2009 Symbol - LED Spotlights

Like many vans our Symbol provides several options for habitation lighting but we mostly use the directional spot lights as they provide excellent task lighting and fill the van with a warm ambience.  They come at a price in terms of load on the battery, as there are 5 spots each fitted with a 10W halogen MR11 lamp, so we're sparing in their use when off-grid.

I've not been happy with the LED replacements I've seen in other vans, including those fitted in new A/S models, as they are cold and produce inadequate light output, so have put off replacing the halogens.  I've now found a LED MR11 lamp which is comparable to the halogen in both light output (184 lumens) and warmth (2700K colour temperature).  It's an Osram LED Superstar, purchased from Amazon at £10, which I appreciate is more expensive than many LEDs, but I wasn't prepared to compromise on what the halogens had been giving us.  In any case they should last out our ownership of the van.  They are rated at 3.1W so just under a third of the consumption of the halogens.

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I fitted two as a trial and it was difficult to discern any difference compared to the halogen lamps.  The picture below shows a 10W halogen on the left and the Osram LED on the right.  The LED has a less obvious beam cone and slightly greater light output.

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The LED lamp is 3mm deeper than the halogen so the bayonet ring that fits on the front face of the lamp to secure it in the lamp holder cannot be used. However during the trial this did not prove to be a problem and mechanically the lamp is held firmly in place by the pins, which are a tight fit into the base of the lamp holder.

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I've now replaced the other halogens and brought the lighting load of 50W down to 15.5W, which will help when we're not on EHU.  We now have better lighting than previously because the Osram Superstars have slightly greater light output and a more diffuse beam pattern.  Hope this is helpful to others who may have been putting off changing to LED spots.