Dear Dave,
My wife’s eyes are sensitive to LED lights. Are there adapters to change lights back to incandescent bulbs? —Donald, 2020 Airstream International 25FB
Dear Donald,
Since you have a newer 2020 unit, I would imagine that your light fixtures are the thin models that have a flat connection similar to the older halogen bulbs. You should be able to replace the LED with a similar halogen. However, the incandescent bulbs have a round base and larger bulb, and I do not know of any adapter for these and doubt the old incandescent bulb would fit.
Options to consider
However, there are a few options that you should consider to reduce the intensity of the light for your wife.
LED lights are available in three temperature ranges that produce different color ranges starting with the 2800-3000K warm light, that provides a golden or yellow illumination. This is more like the older incandescent versions. The next is the 4000K, or natural light, version that is whiter and is consistent with most residential lighting. And finally is the 5000K, which is sky blue and much more intense.
My recommendation would be to look at the bulbs you have and if they are the 5000K, try one bulb at the 4000K level to see how that works. Otherwise, go to the warm bulb that is 3000K.
We replaced the old incandescent light bulbs in a 1992 Itasca Sunflyer with LED bulbs and mixed color temperatures in various areas of the rig. In the bedroom we used the 3000K in the overhead ceiling light and wall lamps, but installed a 12V adjustable light with a 4000K on each side for a reading light. You can find them on Amazon here.
This provides good light for reading but is directed to the person needing the light and would not affect your wife while you’re using it.
We did the same thing in the living room area with the warm LED lights in the ceiling and slide room overheads, but then installed two puck lights with the 4000K that can be used for additional lighting to read or play cards in the dinette.
LED dimmers
Another option is to install LED dimmers in certain areas that allow you to adjust the light with more intensity when you need it and less for your wife’s use.
I believe if you look at the existing bulb and the color temperature, you will find it either at the 4000K or even higher that is causing the sensitivity issue for your wife. Changing the temperature bulb in select areas should help, and the adjustable lights can be pointed in a direction away from direct contact to the eyes and still provide good lighting without irritation.
We used bulbs from M4LED, as the owner was an RV owner that had issues with the cheap overseas versions and researched the superior metal cages used to house the LED chips and found better bulbs and fixtures. You can find bulbs and fixtures at their site here.
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Light dimmers come in many configurations. Most, but not all, LED bulbs can be dimmed just by lowering the voltage. Others will flicker or just shut off.
The best dimmers are the PWM (pulse width modulated). They work by turning the voltage on and off at quickly supplying 12 volt pulses to the LED. The led reacts by actually blinking very fast, but that is not noticeable to the eye.
Thank you for the explanation and discussion, Dave! It is good, too, to have a go-to company that is not Amazon. Have a great day and safe travels!
A simple and cheap way to address this is to use an orange color gel filter for photography lighting. It comes in a sheet. Simply cut out the size/shape you need and insert it into the pucks to warm up the LED light. We did this in our Airstream and it made a huge difference.
https://www.amazon.com/Orange-Correction-Photography-Lighting-Flashlight/dp/B08817C221
Our 2017 Cougar was almost all LED lighting (stove hood was only incandescent and I was easily able to convert that to LED that plugged into the incandescent socket. However, when a couple LED lights failed, there was no way to plug in an incandescent bulb. I had to swap out the entire fixture.
That said, I was able to select the color temperature I wanted, and the new fixtures came with built-in dimmers.
“In a study by the Lighting Research Center, participants who read under warm white LEDs scored an average of 5% higher on reading comprehension tests than those who read under cool white LEDs.”
https://www.benq.com/en-us/knowledge-center/knowledge/what-is-the-best-led-color-for-reading.html
There’s also evidence that bluer light in the evening affects sleep.
I prefer to read with 3000K warm light, either with a lamp or my Kindle Oasis.
This USB lamp allows colors to be chosen, I like it:
https://a.co/d/b6MzaWa
I purchased transparent colored sheets, mostly used to dim or color stage lights. I cut a circle that fits the light fixture. There are multiple colors and densities. Works for me.
Thanks for the question and answers Donald, Dave and commenters too! I too have light sensitive eyes…. Bright lites of any kind are near painful. I have a serious question about how you cope with the over bright, flashing up and down with every bump, vehicle headlites – to say nothing of the cost of manuf., self destructive lenses and insurance replacement costs. I often use the yellow glasses but that scares me as deer are almost the same color as well as some clothing like work or cold weather coveralls. (Carhartt comes to mind). My motorhome has 12v incandescent bulbs and I have dimmers on all the lites except the flouro’s. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Not only do LED bulbs come in different color temperatures, they also come in different brightness values. Take that into account when purchasing. I believe an equivalent brightness for an old 40 watt incandescent is a 3 watt LED. A “warm” colored light can still be too bright, just like you wouldn’t want an old 200 watt porch light bulb in your bedside lamp.