By Gail Marsh
Look around your RV. Peek in cabinets and closets. Check stairs, laundry area, and other dark nooks and corners. I’ll bet you’ll quickly identify several dark places for motion-sensing lights in the RV!
Note: RVs have different floor plans and lighting. That means not every suggestion will apply to your particular rig. Here’s hoping you can find at least one or two lighting tips to make RVing easier and safer, too.
For this article, we’re referring to small motion-sensor lights, either in strip form or button form. Here are a ton of options to choose from.
Entry
- Light switches. Do you fumble to find and turn on the interior lights when entering your RV at night? A motion-sensing light will help you activate the necessary light switches. This is a great help especially when your arms are full of grocery bags or you’re carrying a sleeping child.
- Door latch. If an emergency forces you to evacuate your RV in the middle of the night, how quickly can you find the door latch? A motion-sensing light mounted above the entry door will enable you to quickly unlock the door and activate the door latch to escape quickly.
Kitchen
- Cupboards. You can place a motion-sensing light inside the kitchen cupboards. Then when you open the door, you can easily see what’s inside.
- Fridge. Who doesn’t like a midnight snack? Mount a motion-sensing light to the exterior of the fridge door to find that snack quickly. Bonus: If you have drawers underneath the RV fridge, a motion-sensing light can help you see stored items even if they’re way in the back of the drawer. Just position the light on the drawer’s back or side panel.
- Pantry. If your RV has a pantry, consider mounting a motion-sensing light inside.
- Sink cabinet. Many RVers store cleaning supplies or other items inside the sink cabinet. It’s the perfect place for a motion-sensing light.
- Under cabinets. Motion-sensing lights mounted underneath the upper kitchen cabinets will provide much-needed light for preparing meals. If you purchase the lights that feature a “constant-on” switch like these, you’ll also add ambiance to the space.
Bedroom
- Under bed. You won’t have to worry about getting up in the night if you mount a motion-sensing light under your bed or to the wall next to your bed. Bonus: You’ll also want to mount one or two of the lights inside the under-bed storage area.
- Closet. Tired of searching for your favorite jeans? Position a motion-sensing light inside the closet and the problem is solved. Hint: While we enjoy our RV’s closet ceiling light, the bottom recesses of the closet remain dark. A motion-sensing light placed lower on the closet wall helps illuminate shoe shelves.
Laundry
Our stackable RV washer and dryer are housed inside a cabinet. There’s no space above the units for a light, so I fastened a motion-sensing light on the inside of the cabinet door. Now I can easily see and retrieve all of the laundered clothing.
Steps
Position a motion-activated light at each of the interior RV steps for safety. These are specifically made for RV steps. (Please note they are not fully waterproof.)
Basement
The motion-activated lights can also be mounted in your RV’s basement storage to help you find tools and equipment stored there.
Lights
These are the lights I’ve used for the applications suggested. But, as I said, there are thousands of other options that may also work well. Check reviews and carefully check the description of the product before you purchase.
I like this particular system for several reasons:
- With the included remote, you can adjust the brightness of the lights.
- The lights feature a constant on/off switch, as well as the 20-second sensor duration, for times when you need a space lit for longer.
- The lights can be fastened via a magnet. So for some places (like a refrigerator), no extra mounting supplies are needed.
- Lights are USB rechargeable and long-lasting. No battery replacement or added expense.
- The motion-activated lights can be set for specific amounts of time.
- The lights can be activated from up to ten feet away.
Do you use motion-activated lighting in your RV? Share your ideas in the comments below.
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We have a set of residential spaced steel steps rather than the RV’s pull-out steps for our seasonal use RV. I have 4 of the step lights. Because of the steel, we can put the magnet on the light rather than glue it to the step. While I really like them, they have horrible battery life. Even using the expensive non-rechargeable lithium AAA batteries they only last 4-6 weeks.
We have a set of rechargeable, motion-sensor, only turn on if dark, magnetically mountable lights with selectable light color and brightness. We set the light to red at the dimmest setting, then mount one in the bathroom for those middle-of-the-night visits when we don’t want to be blinded by the regular white lights, or be awake enough to fumble for the right switch.
When group camping with shared vault toilet(s), I put the lights in there. If some facilities are for Women only, the ladies always ask for the light to be something other than red. Usually because they want to put an end to the jokes from their male companions.
Men!!!🤣 Have a great day, LugNet. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Several years ago I installed blue lights under my outdoor Kwikee entry steps – wired in so no batteries. Not visible to the eye. I bought them at Walmart. I also installed amber strip lites to the inside steps – both inside and outside are wired to a switch on the sidewall of the entry. I also mounted a white or clear step lite to the sidewall of the entry step with a switch on the instrument panel. I found on Ebay, a lite with a motion sensor and 1 AA battery. I mounted it on the outside of the entry door – it is silver colored plastic. I cover the batt. slot with duct tape. Batt. lasts about a year as it only lites at dark and when approaching the key lock. Class A 34′.
Thank you, Gail! Yes, we have a few. RV #2 has a large number of lights that activate when something is opened, so we have less need now for motion-activated lights than we did with RV #1. Have a great week and safe travels!