An Easy Way to Moderate the Ceiling Light Glare?

[MrLynn]

We find the glare from the LED ceiling lights in our E21C a bit much, especially lying down and looking up. I'd like to moderate the light a bit.

Obviously the best solution would be soft-white enclosures to replace the clear ones Escape provides. Do these exist? And if so, how would I get them?

Other suggestions welcome.

—LEJ

PS: Trying to change my 'Details' on the left from the Casita to our NTU Escape 21C, but keep getting a mysterious message:
"Your session has expired. Please login again."

[OneCentHillman]

We replaced our lights with ones that are dimmable. Perhaps that would work for you?

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[KarenH]

As suggested many years ago by a member of this forum (Jon V?) I cut out pieces from a gel color filter to fit the underside of the plastic cover to alter the lighting; see below for with and without the filter. I can't find the original order from Amazon but it was similar to this roll but a much lighter orange/yellow color:


https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01DEXNK...2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

[MrLynn]

Originally Posted by KarenH

As suggested many years ago by a member of this forum (Jon V?) I cut out pieces from a gel color filter to fit the underside of the plastic cover to alter the lighting; see below for with and without the filter. I can't find the original order from Amazon but it was similar to this roll but a much lighter orange/yellow color:

Karen, when say "underside," did you mean outside or inside? And how did you attach the filters?

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by MrLynn

Karen, when say "underside," did you mean outside or inside? And how did you attach the filters?

I put it inside the fixture and just kind of pressed or molded it to the plastic cover. I didn't use any adhesive as it seemed to stay in place once the cover was re-mounted.

[Vermilye]

My recommendation was to add a Frost color filter such as RoscoLux 100 to the inside of the fixture lens. The material is designed to go in front of a 1000 watt theatrical lighting instrument, so there is no worry about it catching fire.

They make a number of different frosts as well as colored clear & frost color media. If you visit a theatrical supplier, they will let you look at a "Swatch Book" (or even sell or give you one) that has small samples of each color / frost.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

My recommendation was to add a Frost color filter such as RoscoLux 100 to the inside of the fixture lens.

Yes, thank you...that's where I bought mine although mine was a roll of film. No wonder I couldn't find it in my Amazon orders.

[fudge_brownie]

I replaced the bulbs with a lower Kelvin model. Something around 3000K. Gives the interior a softer white tone, more similar to incandescent bulbs. Leaving the brighter models over the sink area might be another choice. The bulbs came from superbrightleds.com, they also can be found in bulk at Amazon.

Unfortunately, Escape changed fixtures in recent years, I believe the bulbs are not replaceable in the newer model. It now requires changing the entire fixture. I have not heard of replacement fixtures with softer lights.

The plastic film that Karen and Jon mentioned may be the best alternative in that case.

[John in Santa Cruz]

oh boy! I went through this a couple years ago.

mine has this style lights, with the matching single lamp under many of the cabinets (around the dinette, above the sink and counter)... this aren't the original LED arrays in them, however.



I got a bag of like 30 of these warm-white LEDs with the same wedge base from Amazon. They are smaller than the original, and don't have a screw, but I've been over a bunch of washboard and dirt roads and they haven't gotten loose yet.



note the tool. note the upside down one is missing all but 2 of the 8 load resistors, just R3 and R5 remains. Each load resistor powers 3 of the 24 LED chips, so leaving 2 R's lights 6 of the 24, or 1/4th, which is 2 f/stops of brightness.

the one up top here has all 24 lit, the one below it has 12 or 50% lit.


Each dual fixture I put a reduced LED in the 'single' position, and the full bright one in the other position.

I also replaced the 4 captains lamps with warm white MR11 bulbs instead of the original too-bright cold white MR16. The smaller MR11 bulbs fit in the fixtures just fine.
these are various bulbs I tried in the captains lights..




the top left one is the original, both of the other MR16's were too bright. the left middle row MR11 is a bit whiter and brigther, so is over my wife's reading position, while the right middle MR11 is the warmer less bright one, both of these have a very soft wide pattern without reflections or highlight spots. Both are also properly regulated internally, so they don't flicker when the power converter does its thing.

[KLRchickie]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

The plastic film that Karen and Jon mentioned may be the best alternative in that case.

Parchment paper that you may have in your kitchen can help dim the lights as well. Multiple layers needed in the lense to get much effect.

[fudge_brownie]

Nice information to know. Thanks

[dkirk]

I removed the covers, added duct tape, then replaced the covers.
Worked perfect.

Dave

[MrLynn]

Originally Posted by dkirk

I removed the covers, added duct tape, then replaced the covers.
Worked perfect.

Dave

Duct tape? Really?

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by KLRchickie

Parchment paper that you may have in your kitchen can help dim the lights as well. Multiple layers needed in the lense to get much effect.

I used one or two layers of parchment paper with good effect. And cheap!!

[MrLynn]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

I replaced the bulbs with a lower Kelvin model. Something around 3000K. Gives the interior a softer white tone, more similar to incandescent bulbs. Leaving the brighter models over the sink area might be another choice. The bulbs came from superbrightleds.com, they also can be found in bulk at Amazon.

Unfortunately, Escape changed fixtures in recent years, I believe the bulbs are not replaceable in the newer model. It now requires changing the entire fixture. I have not heard of replacement fixtures with softer lights.

The plastic film that Karen and Jon mentioned may be the best alternative in that case.

Late getting back to this. Looks like our bulbs are replaceable. Getting warmer ones would be a great idea, and then if still too bright, adding some filter film.

John, where did you get the bulbs for the reading ('Captain's') lamps?

Thanks for the suggestions!

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by MrLynn

Late getting back to this. Looks like our bulbs are replaceable. Getting warmer ones would be a great idea, and then if still too bright, adding some filter film.

John, where did you get the bulbs for the reading ('Captain's') lamps?

Thanks for the suggestions!

www.superbrightleds.com

as I said, the original 'captains reading' lamps were MR16 size, but the smaller MR11 fit in them just fine.

I think I ended up with this one in 3 corners,
https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...tributes/10932

and this brighter one for my wife,
https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...0-lumens/2842/

(both in 'warm white', the 2nd one is not as warm)

bonus these are both DC 'regulated' lamps, so they don't flicker at all when the voltages shift around during charging cycles or as loads change. the overhead lamps are unregulated and do flicker a fair bit. I'm kind of hypersensitive to flicker, others don't notice it.

[Bea]

Hey John, When we got our Escape in 2019 we found your posts and links to the warmer LED bulbs so that was one of the first things we changed out. Switching the overhead and captain lights to the warmer (~2700K) lights made huge difference. Thanks John! -Bea

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Bea

Hey John, When we got our Escape in 2019 we found your posts and links to the warmer LED bulbs so that was one of the first things we changed out. Switching the overhead and captain lights to the warmer (~2700K) lights made huge difference. Thanks John! -Bea

glad I could help

[KimB]

We had the same problem and used a window privacy adhesive (https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/cat...-solid/2z0-f17). It has worked well. We applied ours on the outside making sure to cover the visible LED light section.

[Mike G]

I was about to suggest D-C Fix, but KimB beat me to it with her link. The stuff adheres but is easily removable and will adhere again. I use it (the texture they call "sand") on a couple of my flashlights to improve the beam. This film generally doesn't change the color temp of the light, it just diffuses it.