With cars changing like never before, it’s no surprise that their lights are also evolving.
As manufacturers consider the environmental impact of their work, energy efficient solutions have become more popular on our vehicles. Advances in technology have given us three common bulb types:
- halogen
- light emitting diodes (LED)
- xenon/high intensity discharge (HID)
Halogen headlights
Halogen lights are the most popular kind on our roads today. They use a combination of gases – usually nitrogen and argon – and a tungsten filament in a glass tube.
Once the filament is heated, light is produced. They are cheap and easy to replace, but have fallen out of favour in recent years.
A standard Halogen bulb will produce 1300 Lumen, a good level of light but dimmer than other options.
The unnecessary and unused heat generated by halogen makes it incredibly inefficient and as light isn’t focused, illumination of the road isn’t as bright as it could be.
LED headlights
LED stands for ‘light emitting diodes’ and is currently the most energy efficient system widely available.
With a short rise time – the time it takes to turn on – they work over 250 times faster than halogen, making it the perfect system for brake and indicator lights.
The long-lasting light source is small and can be arranged into a variety of designs, which gives manufacturers a lot more flexibility with their designs. These directional lights are brighter than halogen bulbs of the same wattage as well.
LEDs produce a small amount of heat at the emitter when electricity passes through and require cooling systems to avoid damage to nearby cables. Cooling systems are generally positioned in the engine bay.
With a number of human-made components, LEDs are expensive in comparison to halogen bulbs.
Xenon headlights
Xenon high intensity discharge (HID) headlights heat gases and rare metals to generate a bright white or blue glow.
They are up to three times brighter than halogen bulbs with the same wattage. HID lamps need more power to start up than halogen but operate at a much lower power usage, with a greater lifespan.
HID headlights are very distinctive when you see them out on the road, but they’ve failed to become an industry standard for a few reasons. Among these are the cost of the rare metals needed to produce them, their uncontrolled brightness which often causes glare for other drivers, and the time they take to reach full brightness.