I've seen the lists and have a great idea of what needs to be done when it comes to interior lighting. My question actually came to me and the idea for switching to LED as well from the temperature produced By the stock bulbs. I had my hand resting on my floor shifter (automatic) and felt the heat from the lit gear indicator. So being ignorant to this...are LED's cooler? All that heat can't be good for anything either behind my gauges or on near the shifter. Gonna be swapping this stuff out soon if the result will be cooler temps.

 

yes, led's are MUCH cooler. thats also why you are seeing them in refrigerators. they require much fewer amps to create equal or more light.
amps are the resistance of flow in terms of electricity. when you have too many amps in too small of a wire, it begins to melt. thats how some electrical fires are started in homes and even cars. then you also have voltage drop and things of that nature, but thats a subject all its own. if you plan on adding additional lighting like off-road lights, its all better to spend a little more money on better/bigger gauge wire.

 

+1^^
The lifetime of an led also greatly beats that of an incandescent bulb.
The only problem with running leds as gauge lights and such, is that they don't light up as evenly or widely as incandescent bulbs, causing there to be hotspots. (some areas not being as well lit as others) This is really just cosmetic though.

 

I'm more worried about releaving some of the heat. Thanks for the info...plenty on here about where to find bulbs and what to use.

 

Just remember that the gauges and surrounding plastics are designed to handle any heat those bulbs will put out. Otherwise they would have melted a long time ago. Unless it's just to keep your hands cool when you are shifting.