Difference Between Halogen, HID and LED Bulbs

2023-02-09

Upgrading your LED headlight bulb is one of the easiest, cheapest, and easiest modifications to make. It's usually the first mod for any would-be car tuner, or maybe it's time to replace some old bulbs. Either way, the depth of upgrading lights is amazing, and I'll walk you through all the options.

You may or may not be surprised, but choosing which bulbs to upgrade or replace can be very difficult. Not to mention all the online conflict information of all types. There are three main types of automotive lighting: Halogen, LED, and HID. So let's take a deep dive into what they are, how they work, and which ones might be best for your given application.

Let there be light!

First things first

Whether you can actually upgrade your headlight bulbs depends on the type of headlights your car has. Many newer cars already come with sealed LED headlight conversion kit and require a complete aftermarket headlight assembly. That gets expensive, and those car headlights are usually pretty good from the factory. Even modern cars with HID have certain limitations, but can still be upgraded fairly easily.

Headlight bulbs also come in two main types: reflectors and projectors. Reflectors are the most common and look like chrome mirrors inside the headlight housing. Less common are projectors, which look like a glass ball but actually work like a projector, and are the most effective style of car headlights. Both types accept all bulbs, but must be designed for their specific type of bulb.

Those with halogen headlights are the lucky ones, as they have the most options. Most aftermarket headlight bulbs revolve around upgrading halogen bulbs to brighter, more modern, longer-lasting products. Let's review three popular lights and their pros and cons.

Halogen

Halogen bulbs are the oldest and most common of the three lighting technologies. Invented in the 1800's, halogen lights work on a simple principle, just like the incandescent light bulbs you see in household appliances. But this bulb uses a different, more powerful filament to drastically increase brightness.

The filament is the thin wire in the middle of the bulb that uses electric current to produce light. On its own, it wouldn't be very bright, so the filament is enclosed in a glass bulb filled with an inert gas and a halogen element such as iodine. Combined with a filament made of tungsten, the chemical reaction makes the filament burn super brightly, making it perfect for headlights.

It's a very simple technique, cheap and easy to replace, but halogen bulbs wear out a lot. As the filament expands and contracts with heat, it can break and cause the lamp to fail completely. Most halogen lights have a lifespan of about 2,000 hours, which is a fraction of the lifespan of LEDs and HIDs. Furthermore, the technology is inefficient and consumes a lot of energy. European countries are phasing out the sale of halogen bulbs in favor of LEDs, which means it may be harder to find replacements in the long run.

In terms of light output, halogens are very strong. A well-designed headlight reflector or projector will do most of the work, but halogen lights can do the job of illuminating the road and are arguably brighter than some aftermarket LED lights. Overall, they're a better choice than most people think, especially for a set of quality halogen lights.

HID

HID stands for high intensity discharge. It's a technology almost as old as halogen lighting, but it's not widely used due to cost and complexity. There are similarities between HID lights and halogen lights, but they work fundamentally differently. Instead of a filament, the light is produced by an electric arc passing through a gap between two tungsten electrodes. It's all housed inside an inert gas and metal bulb to affect color temperature and brightness.

Running a HID bulb is a bit more complicated. HIDs are not just a single bulb like halogens and LEDs, they require a ballast and sometimes an igniter to power the bulb. HIDs are also the most expensive, costing hundreds of dollars for a complete ballast and lamp setup. Since they are similar in light pattern to halogen lamps, they can work in halogen reflectors, but there are a number of caveats. Only some halogen reflectors are designed to run HID, and you run the risk of severe glare. Do your research on your application before installing it.

It is by far the brightest of the three bulbs, with an extremely high light output and great versatility. The aftermarket behind HID is also the largest. There is an entire company specializing in the aftermarket of HID lighting. One of my personal favorites is The Retrofit Source. If you're after raw brightness, HIDs are the only option, but they're more expensive and more complicated to run. They're also durable, proven to provide a 10,000-hour lifespan.

LED

LEDs are the newest technology and the simplest. With only one diode that emits light directly, LEDs are inexpensive, ultra-efficient, lightweight and very simple to operate.

The downside of h11 led headlight bulb is primarily a matter of light output. H11 led headlight bulb can be very bright, but the light source is a fraction of the size of halogens and HIDs, making it harder to spot light. The characteristics of led lights are also not suitable for long-distance light output, but a large number of extremely bright flood lights. This makes LED light upgrades for halogen cars more complicated than most people think.

There are LED headlight bulbs designed for use in halogen housings, but the results vary widely. But the technology is still developing and could become a stronger contender. Headlight led conversion kit have a lot more to do with fog lights, turn signals, and brake lights than swapping headlight bulbs. They're also heavily used in the off-road community with light bars, spotlights, and more.

They also have an attractive instant-on and instant-off effect that modernizes older vehicles.

Many new cars are now equipped with led headlights bulb, which means they will become more common and less expensive. LED headlight conversion kit have an exceptional lifespan of approximately 50,000 hours, which is obvious, but may not work exactly as intended.

Which one should you buy?

At the end of the day, there are far more considerations that come with upgrading your lighting than we want to discuss. Of course, headlight bulbs can be much brighter than stock headlights, but there is always the risk of glare that could blind other drivers on the road.

Keeping social awareness in mind, upgrading from halogen lights takes more work than plug-in bulbs. Retrofitting a projector (which I will guide step by step in the future) is a safe and legal way to upgrade to LED or HID, depending on the jurisdiction. Likewise, some LED lights are banned for on-road use, namely most off-road assist lights.

But what you should buy depends on your car and your budget. If it were up to me, I would always upgrade my halogen car with high quality halogen bulbs before spending money on plug and play led headlight bulbs or HID bulbs. Yes, other kinds of headlight bulbs are better, but without the proper support modules, they can cause problems for other drivers.

But now you have the right information to make a choice. Don't leave those old burnt out headlight bulb dimmed for long.