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When it comes to campervan lighting ideas, honestly there are loads of them. And shoot, there are so many different ways campervan lights can be powered, making even more options for van lighting. Like most things in a van build, it’s not a one size fits all approach. The best campervan lights for our van build may not actually be the best for yours.
In this post, we’re sharing things you need to consider when choosing your campervan lights, both traditional and non-traditional campervan lights, and what campervan lights we had in both our builds.
Things to Consider When Choosing the Best Campervan Lights for You
Are you going full-blown solar and electrical setup?
Contrary to what you may think, you don’t actually have to have a full-blown solar setup to have lights in your campervan. In fact, you don’t even have to carry around heavy batteries either. While lights may make a campervan build more professional, there are plenty of campervan lighting ideas that don’t need a full electrical setup.
Even if you choose to wire in campervan lights into your van build, you’ll likely still want to carry around extra solar lights to use outdoors and to set a different mood in the van…which happens to be our next point.
What kind of mood do you want your lights to give?
What kind of mood do you want your van interior design to give? Are you looking for LED lights really shining bright and truly “lighting up a place”? Or are you after a more relaxed feel, looking to have lights on a dimmer, or just soft lights in general?
Do you want to have the cozy twinkle fairy lights strung throughout the van? Or, do you need ample light for the work you do, causing you to need brighter lights in the van?
Where do you need lights?
This is a big one. And honestly, it’s more than just needing lights in the ceiling or not. Think about lighting up under your cupboards, inside your cabinets, and where you plan on coming up with a good book. Speaking of books, when you’re cozied up, does it make the most sense to have the light above your head, or do you need reading lights to the sides of your bed or mobile friendly?
Do you need exterior van lighting?
When building out a campervan, considering what kind of exterior lighting you want plays a major role in deciding your electrical set-up. If planning on wild camping, you’ll truly benefit from having light spotlights on the van roof. But, those spotlights certainly don’t give off a cozy vibe outside, so you may want some rechargeable lights or solar lights for the exterior set up too!
Are you going to be filming in your van?
This sounds like a weird thing to consider, however, it’s a big one. Have you ever filmed lights and seen the flickering certain lights produce behind the lens? It’s annoying and totally ruins a shot. This is from the frequency certain lights produce.
If you plan on filming in your campervan, you’ll need to avoid strobe LED lights. Strobe LED lights don’t seem like strobe lights to the naked eye, however, when capturing them on video, it’s very obvious the lights are in fact strobing instead of emitting constant light.
While cameras like this have certain settings that can prevent the strobe effect, it’s best to just avoid strobe LED lights altogether so you don’t have to mess with them at all!
Solar Powered Campervan Lighting Ideas
LED Luci by MPowerd | check prices here
Luci is by far our favorite solar light on the market. They’re compact, lightweight, have multiple settings, and hold their charge for days and days on end. This is their bright light, and while it’s perfect for really lighting up a large space, we like the soft light, listed below, for inside the van in the evenings.
You can even get a Luci solar light that has a USB charging port. That way you can not only have light, but also a solar powered port for charging too. Great for not just being away from the van, but also inside the van as well!
Soft Luci Light | grab our favorite here
Hands down the freaking best campervan lighting ideas there ever was. If we could give away one of these to every person we meet in both the van world and not, we would. These soft Luci lights are amazing. This light is the light we used in our first van for 2.5 years when we didn’t have a proper electrical system in place.
Even now in our second build, we use our soft Luci light almost every night instead of our recessed van lights. It’s just so convenient to place it exactly where you want it, and have a soft light that’s not harsh on the eyes in the evening. In fact, we use this Luci light even in our home to save power and just have a nice soft light next to the bed.
Luci Fairy Lights | check prices here
Have you caught on yet that we just love Luci and all their products?! We have other string lights currently, but when they go out, we’ll be getting this Luci sting light instead. This string light set up has a USB charging port for a quick charge, or you can charge it in the sun like all their other solar lights.
They’re perfect for setting a romantic mood, or just a relaxing camp vibe both inside and outside your campervan.
Garden Fairy String Lights | check prices here
In our experience, these lights don’t work well to really light up a big area. However, they are perfect for lighting up cabinets and outlining things like doorways or wrapping around trees. We wouldn’t recommend using these fairy lights as a primary light source in any campervan conversion, however, think they’re great for small spaces that your primary source may not reach.
String Lights | find them here
Along with the Luci’s we had in our first van build, we also had a set of lights like this we had hanging in the van at all times. They are so freaking perfect for creating an extremely relaxing place. I honestly think a lot of the reason we really enjoyed van life in Scotland was due to the cozy and calming mood the lighting set up we had gave off.
Full Electrical Set Up Campervan Lights
Recessed Ceiling Lights | current prices here
We have a set of four of these recessed lights set all on this dimmer in our current build. While it’s totally doable and really nice to just use a Luci and other solar sting lights, it feels like luxury having these lights in the van. We put the four puck lights on the same dimmer switch because our current van is so small. However, if we had a larger van, we’d likely do a few more lights on two different dimmer switches.
I honestly can not image having these lights not on a dimmer switch, as they’re truly super bright and we often have them on the lowest setting. With that said, when we need a lot of light, it’s super convenient to just be able to toggle the switch and turn up the power!
You can get these lights in different colors and different light settings. We have the warm white lights with the white finish to match our white fan in our van. We will say, these lights do flicker when filming on our phones, however, not on our camera, as it has the built in flicker settings.
LED Strip Lights | find them here
LED light strips are a very common light in the van life world.. specifically in professional builds. These light strips would be perfect for the “garage” part of a van, and underneath cabinets to really light up counter space.
Something to keep in mind with light strips like these is the feel/mood they put off. While they are super nice for bright light, they aren’t so nice for a relaxing ambiance.
12V Wall Lights | current prices here
Individual bedside lights like these would be so perfect in a van build. These lights are dimmable, turn on and off individually, and even have a USB charging port on them. This is a perfect campervan lighting idea for a van build with a permanent bed set up.
Battery Powered + Rechargeable Campervan Lighting Ideas
Push Button Lights | check current prices here
These little battery powered push lights are great for any van build that doesn’t have a full electrical setup. Obviously, the downside to these is the fact that they’re battery powered, so it’s not the best for using as your sole light source in a campervan build. My mom has these lights under her cabinets in the house, and in the closet and pantry spaces in her RV. They’re great for a quick, easy install for lighting up dark spaces!
If going this route for lights, we’d suggest still buying a Luci solar light. It will save you money in the long run on battery usage. Alternatively, you could also look into rechargeable batteries that way you don’t have to continually purchase single-use batteries. Better for the environment and your pocket in the long run!
Strip Lights | grab them here
These are rechargeable peel-and-stick magnetic lights that can easily be taken down to recharge via a USB port. They offer a bit more light than individual push lights, and I love that they’re actually rechargeable. These strips have a simple on-off switch with three light settings and could be used for both the main lights in a campervan build as well as an individual cabinet or garage lights. Oh, and they even have a motion sensor setting too! How cool for a van!
I kid you not, I published this post, and then later on that evening I was talking to my stepdad and checking out his build-out for his camping trailer, and he had these lights in it! He loves these lights and wishes he installed them in more areas in their RV instead of the push-button lights that I mentioned above.
Mobile Reading Light | current prices here
Rechargeable, clip on lights with three different light settings! This is a perfect way to simply add lights into any campervan build. No big electrical set up needed for these lights. You can simply charge them while you’re driving, use a battery bank like this to charge it in the back of the van.
Magnet Project Lights | check prices here
We use this light for the back of our van. However, not all three of them. We just pack the small side lights, which come off the big one. We then stick them to the metal frame of the van, perfect for cooking out the back. They are USB rechargeable, and honestly all three would be great for outdoor lights in any van build.
Our Opinions on Campervan Lighting Ideas
In the interest of your sanity.. we truly think less is best with lights. If you don’t want to mess with a big electrical system, solar-powered lights are the way to go. We are die-hard Luci light fans and have met plenty of other Luci lovers on the road as well. For the 2.5 years we spent in our first van, we didn’t have a full solar set up to run lights off of, so we used our Luci lights and a couple of solar string lights that really set the mood and made it super relaxed in the van.
In our current build, we installed four recessed ceiling lights on a dimmer. And we freaking love them too. However, we still find that we use our Luci all the time. Not because we don’t have the power to run the lights, that hasn’t been an issue. It’s the fact that when you lay in bed and want to read or even just talk, the recessed ceiling lights are right in your eyes.
Instead, of blinding ourselves and staring into a light above our head, we turn on our Luci most evenings and enjoy just the simple backlight of it.
More Details on Campervan Conversions + Van Life
Our Complete Campervan Conversion
How to Install Camper Van Wall Panels
How to do Laundry While Living in a Van
The BEST Campervan Coffee Makers
25 Things to Look Forward to When Living in a Van Full Time
Complete Guide to Installing Your Campervan Flooring
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