RE: [A/S] Re: LED liting (how about halogen?)

["DT/BW" <dtbw_1999@xxxxxxxxx>]

Chris,
Yes, you have it correct.  LVH can be wired directly into the A/S 12V
system.  Depending on which type of converter you have in your A/S, you have
somewhere between 50-60 amp of 12V current capability when tied to 120VAC
before you start drawing down the battery. This is usually enough to run all
the lights, the heater and the water pump at the same time without needing
current from the battery. A/S does not skimp on the 12V wiring that they use
in their units, so replacing existing 12V lights with LVH as well as adding
a few additional ones will not be a problem to any 12v circuit (use 14 gauge
wire for any additional wiring).  As I mentioned earlier, you are NOT
increasing the overall current load (in fact you may be decreasing it a bit)
if you are doing a replacement.  For additional lights, just use some common
sense, ie don't add a bunch of new lights to the same circuit.  If you
overload a circuit with too many new lights (and use them all at the same
time) you will blow a fuse, especially if the circuit is shared by the water
pump or forced air furnace.  I will repeat, use the MR-11, 10W spot lamps as
they provide lots of light and use less than 1 amp (.8333) of current each
(compared to just OVER 1 amp for the bayonet incandescent bulb used in many
A/S 12v lighting fixtures. 

When you are boondocking, you need to be aware of battery usage and minimize
whenever possible and recharge, at least from your car, periodically.  If
you boondock a lot and for more than a couple of days, you may want to look
into adding a good battery telemetry system such as the TriMetric.  This
device tracks many parameters on the battery, but of most interest, it keeps
a cumulative number on the current withdrawn and replaced and gives you both
a percentage of charge remaining as well as the actual amp hours withdrawing
and remaining. I also added two 55W solar panels to my rig so as to provide
additional 12V capability during boondocking.  On a sunny day, they can
recharge the battery back to 100% provided we did not get too crazy with the
12V usage the night before.

I have several LVH, MR-11 10W fixtures in my A/S along with many fixtures
based on the standard auto bayonet bulbs. I really like the way the MR-11
illuminate and provide functional as well as architectural lighting (I use
spots in a couple of place and a flood in another).  The incandescent 12V
bulbs that A/S has used for many years were chosen due to low cost, readily
available and ease of replacement.  As shown in the newer A/Ss, LHV is
rapidly becoming the norm. 

david