#Car lights led vs halogen vs hid install#
#Car lights led vs halogen vs hid drivers#

I knew they’d look good in the housing (like all LEDs do), but I was happy that the light output was great too.

#Car lights led vs halogen vs hid install#

Install is a breeze, and the color is very similar to HIDs giving you that same european/luxury look. There is no need for a ballast like HIDs which is nice, they just plug into the OEM wiring and you’re good to go. After driving around with them for a little bit, they don’t seem to be getting too hot to be concerned although you can hear the fans running which is a little unusual at first. Despite the added size, they fit inside the housings just fine, although I had to poke some holes in the dust boots so they don’t overheat. The LEDs I picked up for my wife’s Ford Focus have built in fans to keep them cool, making them a lot larger than the halogen bulbs that came with the car. My previous opinion was that LEDs didn’t work well for high/low headlight beams because they didn’t throw light far enough…but like I said, the technology has come a long way since the cheapo LED bulbs of the past, and manufacturers are now specifically designing LED bulbs intended to be used for the high/low beam bulbs for your car.

I picked up a kit on Amazon for roughly $32 that had great reviews, so I went for it. I was recently encouraged by a blog reader to reconsider my stance on LEDs as a main headlight beam…LEDs have come a long way since I originally wrote this, and more and more options are on the market making LEDs worth reconsidering for your high or low beam headlight bulbs. May require resistors to avoid a “bulb out” error on dash.More color options than halogen or HID, option for strobe lighting.Brighter than halogen, but less bright than HID.They, too, consume less energy than halogen bulbs and are very long-lasting, sometimes up to tens of thousands of hours. One of the most popular reasons for choosing LED bulbs is that they come in many different colors of light. That means they can be made quite small and can withstand any vibrations and bumps that may occur on rough roads. The circuit is either switched on or it is off these bulbs do not require a heating up period. One of the biggest advantages in favor of LED headlights is that they have very few parts. LEDs are electrical conductors that emit light when they are turned on by way of an electrical circuit. LED bulbs are relatively new on the automotive lighting scene, but they have gained huge popularity in recent years. Requires a ballast to power it (needs room to mount).

#Car lights led vs halogen vs hid drivers#

Needs a projector lens to focus beam or may blind oncoming drivers.

Bigger shape than halogen (may not fit).

Far less energy consumption than halogen.

Far brighter light, and a cooler color than halogen.

That results in better night driving visibility and increased safety, even in bad weather. HID bulbs also use much less energy than halogen bulbs and last much longer than halogen bulbs – 2000 hours of illumination as opposed to just 450. On the downside, HID lights are rather expensive when compared to other types of lights and because they are uniquely shaped, it can be difficult to retrofit an older car with these bulbs.

To put that into perspective, you can get about 3,000 lumens (a unit measuring the amount of light emitted per second) from an HID bulb, whereas a halogen bulb emits just about half that amount, for a difference of 90 square meters vs. The result is a brighter light than you get from a tungsten element alone. Benefits of HID LightsĪlso known as xenon headlights, HID (or high intensity charge bulbs) feature an arc of electricity created by electricity travelling between two tungsten electrodes inside the bulb, which is filled with xenon gas.

Let’s look at LED vs HID headlights and compare the two options throughout the rest of this post to understand when one option is better than the other. Both are good options for your vehicle, but there are some differences bear noting when choosing between the two. Whereas halogen bulbs more closely resemble the type of household bulbs that you would have at home, both LED and HID headlights use sophisticated technology to light your path. A commenter recently asked why I recommend HID vs LED setups depending on the bulb, which is a great question! Both LED and HID headlights have gained popularity in recent years because they offer the appeal of advance technology and high performance, as compared to traditional halogen bulbs. I have a number of posts on my blog about upgrading your existing halogen bulbs to either HID (Xenon) bulbs for headlights or fog lights, as well as a number of articles on upgrading to LED bulbs for smaller things like DRLs, Reverse Bulbs, and City Lights.