Fancy New LED Lights

Not long after we bought our new to us Phaeton, we took a weekend trip just to learn all about this new toy.  We chose Tombstone, both because it was a quick drive but it would also give me a chance to learn to drive this thing.

I chickened out on driving through Tucson during rush hour and road construction.  Turns out, driving this one wasn’t any harder than our Class C.  Who am I kidding, it’s way different!  Our Class C was a van front and was a breeze to drive, aside from being careful with right turns.  This great, big 40-footer was not only longer but just enough wider to make me dizzy.  Mark showed me how to use the A/C vents above the steering wheel as a lane guide to help keep me centered in the lane.  We pulled back on the freeway and off I went.  I little tense at first, but before long I was cruising down the freeway.  I successfully changed lanes and even passed a few trucks.  Yeah me!  An hour was enough as we got close to Tucson so Mark handled the rest of the drive to Tombstone.

After we got all settled in the campsite, we pulled out the manuals and got going learning the ins and outs of everything.  The previous owner was very good about keeping all the paperwork, manuals, manufacturer communications, etc in good order.  The giant owners suitcase (the thing is huge) was organized, too.  I feel lucky about that as we’ve heard horror stories about manuals and paperwork with other used coaches.

After dinner we made sure the outside TV worked then went inside when it got cold.  We stretched out on the couch and chairs and tested out the DVD with a movie.  In our Class C, when we watched anything on the TV, seating was limited.  We sat sideways in the dinette or hurried to the one coveted spot on the couch that had the best view of the TV.  Sitting in a recliner with the choice of watching two TV’s was a new experience. We joked with each other that we could easily get used to this.

I don’t remember when Mark tilted his head back and commented on the lights but soon we were both looking up and counting.  Holy cow there were a lot of lights.   There had to be more than 50 lights overhead.  Cha-ching, this would be expensive if they all went out at once.  Then Mark got the bright idea that we needed to change them over to LED.

We do a lot of dry camping so any way to lower the draw on the batteries would be great.  We had the entire generator process down with our old coach and were learning it with this one.  So far, we hadn’t run everything completely dead.  But his coach has a residential refrigerator which we already learned was a major draw on power.  Trading out the existing lights for LED’s was the right thing to do.  All I saw was the money; remember that I’m the saver and he’s the spender.  While the movie was running, we checked out prices for LED’s.  Yep, expensive.  Let’s just start with the overhead lights in the front of the coach since they get the most use.  After looking around we bought them from Amazon and decided to buy enough for all the overhead lights.  And we miscounted.

I have to say, they were a cinch to install.  The hardest part was trying not to drop the old bulb.  After finishing the front of the coach we moved to the back and realized we were short.  I should have double checked the number right then and there but how could we be wrong twice?  Yep.  We put the new ones in on our next trip and realized that we missed some in the front.  How did that happen?  I still can’t figure it out.  My defense is the glass coverings blend in with the ceiling too much.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

So now we needed to order yet another batch of lights.  But, the vendor through Amazon that we bought from the two previous times was out of stock.  Not a problem, we bought from another vendor and decided to get the bathroom and accent lights as well.  May as well get the whole coach done. We also bought a porch LED for right by the door.  Any way to minimize the battery draw when we dry camp, we were on it.

These lights were different.  The others are a warm white and the ones we just bought were bright white.  That meant three bright white mixed among all the other warm whites in the front area.  My OCD wasn’t going to like this.  Relax, he said, I would never notice.  Sure…whatever you say.  I can tell you those three out of place lights were the first thing I noticed every time I turned the lights on.  Bugged me.

The new LED over mirror bathroom lights aren’t as bright as the old ones and I wish they were the warm white.  But the problem is easily solved in the daytime by sliding open the shower skylight cover.  There are enough overhead lights in the toilet room to compensate for the dimmer over mirror lights.  Several Phaeton owners have flipped the light bar over so the lights shine down instead of up to solve the problem and I see that as a project on another camping trip.

Mark delighted me this Mother’s Day by moving those three pesky bright white lights to above the little cabinet next to the refrigerator.  Yeah!  Now all the lights in the front of the coach are the same color.  We hardly use the lights over the cabinet and never when all the other ones are on.  My OCD was happy.

All totaled we have 81 shiny new LED lights along with an extra porch light.  We’re using a lot less battery power when we dry camp which translates to less generator use.  And we all know that less generator use means more fuel in the tank.  Now if someone would invent an air conditioner that doesn’t need the generator…