To see how I fitted LED campervan lighting to our VW T25 and made vanlife a lot easier, watch the
three videos in the playlist above.
The lights I fitted were low profile touch sensitive LED spotlights. I fitted six lights altogether: one in the cab, one above where we cook, two beneath the overhead cupboard and two at the back where we would be most likely to sit and read or play an instrument.
In the end, and after a few failed installations, I fitted the lights in a parallel circuit. The touch-sensitive version of these lights requires a parallel circuit. Imagine the two part cable, cut a bit longer than the route it will need to go from the battery and via each spotlight. Cut the cable where each spotlight will be and tied off bared ends....+ to + and - to -. Then use connectors - I used plastic covered crimps - to connect these twisted ends to the lights. Polarity, I was told, doesn't matter - but I stuck to the rule anyway just in case. At the end, split the cable, bare the endsand connect them to the battery....+ to + and - to -.
I cut the cable that led from the back of my van to the cab and fitted a switch. This was necessary because the lights will flick on and off like a disco if the battery is running low. No matter what you do if this happens, you won't be able to switch the lights off without pulling a cable out of the battery, hence the need for a switch.
Having said that, I only experienced this flashing on and off whilst parked under a tree in Valencia for a month whilst using the world's smallest battery. No wonder the battery was low! Still, we always managed to get one light to work. These little LED campervan lights really are the business.....powerful, low consumption, low profile, no corrosion, long life, zero noise and very reliable. I would certainly recommend fitting six lights as they don't cost a lot of money and having more provides the flexibility of where you're going to have a light on and how far you have to reach to get some light.
Certainly, low profile lights are the best option for campervans as you can easily fit them into your ceiling cards or fabric and you won't end up catching on them. Strip LEDs I would say don't bother with as they're very glaring and have to be fitted on walls or at the gutters
and therefore you'll end up blinded by them.
We eventually replaced our battery for a larger one and never had any problems after that. Even in the UK in the winter, our tiny 30w solar panel on the roof generates enough electricity to power the lights, albeit not all the lights all of the time....but enough of the time.
When you get to the point of purchase, you'll need to decide if you want white lights or warm lights. I chose warm lights and I'm happy with them. These 'Lighting Innovations' lights have worked perfectly for two years now and they create lots of light....so much so we rarely had all six lights on. However, we used all six lights often, just not at the same time.
Leave me a comment below and let me know how you illuminated your campervan
or if you have any questions about installing them.
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