Bedroom Light Mod

[Roy W.]

For reasons unknown to me, Jayco installed a light over the bed in my 33RLDS that you can't reach without getting on the bed. They neglected to install a wall switch similar to the bathroom. After a 3 AM inspiration, I installed a pull chain light switch in the original light fixture. The pull chain switch is available at most hardware stores in the ceiling fan section. Dropping the light fixture was easy although I'll never understand why Jayco uses 8 screws to hold the fixture up. There is room inside the light fixture for the switch after drilling a 3/8 inch hole for the pull chain to come through. The original switch itself has two wires, and requires cutting only ONE of the two wires going to the light fixture. The pull chain switch is installed in line with the cut wires. I just used crimp type butt splices to make the connections. Remember only cut one of the black or white wires going to the switch. The only problem I incurred was getting enough wire through the hole in the ceiling to work with. It seems that when Jayco installed the roof, they pinched the wires, but with some effort I was able to pull enough through to work with. The pull chain cord now hangs down in the middle of the bed and is reachable from all sides.

[pawpaw]

Great idea! Any pictures of exactly how you did it?

[Chrislorl]

Good suggestion, the better half can't reach those either. I do kind of enjoy watching her climb onto the bed and stand up to get the switch, but my smirk generally doesn't help. The other bedroom light is the one directly in front of your face when you sleep. I added a blue light film inside the lens, now I can turn it on without blinding myself.

The last thing I need is to find a dark shade for the window so I can sleep a bit later when desired.

[dewey02]

I didn't like the overhead lights directly over my head when reading in bed. It would shine right in my eyes. So I purchased two of these from Amazon and installed them on the sides of the closets on either side of the bed. They are bright, but have adjustable tilt so you can point them at the book and not in your eyes. I tapped into the overhead lights for power and snaked the wiring through the overhead cabinet and into the back of the bedside closets, so no wire is visible anywhere.
Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Murphie]

Dewey02, how did you snake the line from the light fixture to the cubboard?

[dewey02]

Originally Posted by Murphie

Dewey02, how did you snake the line from the light fixture to the cubboard?

The cabinets over the bed have a false floor in them (about 3/4" between the bottom of the inside cabinet and the bottom of the outside of the cabinet). This is where the wires run for the existing "reading" lights over the bed - the ones I didn't like. I unscrewed these lights to access the wires and patched into those. Then I went inside the side cabinets/wardrobes and drilled a small hole to access the 3/4 inch hollow space in the adjoining overhead cabinets and snaked the wires through. Then ran wires about 10 inches along the inside of the wardrobe to another hole I drilled that put the new reading light where I wanted it. These wires are only visible if you look inside the wardrobe and since we have hanging shelves installed inside our wardrobes, they aren't even visible then. I also left the existing overhead lights in place and operable as there was no need to remove them.

Here's a photo of the bedroom (not ours, but a similar photo from the internet) that will give you some idea of the overhead cabinets, the overhead lights and the side wardrobes.