RV LED Light Fixtures

I like to build my own LED light fixtures for the motorhome I am building out of a bus. The commercial ones are very expensive and cheap plastic looking things. These are some of the lights I have made.

This instructable assumes that you have a basic knowledge of DC electricity and basic hand and shop tools.

Step 1: Materials

I buy cheap automotive replacement LED bulbs. I prefer the cool white over the warm white, I like my lighting to be bright, you may prefer the warm. I make the fixtures out of anything I can find. Some are made out of scrap wood. I'm always on the lookout for interesting things to make my lights out of. The light above the eating area is made from a drywall mud pan. The lights above the kitchen counter and the mini can lights in the bathroom are made from restaurant dip cups. I have recently started using the long strip lights that can be cut to any length.

Step 2: Construction

Here are a few pre assembled pictures. On the wedge type automotive type replacement bulbs, simply unbend the wires and the wedge will slide off. If there is a resistor it needs to stay. Be sure to use grommets and shrink tubing to wires from contacting metal. I use clear silicone to assemble, everything is light and it holds up well. I use the thin wooden wafers to mount things to, it's just scrap and easy to work with. None of these lights produce any noticeable heat, only slightly warm to touch.

Step 3: A Few Images of Construction.

I use a drill press to cut most of my shapes and routing. The bathroom light was done entirely with a circle cutter. You have to plan carefully so that you always have a way to hold things securely while cutting.

Step 4: Turning Them on and Off.

These are just a few of the controls available for turning lights on and off. You can also use a simple toggle or pushbutton switch. You need a special circuit to dim a LED, the first three will do that. You can get the RF control relay boards with as many as 16 circuits. I have 4 of the four circuit boards in my motorhome, one for each room. It makes it much easier to add lights without having to fish wires through a wall for a switch. I simply mounted a transmitter where I would put a light switch. You can also control one board with more than one transmitter.

Step 5: Use Your Imagination.

I hope I have given you some ideas. LED lights don't have to be expensive. All of the over the counter lights in the kitchen cost me less that $20. Any of these can be used in your house, you just have to add a 12VDC transformer. I recommend putting the transformer on a switch so that it isn't on when the lights are off.