LED – Short for Light Emitting Diode, LED headlights are currently at the cutting edge of automotive lighting technology. Because of the light-producing method required to create them, they also have a relatively short life span of around 300 hours making them significantly more expensive than halogen bulbs. As HIDs are very powerful, they are only suitable for use with a car’s main beams or ‘dipped’ lights. HID – Short for High-Intensity Discharge, HIDs use a capsule containing metal salts and argon gas to create powerful light which you may know as Xenon lighting (this is actually a brand name). They also have a short life span of around 750 hours. A halogen car bulb will produce around 700W of light which means they are only suitable for use with a car’s main beams or ‘dipped’ lights. You can recognize a halogen headlight by the tungsten filament that is visible inside the glass cover of the bulb on low-beam headlights, and by the 2 pins at each end of the bulb if you’re looking at high-beam headlights. Halogen headlights produce a bright white light which provides good all-round visibility. Halogen – The most common type of headlight bulb, halogen bulbs have become increasingly efficient over recent years thanks to improved technology and design. Now that’s all cleared up let’s look at the types of headlight bulbs available to buy today: So unless you’re planning to drive across Europe with no streetlights (which would be madness), stick to car bulbs with a lower wattage rating.
If you drive less often or for shorter lengths of time, or are driving at night in traffic lights rather than on open roads, your headlights will last longer. This means that one 60/55W bulb should last you over 12 months traveling at an average of 30mph on the motorway for an hour a day. You see, unless you buy an extremely expensive aftermarket light bulb like a Tungsten-Halogen or HID lamp (both of which will require specific wiring), your standard halogen bulb will last around 750 hours on average. It used to be that way more watts meant brighter headlights for safety and enhanced driving experience, but these days things are different thanks to headlight lens technology (more on this later). You may be under the mistaken impression that bigger is better with car bulbs.
There are highs and lows, main and dipped, but what does it all mean? We’ve put together this guide to explain the basics of what each term means.įirst, let’s clear up some confusion about wattage.
If you’re not too clued up on automotive lighting you may be confused about the lingo being used to describe the different types of headlight bulbs for your car. What Are The Reasons To Upgrade/Change Your Headlight Bulbs?
For models built between 19, the VW Golf uses the H7 bulb for the low beam and the H15 bulb for the high beam.