Van Interior Lighting: Technical Implementation

Lighting in a mobile habitat must balance high-fidelity task illumination with low-power consumption and circadian health.

1. Photometric Specifications

For a productive workspace and healthy sleep cycle, specific metrics are non-negotiable:

CRI (Color Rendering Index): Use LEDs with CRI > 90. Low CRI (typical in cheap 12V strips) causes "color wash," making food preparation and wiring difficult due to poor red-spectrum rendering (R9 value).
CCT (Correlated Color Temperature):
- 3000K (Warm White): Living area and evening use.
- 5000K (Daylight): Task areas (Kitchen, Workbench).
Concrete Example: Use "Tunable White" COB (Chip on Board) LED strips. COB LEDs eliminate the "dots" associated with SMD strips, providing a continuous line of light without bulky diffusers.

Most 12V LEDs are dimmed via Pulse Width Modulation (PWM).

The Flicker Problem: Cheap PWM dimmers operate at <200Hz, which causes eye strain and "ghosting" effects. Use dimmers with a frequency of >1kHz.
Voltage Regulation: A van's "12V" system actually ranges from 12.2V (resting) to 14.4V (charging). Direct-driving 12V LED strips results in premature failure. Requirement: Use constant-voltage LED drivers or strips with built-in resistors rated up to 15V.

For a standard van layout, calculate the amp-hour (Ah) impact on the battery bank:

Zone	Qty	Lumens/Unit	Watts/Unit	Daily Use	Total Ah (12V)
Main Pucks	6	200	2.5W	4 hrs	5.0 Ah
Task (Kitchen)	1m strip	800	10W	2 hrs	1.6 Ah
Garage/Cargo	2 pucks	200	2.5W	0.5 hrs	0.2 Ah
Reading Lights	2	100	1.5W	3 hrs	0.75 Ah

Total Daily Load: ~7.5 Ah. This is negligible for a 100Ah LiFePO4 bank, but significant if using a single lead-acid starter battery.

Wiring: Use 18 AWG marine-grade tinned copper wire for most LED runs. Tinned wire resists the corrosion common in high-humidity van environments.
Switching: Utilize a 3-way switch circuit for the main cabin lights (one switch at the slider door, one at the bed) to avoid navigating a dark van.
Night Mode: Implement a secondary circuit of Red LEDs for nocturnal navigation. Red light (>650nm) does not trigger the pupillary reflex or suppress melatonin.

See Also: