hear that LED bulbs will last for thousands of hours or days, but they don't tell you that the resistors or the electronic circuit boards that accompany most brighter LED bulbs will burn up after a few hundred hours. One new type seems promising. No we don't sell them. We gave up trying. They were too expensive after we put a mark-up on them and the technology kept changing too fast.

You can find them at the web site where Tony buys them. Heck, we tell anyone who comes in the store to check out superbrightleds.com even though we don't make a dime commission. The new style Tony likes is a wafer type bulb that he can plug into a regular 1141 socket. 1141 bulbs are the most popular bulb for RV 12 volt lights and these new LED's will save a bundle of energy compared to an 1141 bulb! This bulb actually has small wires attached to the plug so that you can direct the light downward. You can actually place the wafer-like LED's directly on the plastic light lens because the bulbs produce no heat like typical incandescent bulbs.

Search around until you find it, and you will probably find a bunch more LED bulbs that you will want. I got my eye on several types for my small solar system. Heck, they only charge $5 bucks shipping up to $100 order. Tony says that he gets them in four or five days every time he places an order.

The model Tony likes is "1156-PCB-WHP9 White LED Lamp" and it is found by navigating to the "other LED Bulbs" then the RV/Marine & other bulb link. If you try some of the other types, drop us a note and let us know how you fare.

Have a "bright" day, Mike