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Do wired dome lights drain battery?

Discussion in 'Tonneau Covers, Caps and Shells' started by rlofthouse, Jun 19, 2025.

  1. Jun 19, 2025 at 10:03 AM
    #1
    rlofthouse

    rlofthouse [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Do wired dome lights drain your car battery over time? Any experience with this vs a conventional (ie AA) battery light? Would love a recommendation if theres a good conventional battery light, with sufficient lifespan
     
  2. Jun 19, 2025 at 10:06 AM
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    HondaGM

    HondaGM Call sign Monke

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    I'm not sure what your talking about...Factory dome light or adding a light..
     
  3. Jun 19, 2025 at 10:09 AM
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    Jerry311SD

    Jerry311SD Well-Known Member

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    If the light is off ,NO
     
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  4. Jun 19, 2025 at 10:27 AM
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    Alex the Great

    Alex the Great Well-Known Member

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  5. Jun 19, 2025 at 1:28 PM
    #5
    rlofthouse

    rlofthouse [OP] Well-Known Member

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    to clarify - specifically referring to wire dome light and/or battery options for camper shells
     
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  6. Jun 19, 2025 at 1:57 PM
    #6
    4x4junkie

    4x4junkie Well-Known Member

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    If you leave the light on... Yes.
    If you leave the light off... No.

    So the question probably should be: "How long can the light be left on before the battery is drained?", which that will depend on what type of light you use (whether incandescent or LED) and how many bulbs (how much lighting) you use.
    A typical 12W incandescent light should be able to run for several hours from a healthy battery before there's any concern of not being able to start the engine.
    Using LED, can boost that up to a few days, but will also depend on how much light you're adding too (bright LED strip lights can still be pretty power-hungry whereas wedge-base LED bulbs in a light fixture tend to be more efficient). If you keep the total power draw under 6 watts or so (500mA) which should be easy to do with LED lighting, you shouldn't have any trouble unless you plan to be parked for several days (which there are solutions for that as well).
     

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