1157 LED Bulb question

[Welder99]

Hello,
We have a 2016 Grand Design 5th wheel and there is 2 LED Lights that hang down in from the ceiling in the kitchen. Problem is the little woman says there not bright enough. Has anyone replaced there LED bulbs for more light? If so how do you tell the difference in how bright they are?. I know old school it was by watts. And information would be most helpful . Thank you.
PS. There 1157 base.

[goodady]

Oh, I've been down that road with our RV! The lights were so dim it was like cooking by candlelight. Swapping out LEDs is pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it. Brightness for LEDs is measured in lumens, not watts. So, the higher the lumens, the brighter the light. I switched to a bulb with more lumens, and it was like night and day in the kitchen area.

When I was hunting for brighter bulbs, I didn’t just look at the lumens; I also considered the color temperature. A cooler white can sometimes make things seem brighter than a warm yellow. If you need a hand figuring out what you need, check out https://leds.to/ for a guide on brightness and color temps. Helped me find the perfect balance without making the kitchen feel like an operating room.

[Welder99]

Thank you everyone who responded, I had no idea all the different information there is about LED lighting.

[ktmrfs]

enblethen wrote:
Kelvin color temperature chart

good summary but I will "quibble" with the statement "the higher the color temperature the WHITER the light will be". as you go up from 2700 K or so color does appear whiter but as it continues up it goes from "white" to bluish, not whiter and as you get to around 7000K light definitely is IMHO not white but bluish.

[enblethen]

Kelvin color temperature chart

[JimK-NY]

For the first few years or RVing, I replaced tungsten bulbs with LED. When I wanted even more and better lighting, I found it was cheaper, easier and overall better to replace fixtures. I have replaced single bulb fixtures with dually switched lights.

[ktmrfs]

enblethen wrote:
Higher the Kelvin rating the whiter and brighter the light!
Careful! The base is the same as an 1157, however the 1157 is a dual filament lamp. Look inside the socket single pin is an 1141, dual pin is a 1076

Kelvin temp relates to the COLOR of the light spectrum NOT how bright it is. 2700 or so is in the yellow spectrum, 5K or so more like daylight and more white, then as you go up more towards blue end of the spectrum.

Brightness is measured in LUMENS. It's easy to have a 2700K bulb appear and be much brighter than a 5000K bulb.

[Jim-Linda]

I have obtained LED replacement kits from M4 for my overheads. On the web site are several choices for light output, lots of info.

Jim

[Welder99]

Thank u all for the information, after reading the comments I believe the bulb base is 1076.it has 2 contacts. The bulb that in it are LED and the only number that’s on it is 20150205. There not very bright . Thats why the little woman wants a replacement thats brighter. Im not familiar with the output of LED’s.

[Roger10378]

Are you sure that you have a 1157 socket. 1157 is a 2 filament bulb, two contacts on the bottom plus the grounded base. More likely you have a single contact on the bottom. My book is quite a few years old but I don't find a bulb that is brighter than the 1156.

[Grit_dog]

Ya it’s not a 1157 unless there’s turn signals in the kitchen…

[Skibane]

WNYBob wrote:
Compair lumens, higher the brighter.

A lot of sellers exaggerate their lumen specs.

Also, in many of the cheaper bulbs, the LEDs are driven much harder than they should be, in order to make the bulb appear as bright as possible. This makes the bulb run hot, and drastically shortens its life expectancy.

The more reputable sellers have honest brightness specifications, and sell conservatively-designed bulbs.

Along with SuperbrightLEDS, Diode Dynamics is also a reputable seller.

[JimBollman]

I buy most all my LEDs for RV and trailer use from https://www.superbrightleds.com they are a bit more expensive but they last and are guaranteed. As it has mentioned you can compare lumens for brightness and you need to decide what color temperature you want. I like a color temperature in the 4000-5000 range for food prep areas, it gives closer to outside daylight. 5000 close to consider high noon daylight. For sitting around and reading I like in the 3000-3500 range, not as yellow as tungsten but more cozy than 5000. I don't like the ones higher than 5000. Tungsten is around 2800 if that is the feel you are looking for.

You may have to buy a couple before you find the right balance.

I did add two of these magnetic strip lights that are dimmable and rechargeable so they can be used where you need them. I have one tucked up in the range hood and one above the spot I usually sit in the evening. Unfortunately they currently are marked as out of stock but I'm sure other brands are out there. Here is the Link.

[enblethen]

Higher the Kelvin rating the whiter and brighter the light!
Careful! The base is the same as an 1157, however the 1157 is a dual filament lamp. Look inside the socket single pin is an 1141, dual pin is a 1076

[ktmrfs]

wa8yxm wrote:
One brand I suggest for those wanting more light is ECO-LED.. many RV dealers have 'em about $20.00 a pop give or take a bit when last I priced.

Now.. you can get LEDs nearly as good for about 2.00 a pop. But I know the ECO-LEDs work

COOL-WHITE is brighter than Warm White by the way.

cool white has a higher color temperature (more towards blue end of spectrum) Warm white has a lower color temperature, 2700-3000K, (more towards the yellow end of the spectrum). For the same lumens they are the same light output. One may APPEAR more pleasing or brighter depending on what you like, but the light output for the same lumens is the same.

People generally have a preference for color temperature, pick whichever one YOU like best.

Now for quality, it varies all over the place from downright crappy to excellent. the el cheapo ones often use just a dropping resistor to set the current to the LED. LED's are very sensitive to current, and to much and they will heat up enough to burn out quickly or even unsolder themselves from the circuit board. The higher the voltage the higher the current, and going from say 12.5V at the battery to 14.5 during a charging cycle is enough of a change to (a) change brightness and (b) shorten the life.

Good units use a converter to give a constant current source, much longer life, consistent brightness, but the converter in SOME will cause enough RF interference to give you a problem with audio on the radio/TV/etc. No way to tell bad from good other than to buy one and try it.