Halogen Vs. LED Car Lights - Who Wins the Battle?
Since the dawn of the 21st century, the standard for car lights has been set by halogen bulbs and they have been at the forefront for a long time now.
Since they are pretty cheap and cost-effective for manufacturers to install, but also get their job done fairly and are pretty simple to repair as well.
In recent years though, a somewhat new contender for the throne has been climbing up its way to the top, pretty steadily and it has also brought some really throne-worthy high-tech features of its own. Let's take a look at the two and see which one is the better solution for you.
LED
Firstly let's introduce the contender for the crown, which is LED (light emitting diode). A type of light that uses a semiconductor in order to generate it - it sounds as simple as it is. LED car lights are made to operate at lower voltages. How they actually generate light is by transferring current through the semiconductor, and when the electronics pass through the semiconductor their movement creates photons which emit light. This type of light generating process makes LED car lights more efficient and it also sets their lifespan up to 20,000+ hours.
Although they generate less heat than halogen lights they still need extra electronics for fans and heat sinks in order to maintain optimal temperatures. This makes them physically larger than halogen bulbs and it can prevent them from fitting inside a classic halogen bulb housing. But when it comes to changing the whiteness of the light, they don't need more heat, instead, LED's will need a change of the semiconductors' physical properties - this makes them more complicated than halogen lights, even when it comes to setting them up. If you are someone whos looking for a long-term solution, I suggest you go with LED lights.
Halogen
Unlike LED car lights, Halogen light bulbs are a form of incandescent light that uses a tungsten filament to generate light with the help of a small amount of halogen gas. This gas makes the bulb light up by generating heat when it comes in contact with electricity - hence why they are hot to the touch. The halogen bulb is used in almost 90% of cars and they don't need any special electronics in order for them to function - just a set of wires directly connected to the dashboard.
A halogen light bulb has a luminous efficiency (ability to emit light relative to its power draw) from 2% to 4% which once again proves how inefficient it is when compared to LED's or even HID bulbs and as such, they can be up to 10 times brighter. On the bright side, the halogenic bulb is at least simple and cheap without being too much of hassle when it comes to fixing it, as there can only be one problem - damaged filament. In turn for LED's great benefits, halogen bulbs deliver a solid amount of light for just a fraction of their cost.
