How many lights would you fit?

[cairn15]

Hi

My van is going in for a poptop in a few weeks, I have bought some flush 2w warm white 3000k led downlights to be installed on the passenger side roof reinforcing frame, .

We haven't started the interior trim, and electrical fitout yet, I have seen people installing 3 or 4, or more, but I don't want it to be too bright, I could switch them in pairs if need be.

I will be fitting additional reading lights, kitchen lights etc, as a matter of course, just want to get this bit sorted first.

Any advice appreciated

Thanks

 

[drinfinity]

I hooked up the lamps to a 12v battery before fitting, to get an idea of what watts I wanted. I did have some 5W lamps but they were too much inside.

I've got LED strips rated at 5w/metre down each side which is a decent background, two spots over the kitchen. I put two more in the tailgate, one in the wardrobe, and one below the bed in the ‘boot’ area.

 

[cairn15]

Yes, thought about 3/5w led lights but wasn't looking for a suntan as they can be a bit glarey, and fierce, 3 might be too few?, so thinking possibly going for 4.

And, as you mentioned led strip lights above the kitchen do look great

 

[JumpShip]

Dimmer switch ?

 

[t0mb0]

Ours our individually touch dimmable. Sometimes you want as much light as possible for actually doing something but at bedtime you want very dim light. You can’t achieve this by adjusting the number of lights as even a single glaring light isn’t what you want when going to bed.

 

[doncarlyon]

We have 3 x spots and a dimmer switch for the passenger side.

 

[cairn15]

Yes, we thought about the touch dimmable spots, However, I believe that if on a switched supply they lose their memory, But I could change one, or two, to dimming units to match the others, or as suggested just fit a dimmer switch for them all, I think we will go with 4 spots, this should be plenty, Thanks

 

[darkman884]

As well as the ceiling spot lamps and side reading lights , I fitted a 12" led strip lamp directly above the hob (useful).
Don't overlook fitting a light to the inside of the kitchen unit , extremely useful for finding stuff , it gets pitch black in there lol

 

[doncarlyon]

As well as the ceiling spot lamps and side reading lights , I fitted a 12" led strip lamp directly above the hob (useful).
Don't overlook fitting a light to the inside of the kitchen unit , extremely useful for finding stuff , it gets pitch black in there lol

Yep, pitch black on the kitchen side haha.

I'm in the process of making a shelf with lights to go on that side.

 

[Salty Spuds]

We have 2 led spots over the kitchen and 2 in the roof rearwards of the side door. We then have 5 Hafele gooseneck LEDs, 2 as reading lamps by the tailgate for when we're reading in bed, 1 each over the front seats for when they are swivelled, and one over the kitchen that pulls out to shine on the table for when we're eating. Sounds a bit ott, but where the light is, is as important as how much light. Light in the wrong place is useless. The Hafele goosenecks come with the added bonus of 2 usb outlets in the base, so 5 lights gives us an additional 10 USB charging ports for "free".

 

[cairn15]

Thanks, I will have a look at the Hafele reading lights they sound just the job

 

[Salty Spuds]

Thanks, I will have a look at the Hafele reading lights they sound just the job

https://www.hafele.co.uk/en/product/led-flexible-reading-light-12-v-36-mm-for-surface-mounting-loox5-led-2034/P-01461023/

 

[MikeWillmott]

The Hafele lights are good and the usb ports very handy. I found them too long and cut them down to about 150mm so they don’t sag while driving.
I also use a dimming unit with 6 x 4W led lamps and love the brightness when I drop a contact lens!
The unit I have has memory and you can use as many switches as you like (I have one by the slider - one opposite and one above the head end of the bed which is handy when entering from the rear)
Ooh! that doesn’t sound right!

I think the dimmer came from RS I’ll check!

 

[t0mb0]

Yes, we thought about the touch dimmable spots, However, I believe that if on a switched supply they lose their memory, But I could change one, or two, to dimming units to match the others, or as suggested just fit a dimmer switch for them all, I think we will go with 4 spots, this should be plenty, Thanks

I've just tested our touch dimmable spots - they don't forget their settings when the power is cut. However, I can't remember where on earth I got them from, so not all that helpful...