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Interior Lighting

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by Horndog, Feb 5, 2014.

  1. Horndog

    Horndog New Member

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    Anyone have any suggestions on interior lighting? Would you recommend this?



    Looking forward to your ideas...
     
  2. mediahound

    mediahound Active Member

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  3. Horndog

    Horndog New Member

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    WOW, that is a HUGE difference.....thank god for this site.....otherwise I would have spent $45.00 for no reason... THANK YOU! Since the price is smaller, any ideas if they burn out quickly or not? I would like them to last for awhile...did you buy from there?
     
  4. mediahound

    mediahound Active Member

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    LEDs should last a really long time. I have these ones and am happy with them. If you search 168 LED bulbs, you will see a ton of them. I try to buy the ones that have good reviews.
     
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  5. Horndog

    Horndog New Member

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    Fantastic, thanks again for your help. :LOL:
     
  6. mediahound

    mediahound Active Member

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    Note, I can't recall exactly but I think my trunk light was a different bulb.
     
  7. mediahound

    mediahound Active Member

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    Also, I didn't change my foot well lights to LED nor my mirror lights. Because the standard lights are sorta nice for those spots. LEDs in the mirror lights I think might be too bright and not flattering to the person looking at themselves in the mirror.
     
  8. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    I put three different shapes into my Prius last year. Now I need more for the household's new Subaru, and also the new Subaru of a friend who has already run the battery down by accidentally leaving on an interior light. My motivation is primarily to reduce these dead-12V-battery accidents, by cutting the current drain so the car won't be dead in the morning. Bright stadium-style lighting is not my goal.

    For map lights, my Prius has the same sort as in Mediahound's first Amazon link, though from another vendor (at a ham radio flea market).

    For dome lights, instead of the style in Mediahound's second link, I just received these festoon style devices today, also from Amazon: Cutequeen White 31mm(1.25") 12-SMD 12V Festoon Dome Light LED Bulbs DE3175 DE3021 DE3022 3175(pack of 8). (Smaller packs available, but make sure you don't get colored units instead of white.) Three of these are now in my Subaru, and so far (just 30 seconds in a serious cold snap outside), I am quite happy with them. Slightly too long for an exact fit, but still caught and held the contacts. The Prius had similar units from the flea market, but they were scavenged for my friend. I'll put some of these new one in tomorrow. They won't be as bright as your or Mediahound's units, but seem at least as bright as the original incandescents.

    For the door puddle lights and vanity mirror lights, my Prius has this: T10 Side Plug Wedge Base 6 LED Light 12V 5050 SMD White.

    For links to the lights I bought last year, and current measurement comparisons, see my old post: Door LED's. I don't yet have current measurements of the Cutequeen.

    PS -- Current measurements: About 137mA at 14.5V, 98mA at 12.6V, 35mA at 10V. Current is controlled only by series resistors (one resistor per three-LED string), so brightness varies significantly between ignition-off to ignition-on.

    The one unit from last year that didn't get lent out has an IC for current or power regulation, drawing to about 65mA at 12.6V, a bit less at higher voltage, so its brightness won't vary as much.
     
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  9. Horndog

    Horndog New Member

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    How bright are your lights? I'm looking for pretty bright lights to light of the car? Do you still suggest the same lighting?
     
  10. mediahound

    mediahound Active Member

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    The stock bulbs are no match for just about any LED, which is a lot brighter.
     
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  11. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    The original LEDs were no match for the stock incandescents, but parts have greatly improved. The cheapest available LEDs probably are still dimmer than stock.

    The ones I linked are similar to the stock units. Yours and OPs links are to units with many more LED die, and should be much brighter.
     
  12. Horndog

    Horndog New Member

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    What's your recommendation for brighter interior lighting that will last and not burn out? I would like it pretty bright white if I could. I'm not a huge fan of the stock interior lighting.
     
  13. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    No recommendations, I haven't used and don't want brighter lights.
     
  14. mactalla

    mactalla Junior Member

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    The ones I bought a few months back were these: 8 Lights Super Bright LED SMD Interior Light KIT FOR Toyota Prius 2010 2012 | eBay

    The bulb for the cargo area in the rear was slightly large (it could fit, but wasn't ideal). So I picked up a separate bulb for that. I'm very happy with them. I'm sure some people would say too bright or not the right colour or whatever. But for me if I want the light on, then it's because I want to see something, so light 'er up!
     
  15. Horndog

    Horndog New Member

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    Do you happen to have any pics that you can share with me?! There are some on the site you posted, but I feel they may up the picture a bit just for selling sake. Let me know if you don't mind :)
     
  16. mactalla

    mactalla Junior Member

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    Not a problem. PriusChat is throwing errors when I try to upload images, so I threw them up on photobucket here: mac-talla's Library | Photobucket

    The first is with the lights off to give you a baseline of the ambient light. Then with the lights on. The two other photos show how they illuminate the interior of the car and how much light is emitted outside as well.

    Hope that helps.
     
  17. Horndog

    Horndog New Member

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    Those look fantastic, I think my choice has been made to go with the lights you choose. Thanks for showing your pics.

    Jesse