Lighting

Some of the lightsI couldn't decide on what lights to have, so I ended up with a selection. They include...

  • A fluorescent strip light over the sink/cooker
  • A LED bright (warm) cluster in the roof
  • A low wattage standard filament reading lamp
  • 2 LED/AAA battery powered backup lights

Fluorescent and LED lights are great for seeing what you are doing as they usually have a blue tint to them (known as a cold colour). They tend to use less power than traditional bulbs. More lightsHowever, they can be a bit over-bright if you fancy a cozy evening in. Filament bulbs have a warm colour - more of an orange glow in comparison, but can drain your battery quicker. It all depends on the power consumption of the particular light installed. For a quiet night-in in the van (watching a DVD for example) I sometimes end up using a torch lamp which gives a nice warm list - with as slight flicker depending on the strength of the batteries! See below for more details.

Each of the lights in the van (other than the battery ones) are supplied with 12volts via the fuse box from the power pack (see the electrics section). Twin core wire is run to and from the power pack behind the wall panels or up over the ceiling. Each has it's own built-in switch.

Great lamp Now to my favorite torch lamp - the closest I can find is for sale on the Argos website ref 340/1936 The lamp is powered by 4 'D' size batteries - the big ones so it has a good working time. It has an old-fashioned type bulb which gives a nice warm light. The clever bit is this. Slide the switch up a bit and the light from the bulb can be focused onto a spot. Slide it up further, and the spot-light is de-focused and and the light comes out of the whole dome giving a good all-round light. It also has 2 handles that can be turned independently through 360 degrees, meaning it can be hung up in any direction, or stood on a flat surface and point at any angle. Brilliant! I'll take a couple of photos sometime to demo it, but for now, the Argos one looks more or less the same.

And all that for less than £7 !

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