Last Updated on April 30, 2024 by Nikole

Not only does campervan lighting serve a practical use (being able to see what you’re doing in the dark), but can also serve as an aesthetic use. The right type of lighting can really pull a room, a moment, or a van together. I am here to help you choose the right lights for your lifestyle.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.

Welcome to our official guide on everything you need to know about campervan lighting!

In the next little bit, we will go over things like lumens, types of lighting, do’s and don’ts when it comes to lighting, and more.

P.S. Don’t wait until after you build your walls and ceilings in your campervan, especially if you want sturdy lighting. We made this mistake, and only use battery-powered RBG strip lighting that is stuck on the outside of the walls. Our lighting has already been replaced after just a few months of using it.

It’s better when your primary light source is built into the walls because it provides a certain sturdiness that non-permanent lighting cannot. However, if you simply do not want the hassle or the cost of installation, there is nothing wrong with battery-operated lighting in your van.

Considerations for Camper Van Lighting

First thing’s first, you need to figure out what types of lighting you want to install. Different lighting serves different purposes.

Sometimes you need bright lighting to cook a late evening meal or look for something in your van. Other times you may want to chill in your bed with a low warm light that will coax you to sleep.

Here are all of the things you need to look for to find the perfect campervan lighting…

1. 1. Power usage
2. 2. Lumens
3. 3. Asthetics
4. 4. Objective
5. 5. Efficiency
6. 6. Color/Warmth

Power Usage

Power usage seems to be the biggest concern for campervan dwellers, and with good reason. Living in a mobile vehicle will have you thinking about where you will get your power from and what things are a priority to power.

Lighting is a huge priority in your campervan, especially in those cold winter months when the sun goes down earlier. In the winter you will also need to consider that you will be using even more power because the lights will be on more.

When considering permanent lighting you need to think about running it off your campervan battery. You will need a 12v lighting solution with hookups and an inverter.

The best decision you will make is to purchase LED lights. They are the least likely to consume your power.

Also, installing a dimmer along with your lights can help reduce power usage, I will go over this more later on.

Here are some other ways to conserve your campervan’s power when you need to stay warm in the winter.

Lumens

Lumens are used to describe how bright your lighting is. The higher the number the brighter it is, the lower the number the duller the light is.

The goal is to aim higher in lumens when it comes to workspaces, kitchen areas, and bathrooms. For example, you would want anything above 500 Lumens for these spaces.

For spaces such as a living area, or just for reading, you would want below 500 lumens.

Check out these posts to learn more about Small Camper Van Kitchens or Bathroom solutions for Small Campervans.

Asthetics

When you think of campervans you may think of that gorgeous view out the back doors, sitting on the rooftop enjoying nature, or those fairy lights draped gracefully around the ceiling of the bed.

Lighting is such a huge part of being outdoors, camping, and campervanning. One of the best parts of a campervan is how the lighting pulls everything together.

Even if you don’t want to install permanent lights, you can still have the aesthetic appeal of fairy lights or something similar.

What’s the Purpose

Fairy lights or even Christmas lights draped around the bed may look beautiful, inviting, and warm. However, even though they provide some light for your campervan, it’s not always enough.

Personally, we keep these types of lights as our primary, but we also have a tiny van that doesn’t need much lighting.

Depending on what size your van is will help you determine what kind of lighting you need.

Campervans with small bathrooms or kitchens may need to think about more than just looks. A more permanent lighting system may be more appealing in this type of setting.

Efficiency

Oh, that precious power supply we vanlifers are always looking out for. Thankfully, lighting shouldn’t put too much of a damper on your power supply, especially when you are looking for LED lights.

Led lights offer the most power supply savings than any other lighting option.

Another thing that will help with your campervan’s power supply is a dimmer for your lighting. You can keep your light bright as you are cooking, and dim it (to save more power) when you are reading.

Color/Warmth

When talking about the color or the “temperature” of your campervan lighting the word Kelvins is used.

The higher the number, the bluer the light will appear. 7500k is around the number where lighting begins to turn a tint of blue.

The lower the number, the warmer the color of the lighting will appear. 5600k is around the number where lighting begins to look warm.

Types of campervan Lights

Now that you have decided what type of lighting your campervan needs, let’s talk about what types of lighting specifically will go well in which spaces.

Permanent Lighting

Permanent lighting is great for full-time campervan owners, especially for those who own big vans with a good size living space. Even if you have a small van, like us, permanent lighting could prove to be less messy and stressful.

Check out our awesome campervan conversion we built for about $500.

Wired Puck Lights: These puck lights will work great in a camper van that requires permanent lighting. They are great for under cabinets, or as the main light on the ceiling. They go up to 1800 lumens but are able to dim. I wouldn’t recommend using in a bathroom with a shower, these are not waterproof.

• Dimable
• 12v
• Perfect for most spaces
• Linkable connection
• Use as many lights as you need
• Low profile
• 12volts
• LED

Acegoo RV Boat Recessed LED Ceiling Light: This ceiling light is perfect for a campervan as it has proven to be durable. Campervans can hold moisture, therefore can be harsh on certain lighting. These recessed LED lights are designed for harsher treatment. Perfect for any type of environment including a bathroom with lower ventilation.

• Water proof
• Dimable
• Waterproof
• Warm lighting
• Anti glare
• LED

ALOVECO LED RV Lights: A smaller option for campervan lighting. These you can fit in just about any corner of your van. This pack of 8 is ultra thin therefore sitting flush against the ceiling. That means not bumping it with your head or accidentally ripping the light fixture off the ceiling.

• Waterproof
• Small
• Option to dim
• 12volt
• 50,000 hour lifetime usage

Outside Lighting

Awning Lights: Much like the LED strip lights (I will be going over this in more detail later on) these awning lights are specifically for outdoor use. If your camper van has an awning installed already this is a great option to have for those late-night bathroom visits, or sitting outside the van chilling.

• 1500 lumens
• 12V
• Fully waterproof
• Built for Awnings

Canopy Lighting: This type of lighting has been extremely useful. We set up a canopy when we go to campgrounds because we have little to no space in our van to do much other than sleep and watch some tv. A canopy and lights are a must for us if we want some chill time in the dark.

If you want to read more about how we make it on the road in our small campervan, click here.

• LED
• Battery operated
• 24 hour use
• Comes in several different color options
• For canopy use

Aesthetic Lighting

Aesthetic lighting may not be the best option for a permanent source of light, but it does prove to bring a certain appeal to vanlife. As I said before, this lights up our campervan just enough. There is no right or wrong when it comes to what you personally want for your campervan lighting.

Fairy Lights: These are everyone’s visualization of living in a camper van. They are beautiful above the bed. However, they aren’t the most convenient as they are not permanent. They tend to get in the way and are not bright enough for workspaces.

• USB plug
• 16 colors in one
• Easy instalation

RBG Lights: RBG lights are my FAVORITE lighting on the market!! This is the main type of light we use for our campervan, and it provides plenty of lighting. I wouldn’t recommend this as your main lighting if your campervan is big enough for more than a bed.

The picture below is of our van with the RBG lights behind the ceiling boards. They really are perfect for the small van that we travel in. They provide us with enough light to see around when we decide to lay down for the night.

I would recommend getting ones that are outdoor compatible. The first set of RBG lights we broke within 2 months because they were not specified for outdoor use.

• Waterproof
• LED
• 12V
• Many different light colors

Innovative Camper Van Lighting

Sometimes you need the occasional lighting for odd areas in your van. Cargo areas and under the bed areas can be dark, thus making it hard to find things late at night.

Night Lights: You laugh now, but wait until your husband leaves the toilet seat in your camper van up and you fall in… not fun. this happened to me on a few occasions when we were vacationing with other people. I honestly wish I had this item, but maybe just looking before you pop a squat will help.

• 16 different colors
• LED
• Motion sensing
• Battery powered

Light Switch Light: This is a great item to put by your bed when you need to get up for a few seconds in the middle of the night, but don’t want to wake up the person you are traveling with. It puts out enough lighting to see your way.

Also a great option for cargo areas, but not the best option as they tend to be a bit bulky. It’s not ideal when you need to move bulky items out of the van.

• Cheap lighting option
• Good for cargo areas
• Battery operated
• Great for secondary emergency lighting

Reading Lights: If you love reading you need one of these battery-operated reading lights. This will help save power in your van when you don’t need those overhead lights on.

• Soft lighting for the eyes
• Won’t wake up your partner
• USB charger cable

Flashlights/outside Campervan Lighting

I don’t care if you are camping, campervanning, or just living in a house; everyone needs a flashlight. Who knows when you will find yourself in an emergency. Maybe your invertor for your battery breaks or your battery dies; good thing you have a flashlight!

Camping Lantern: Perfect for camping along with campervan lighting. This camping lantern is great because it’s solar-powered. It’s perfect for those looking to conserve power usage.

• Solar Powered
• LED
• Waterproof
• Compact

Headlamp: Fantastic for emergency situations. A headlamp came in handy when we had to get out of the van to tie some items down before a major storm blew through. It really freed our hands to get the job done faster. Let me just say we were the only ones at the campground that didn’t lose any of our gear to the wind.

• 260 lumens
• 7 light modes
• 35 hours of low light mode

Flashlights: this flashlight is great for emergency use because of it’s brightness and durability. One of my biggest mistakes as a homeowner and a campervan owner is not having a flashlight. I’m usually stumbling in the dark looking for my phone so I can use that light, and it’s usually not bright enough.

• 1000 lumens
• Waterproof
• Shock resistant

LED Light Bar: I personally love to have a light bar on my vehicles in case we have to do some night driving. We prefer the ones that are installed above the front bumper in front of the grill (or somewhere in that general area).

We love these for lighting up dark back roads where there are the possibilities of deer running into the road.

Don’t put all of your trust in your light bar. Just because it can light up the road well doesn’t mean you will see every pothole and every animal.

The only reason we don’t prefer the rooftop light bars is because of the cargo we carry. Usually, we carry kayaks or paddleboards along with a cargo carrier, and we just wouldn’t have enough room to accommodate everything. Also, we would like to avoid yet another item making more road noise.

• Waterproof
• 24000lm
• 7 inches across

Fire Light

Fire pits are one of the most peaceful things in the world. Hearing the crackling noises and watching the flames dance is one of the best parts of being in nature.

Firepit: Sometimes certain campgrounds will not allow an open fire unless it is contained. This small portable fire pit is a perfect go-to when trying to enjoy the outdoors. It’s extremely portable, and small in size compared to most fire pits.

• Extremely portable
• Small in size
• Propane
• Easy to use fire pit

Fake Fire: There are fire bans in states at certain times. I’m not saying fake fire will give you the whole experience of lighting a real fire, but it’s the closest thing to it.

These lights can be stood up on a table or hung from the side of your camper van. They imitate a fire by flickering. These are gravity sensitive, so whether you hang them upside down or place them right side up, the bottom of the flame will always be at the bottom.

• Gravity sensative
• Electric or battery powered
• Gravity sensative
• Waterproof
• LED

Candles: I wouldn’t recommend lighting a real candle in a camper van due to the size of the housing. However, you can get fake flickering candles that still give off the same warm feeling.

• Fake flame
• Timer so it won’t burn out the battery
• Battery operated
• Safe

P.S. Always carry a fire extinguisher in your camper van even if you are lighting a fire on the outside of your van.

Dimmers for Campervan Lighting

There are several reasons to install a dimmer for your camper van lighting. Dimming the lights not only saves power but can make your lights customizable. When you are cooking/cleaning you can have your lights on super bright, and when it’s bedtime or time to read you can dim them accordingly.

Dimmer and Switch: Have the dimmer and light switch right next to each other. Unfortunately, you will have to get up to manually dim the lights (I’m lazy, and would rather use the app dimmer listed below.)

• 12v
• Use for LED, halogen, and Incandescent
• Different color options to blend with your vans interior

App-Controlled Dimmer: This light dimmer is fully controllable through an app on your phone, perfect for lazy people like me. Adjust the brightness of your lights with ease while laying in bed.

• App opperated
• 12v
• Needs a phone to opperate

Facon Touch Dimmer: When you don’t want the hassle of dealing with phone apps, you can install this touch-sensitive dimmer. However, if you cannot locate the negative wire going to your lights this dimmer will not work for your camper van.

• 12v
• May not work with all lighting options.

How to Keep track of remotes

Remotes are such a problem that most light controls can be found on an app.

Many LED strip lights have a remote option and an app option. Unfortunately, the app that I use for my RBG lights has constant bugs, so I like to keep the remote around just in case. We constantly are losing the small thing so we had a few ideas for keeping track of it.

Try getting a self-adhesive holder for your walls or side of the bed. The only downside to this is the possibility of bumping into it and tearing your walls.

You could also try velcro and stick the remote in an inconspicuous space.

Protect the Eyes

Did you know that red light is easier on the eyes? That’s why you will find that many flashlights have a red light option.

using a red light after waking up in the middle of the night won’t interrupt your circadian rhythm, therefore you can get back to sleep easier.

What about the bugs?

No matter what you do, you will always have pesky bugs being attracted to your motorhome lights. You can however minimize the number of bugs that may visit.

Bugs are least attracted to a warm yellow light such as this one. They also don’t care so much for LED bulbs (probably because they don’t get very hot), which is great because that’s what most people need to use in their van anyway.

This is a better option than putting chemical bug sprays on your skin or using a candle that could get knocked over. However, if you are like me, the bugs will always find you! So good luck, I hope this can at least decrease the number of insects.

Conclusion

Whatever lighting you may find yourself with make sure it’s durable. You don’t need the fanciest lighting on the market to start your vanlife. you do, however, need something that lasts through the rough journeys ahead. Happy campervan light hunting!