Lighting

The Campervan will be lit by 8 LED downlighters which have between 17 LEDs and 20 LEDs. Each one draws around 2 - 2.5 Watts. 2 of the downlighters will be in the front of the van and indivually switched for driver and passenger. They will be 4 in the middle of the van which will be run from one switch. The last 2 swivel lights (shown in picture) will be at the rear of the van and switched left and right for reading in bed. I also intend to fit 2 LED mini strip lights, one over the sliding door and another above the adjacent window, each of which use only 0.7 Watt. With all of my lights burning I would be using around 1.5 Amps. The main advantage of the LED lights apart from the low power usage is that they run cool and they are supposed to have a reasonably long life span. The disadvantage of the LED lights is that they are rather expensive and they give a slightly cold white light. Since fitting the lights I've found it is perfectly acceptable to have just one of the strip lights going for mood lighting or finding things in the van at night. These only used 0.06 Amps!!! For reading you need to use the spots though.I then carefully cut the holes in the roof lining in the correct places using a stanley knife and a cutting board. I then offered up the rear roof panel to check the wires were in the correct place.

The final task was to drill the roof lining centre support so I could fit some light switches. The centre support is plastic and has metal in the middle so I ended up drilling some small holes and then enlarging them with a file. I then refitted the roof lining and fitted the lights one at a time by soldering spade terminals for them to plug into. The lights are held by 2 springy strips of metal which you open up once you push the light into its hole. The final picture was taken at a slightly later date when I'd refitted the styleline panels.