Which shines better, xenon or LEDs? Which lamps are better to put in headlights: choice, description, characteristics

Good road illumination provided by halogen headlights dark time days is the main guarantee of traffic safety. The quality of lighting depends on what kind of headlights you use for your car. Today we will tell you how halogen headlights work, what their pros and cons are, and how they differ from xenon ones.

1

Its device is simple. In general, it is a regular incandescent lamp. This is a tungsten filament stretched between two electrodes and enclosed in a glass bulb. Yet there is one serious difference. Instead of a vacuum, a mixture of gases (iodine, bromine, fluorine, chromium vapor) is pumped into a halogen lamp and a glass flask made of heat-resistant glass is used.

The device of halogen lamps

During operation, tungsten evaporates from the filament, which leads to its thinning, and tungsten evaporation settles on the flask, causing it to turn black. To positively influence this process, gas is used in the lamp. It prevents tungsten atoms from settling on the glass and, circulating inside the flask, returns them back to the filament. Thereby extending the life of the lamp and protecting it from blackening. The light output also increases due to the gas.

2

The advantages of these lamps include:

1. They are more expensive than conventional lamps, but much cheaper than xenon and LED lamps.
2. The service life is approximately 1000 hours.
3. Wide selection for all headlights and weather conditions.

Along with the advantages, there are also disadvantages, namely:

1. The most significant is energy consumption, since during operation the lion's share of all energy consumed turns into heat (from 300 degrees).
2. They should not be touched with hands. When replacing, you need to use rubber gloves or, as a last resort, a napkin. Greasy marks left on the bulb can subsequently lead to blackening or even malfunction.

Application of these headlights

To improve light output, halogen lamps are coated with a special coating that reflects infrared rays. This coating traps infrared radiation, reflecting it back onto the filament, causing the temperature inside the lamp to rise.

For better lighting, in poor conditions weather conditions use so-called all-season halogen lamps. They have increased efficiency at high humidity (rain, snowfall, fog). This is achieved using light diffraction (bending the trajectory of light rays to avoid small obstacles). When humidity is high, the rays have to hide from some kind of obstacle in the form of moisture.

For even better color rendering and dispersion of light rays, special halogen lenses are used. They look much more beautiful and do not dazzle oncoming cars as much. However, when using them, a slight dimming of the light is noticed.

3

The difference between halogen headlights and xenon headlights is quite significant. TO distinctive features relate:

• different design;
• installation and start-up methods;
• lighting quality;
• price.

Comparison with xenon headlights

Xenon headlights have better color rendering and a deeper tint that is pleasing to the eye. However, the price for such pleasure is correspondingly high. Therefore, when a car owner needs to choose between two evils, one should rely on the expected effect, price and class of the car.

In conclusion, I would like to note that, taking into account all the shortcomings and differences, we should not write off halogen headlights from accounts.

Although they are inferior in characteristics to xenon or other more expensive options, but are still economical and quite quality replacement ordinary incandescent lamps.

And when the right approach When choosing optics, you can achieve good results for reasonable money. This light will good decision, if there is no point in investing a lot in a car, but you often have to drive in the dark.

X Do you still think that diagnosing a car is difficult?

If you are reading these lines, it means you have an interest in doing something yourself in the car and really save money, because you already know that:

• Service stations charge a lot of money for simple computer diagnostics
• To find out the error you need to go to specialists
• The services use simple impact wrenches, but you can’t find a good specialist

And of course you are tired of throwing money down the drain, and driving around the service station all the time is out of the question, then you need a simple CAR SCANNER ROADGID S6 Pro, which connects to any car and through a regular smartphone you will always find the problem, turn off CHECK and good save money!!!

We ourselves tested this scanner on different cars and he showed excellent results, now we recommend it to EVERYONE! So you don't get caught Chinese fake, we publish here a link to the official website of Autoscanner.

Halogen headlights are automotive optics in which, to form luminous flux lamps filled with a special gas mixture are used. Most often, the bulb cylinder is filled with a buffer inert gas with vapors of one of the halogens chlorine, bromine, fluorine or iodine. To create a glow, inside glass flask an incandescent filament is placed, which ensures the temperature of the coil within 3000 K.

Benefits of gas-filled lenses

• light output efficiency 15-22 lm/W;
• service life 2000-4000 hours;
• high intensity of luminous flux;
• smaller dimensions compared to conventional lamps of similar power;
• uniform lighting provides more high reliability recognition of the surrounding space;
• resistance to power surges.

Today, most car models are equipped with optics based on halogen lamps and parabolic reflectors. The special glass used to make the bulb cylinder ensures long term service and high brightness of the luminous flux.

The first gas-filled lamps were produced with a single filament. They were used in headlights or additional light. In 1970, Philips introduced a light bulb with two filaments for low beam and high beam. If early models halogen headlights distributed the light with special lenses, then modern devices are equipped with lenses or reflectors, however, like everything that can be chosen and inexpensively purchased today.

They provide minimal glare to drivers at a sufficiently large lighting distance. The low beam of modern halogen headlights is asymmetrical, which creates good conditions to illuminate the right (left) side of the road and part of the curb.

Types of halogen lamps

Gas-filled light bulbs are divided into several types:

Standard Halogen bulbs are typically installed in headlights at the factory. The power of devices for high beam is 60 W, and for low beam – 55 W.

High luminous flux halogen bulbs differ from standard devices by higher brightness within 30%. A brighter glow is created by overheating the spiral. This, in turn, leads to a decrease in resource, so such light bulbs burn out much more often compared to conventional lamps.

All-weather halogen light bulbs Designed for use in inclement weather conditions. The glow of all-weather headlights has a yellow tint, which ensures good illumination in fog and slush.

Halogen lamps increased power characterized by a longer and thicker spiral. They consume more energy and get hotter. Installation of such bulbs in standard optics is not recommended due to the fact that the headlights high temperature may become deformed. The wiring may also burn out. Due to the distinctive geometric parameters spirals, adjusting headlights with high-power halogen bulbs has its own characteristics. Therefore, it is better to entrust this event to specialists.

• Pseudoxenon halogen bulbs create a brighter bluish glow compared to standard lamps due to the coating of the bulb with special bluish dyes. The power consumption of such devices is higher. In good dry weather, the efficiency of such lamps is quite good. However, in bad weather, the illumination is significantly reduced. Also, if moisture gets in, the lamp may burst due to high heat. Installing pseudo-xenon lamps significantly reduces the luminous flux, so correct adjustment headlights is almost impossible.

Installing halogen lenses

In cases where the head standard optics does not provide high-quality road lighting; it is recommended to install additional halogen light sources. To do this, you will need headlights, a block and fuses, wires, a power button, a power relay, heat-shrink tubing, electrical tape, clamp blocks, as well as a set of screwdrivers and wrenches.

First you need to decide on the choice of additional headlights. The best option There may be standard devices for which there are mounts in the bumper of your model. If this is not provided by the manufacturer, you can buy any halogen headlights if you have the appropriate certificates. It is better to buy optics complete with wiring and fuses. For standard low beam lamps with a power of 55 W, 10 A fuses and 25-30 A relays are sufficient.

Remember, the optimal connection diagram for halogen headlights is through the low beam relay contact or to the ignition switch. In this case, when the ignition is turned off additional headlights will turn off automatically.

In this way, you can avoid draining the battery if for some reason - or for some reason, you suddenly forgot to turn off the headlights forcibly. Additional headlights must be connected via a relay with fuses.

All work on installing additional optics should be done by first disconnecting one of the battery terminals. All wires and connectors must be carefully insulated, and relays and contact buttons must be placed in heat-shrinkable tubes.

Halogen headlights are installed in standard spots on the bumper, if any. If such places are not provided, then the optics should be mounted in accordance with the requirements Technical regulations. After installing the headlights, we install the wiring. One of the headlight wires must be connected to ground in any direction. convenient location, screwed to the body. The remaining two wires are placed in a corrugated plastic tube and attached to the car's standard wiring with plastic clamps. Then the wires are brought into the cabin. Try to arrange the wiring in the area where the relay and fuse panels are located.

Connection diagram for halogen headlights

After finishing the wiring work, the halogen headlights are connected. The fuse panel should usually have free places for relays and fuses. If there are no free connectors, then the relay with fuses should be mounted in a separate block, which is then secured close to the fuse block.

The connection diagram for halogen headlights is as follows. The wires are connected through separate fuses to the relay (connector No. 86). Output No. 85 is connected to the battery positive. This can be done in three different ways:

• ignition switch contact;
• separate wire from the battery;
• Low beam relay output No. 85.

The output of relay No. 87 is connected to ground in any convenient place.

After that we install the power button. If your car has special places for buttons, then remove one of the plugs and install the button. To conveniently connect the wires, you must first remove the decorative trim of the dashboard.

Typically, standard power buttons are equipped with indicator lights. In this case, the indication connection pins are connected in parallel with the wiring of other keys. Similarly, we connect the positive contact in parallel. We connect the second control wire of the button to the output of the headlight relay No. 30.

We check that the additional headlights are connected correctly.

If, when you turn on the ignition and press the button for turning on the halogen headlights, a click is heard (the relay is turned on) and the additional optics light up, you can begin to complete the installation work.

The main advantage of LED headlights over halogen ones is not that they save energy: the benefit is cheap. The main advantage is that the spectrum of such lamps is closer to daylight, which is why we see objects illuminated by them in natural colors. The driver's eyes are less strained, fatigue comes later, and this has a positive effect on safety. And since there can be not one, not two, but several dozen light sources, it appears more possibilities form a light beam of optimal shape: we illuminate everything that is needed without blinding oncoming people.

But this is in theory, which so far only works in cases with . For example, smart matrix LED headlights they know how to dim part of the light flux so as not to dazzle other drivers, and are able to hit high beam at a distance of up to half a kilometer.

Budget lighting technology is much simpler, its capabilities are much more modest, so the technical characteristics of inexpensive LED headlights, to put it mildly, are far from ideal. We have repeatedly come across cars with budget LED headlights (for example, Nissan Tiida and X-Trail, Mazda 6, Lexus LX, Toyota Land Cruiser 200), and they always lost to the same cars, but equipped with traditional halogens. There is a lot of show-off, but little sense.

But LED lighting technology is gradually improving. And it is about to become able to compete in terms of lighting characteristics with halogens even on inexpensive cars.

Kaptur and Kaptur

First compact crossover with LED lighting technology. In the top version, it is equipped with LED headlights with Pure Vision technology and dynamic turn indicators. The same Kaptur with conventional halogen headlights will cost 60 thousand rubles less.

We take two Captures - one with halogens, the other with a cold LED “look” - and run them according to our “light” method.

The cars take turns taking their starting position in front of the area marked with cones. The distance between the cones in length and width is 10 meters. A kind of chessboard. In low and high beam modes, we measure the illumination at each pole with a lux meter and obtain light distribution diagrams that clearly show which headlights shine better.

Shine everywhere

I’m on a Capture with halogens and I can’t give these headlights more than a B minus for their performance. Instrumental measurements of illumination confirmed my assessment. With the low beam on, the light meter showed zero at 80 meters - a far from outstanding result. In high beam mode, the last value other than zero is recorded at 170 meters.

And with the “LED” Capture it’s like you’re seeing the light! The difference in the measurement results is one and a half times. At 120 meters, the light meter still recorded low illumination (0.6 lux) in low beam mode. Moreover, the light beam turned out to be not only longer, but also wider, which again benefits the driver. In high beam mode, the advantage is more modest, but it is there: the device caught the last rays at a distance of 200 meters.

We then drove both cars along our standard road test route common use. With LED headlights, driving is easier and safer. They hit further than halogen lamps, and their light boundary is more blurred: there is no “closed curtain” effect - a clear division into light and darkness. In addition, in the white spectrum it is easier for the eyes to perceive the surrounding environment.

What about repairs? If you “catch” a stone, you will give it for new headlight 35–40 thousand rubles (prices official dealers). For this money you can buy five halogen headlights.

Something is possible. Halogen lights periodically burn out, and the resource of the LED block that forms the low beam beam is about 4000 hours - enough for ten years. During this time, you will pay from 5,000 to 7,000 rubles for halogen lights and their replacement (many entrust this operation to servicemen).

Should I take it or not?

In the case of Captur - yes. His led light Better than halogen in all respects. As a result - more safe driving in the dark. Kaptur has proven that the above theory now holds true for low-cost cars.

Finally, a hint to marketers: it would be more correct to offer such headlights as an option, rather than create an “exclusive” package for them.

Today, car enthusiasts are offered a wide range of different lighting sources that allow them to improve the light characteristics of the car as a whole. However, due to huge selection Our compatriots sometimes find it difficult to decide what type lighting fixtures better to use. What xenon is better or halogen? You will find the answer to this question below.

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Incandescent lamp comparisons

To make a choice in the direction of good and more efficient light bulbs, you need to understand how car halogen lamps differ from xenon lamps. To begin with, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with basic information about these lighting sources.

Xenon

Xenon lamps are based on a special gas, which is ignited as a result of the activation of a module installed inside the product structure. The main technical characteristic of gas-discharge light bulbs is color temperature, since each type of temperature has its own color. For example, the higher the temperature, the more blue the light will have, and the brightness will correspondingly decrease. At low temperatures the light bulb will emit yellow, but the glow itself will be brighter.

Let's consider the main advantages of gas-discharge lighting sources compared to halogens:

1. Minimal heating of optical lenses. The headlight glass does not heat up as much, which means that dust and dirt from the optics are much easier to remove.
2. Improvement appearance vehicle. Many car enthusiasts use xenon as a tuning element.
3. Gas discharge sources consume much less energy - at least 40%.
4. Brighter illumination for more comfortable visibility.
5. Xenon also has a warmer emission spectrum of the lighting flux. Thanks to this characteristic, visibility road surface in the dark and when driving in bad weather it will be more improved (video author - Eric Davidich smotra channel).

As for the disadvantages, they are as follows:

1. Unlike halogen, xenon is more expensive.
2. If the halogen fails, you can replace one bulb, but if the same problem occurs with xenon, you will have to change both light sources. This is due to the fact that during operation, gas-discharge lamps change their glow temperature, so the difference in color between the new and old lamp can be significant.
3. Unlike halogen lamps, installing gas discharge sources involves additional installation ignition block.
4. When activating the optics, the driver may notice a slight delay. If you put xenon in fog lights or in the near and, then you must take into account that it will take a certain time to ignite the gas.
5. Possibility of blinding oncoming drivers. Such problems are usually associated either with errors when installing lenses. or using low-quality and cheap xenon. If you want to make tuning and surprise other car enthusiasts, then install high-quality xenon - cheap lamps will only cause inconvenience to other road users.

Halogen

Halogen lamps are one of the most common and simplest lighting sources. This product is a flask; the halogen light bulb is also filled with gas, and its device is protected by special glass. The power of such sources can reach 130 W.

Main advantages:

• affordable price;
• ease of installation - took it out and replaced it (the author of the video is the Car Program channel).

Among the disadvantages of halogen lamps it is worth highlighting:

1. Instability to vibrations, since the product contains an incandescent filament, as well as a tungsten spiral. As a result, the service life of halogen lamps may be reduced.
2. When these lighting sources operate, the glass of the optics heats up, and this, in turn, negatively affects the illumination of the road surface, since dust and dirt settled on the lamp quickly hardens.
3. Compared to xenon, the brightness of halogens will be lower.
4. It is also worth highlighting more low term services. If gas-discharge lighting sources allow you to work for about 3 thousand hours, then halogen lamps usually last no more than 400 hours.

And although halogens cannot boast the same technical characteristics, is currently the most popular type of lighting sources among our compatriots.

Photo gallery “Car lamps”

Which lamps should you choose for your car?

So which lighting sources should you use - xenon or halogen? Judging by the main characteristics, xenon bulbs are more efficient, unlike halogen bulbs. But there are many nuances here, for example, our compatriots often use halogen lamps because of their affordable price, as well as ease of replacement and installation. Moreover, today you can find halogen lamps whose glow color will be whiter. And if one product fails, it can be replaced without problems without touching the lamp in the second headlight.

If you want to install high-quality xenon, then in any case you will have to spend money. You can buy them in any store or online, but using such light bulbs is not advisable. Not only will you not be able to evaluate the quality of the glow of real xenon, but you will also cause inconvenience to other motorists. And this, in turn, can develop into conflict.

In general, if you decide to install auto-discharge light bulbs on yours, then of course this is a more acceptable option if your budget allows, but you need to install only high-quality products. Before purchasing, analyze all the advantages and disadvantages of both types of lamps - this will allow you to make the right choice.

Issue price

The cost of a set of halogen lamps today ranges from 300 to 2 thousand rubles. Concerning xenon bulbs, then one lamp will cost from 800 to 4 thousand rubles on average. And about 1-3 thousand rubles will have to be spent on purchasing an ignition unit.

Now many car enthusiasts are beginning to wonder - what is better xenon or LEDs? Progress has also reached car lighting. It is becoming clear that halogen lamp technology is becoming outdated and increasingly more manufacturers switch to new car lighting systems. Xenon will no longer surprise anyone, but recently LED car headlights have begun to develop very strongly. Almost every automaker implements LED backlight or main lighting with LEDs. So what to choose from the technologies of the future? Intrigued, read on...

I would like to immediately note that the technologies are very different, the principles of their operation differ, which is said fundamentally, there is no common denominator here, no common parts! But there is a very, very bright glow, from 3000 Lm (Lumens) and above. At the beginning of our article we will start talking about xenon, yet it was the first to be installed in widespread use into the headlights.

XENON

The operation of these lamps is based on the principle of “ignition” of an electric arc in a special gas. Typically, such a gas is a monatomic, colorless and odorless inert gas - XENON. It is used very often and the arc in it is very bright.

The lamp is a closed flask into which only one of our gases is pumped; two electrodes are also installed there, between which an electric arc occurs. To ignite it you need a very high voltage, 25,000 Volts, for this purpose an “ignition unit” is used.

The glow of this “arc” in the gas is very bright; it at least exceeds the glow of halogen by 2, and sometimes 3–4 times! For example, an ordinary halogen burns with a luminous flux of 1500 Lm, but xenon can “squeeze out” up to 6000 Lm. The difference is obvious.

Pros of xenon

1) This is a very bright and powerful stream of light that illuminates the road much better than conventional halogen headlights. It cuts through any fog and slush. And this means safety and visibility.

2) A xenon lamp is much more durable than a regular halogen lamp; the service life of xenon is from 2000 to 2500 hours, but halogen is 150 to 600 hours. It does not have a filament, and accordingly there is nothing to break, it is not afraid of impacts and body shakes. If you drive 2-3 hours a day, it will last about 4 years, no less.

3) Another plus is the lower temperature of the lamp itself. That is, you can put it in a standard headlight, and it will heat up less than a halogen. In xenon, only 7 - 10% of the energy is converted into heat, but in halogen it is as much as 40%.

Now about the disadvantages of xenon

1) Not all xenon is allowed. According to the law of the Russian Federation, only the one that is standardly installed at the manufacturer’s factories is allowed. That is, if you put “handicraft” Chinese equivalent, then you can be fined for this, you can even lose your license for six months or a year (I don’t remember exactly now). When passing the MOT (technical inspection), they will definitely force you to remove it.

2) Complex equipment. During installation, you need to install complex equipment. In order to light a lamp, you need a voltage of 20 - 25,000 V, and then you need to maintain “burning” with a voltage of 40 - 60 V (with a frequency of 300 Hz). Standard system The car will never withstand such voltage, so “ignition units” are installed. But they are bulky and do not fit in standard headlight, mounted externally, sometimes on spars.

3) Slightly increased consumption. Xenon block although it takes on the main role in increasing electricity, more energy is still required from the car’s generator, huge pressure– slightly higher fuel consumption due to the load on the engine. Consumption, of course, does not increase significantly, but you will still pay 0.1 liters per 100 km.

4) Expensive equipment. The lamps themselves, and the equipment, are not cheap. The cost of “handicraft” xenon reaches 3,000 rubles, this is without installation. Branded xenon costs even more, reaching up to 10,000 rubles. Moreover, over time, the xenon luminous flux changes in color, and if one lamp has burned out, then you need to change them in pairs, otherwise the headlights will shine in different colors.

5) Also, do not forget that this is a very powerful lighting system. You need to think about the angle of the headlights; you shouldn’t turn them up too much, even the “low” beam, otherwise oncoming cars will blink at you. Now almost all manufacturers of cars with xenon require automatic headlight range correction.

6) Difficult combination of low and high beam in one headlight. You need to install bi-xenon, and this makes the design even more expensive. After all, there the switching occurs by moving the lens, it is near to the far position, there are solenoids or other switches.

However, on this moment, this lighting system is the most reliable (they work for about 4 years), and although the price can reach up to 10,000, a non-branded one can cost about 2,500 - 3,000 rubles. But damn problems with the law and blinding oncoming drivers, this is not entirely good. You can ask how traffic police officers will be able to calculate non-factory xenon lamps? YES, everything is simple - on our VAZs, they are not installed at all, so if they are found out on KALINA, GRANT, PRIORA or VESTA, there will be problems.

Now in our article, we’ll talk about a powerful opponent, LED lamps.

LEDS

This is a completely different technology, durable, economical, and now developing at a global pace. Essentially it is a semiconductor that electricity transforms into a glow. Its peculiarity is that it has a plus and a minus, and if the terminals are mixed up, it will not work. It consists of a semiconductor crystal element on a non-conducting substrate, a housing with contacts, and an optical system. The internal space between the crystal and the lens is filled with a special silicone compound.

In fact, there is also nothing to burn here, there is no filament or other shaking elements, so it serves perfectly on uneven roads. However, when misuse, the crystal can quickly degrade and fail, but more on that later.

What else I would like to note is that now the third generation of LEDs is being produced, they are developing very rapidly, with each generation their reliability, luminous flux and resistance to adverse environments increase.

The first generations could not compete with halogen, much less with xenon, their luminous flux barely reached 500 - 600 Lm, although Chinese manufacturers They assured that they contained 10,000 Lm! Clean water divorce!

However, now systems have appeared with a driver, a specific voltage stabilizer, which allows the light to glow 4 and sometimes 5 times brighter. Now the limit is not even 4000 Lm. However, their resource suffers.

Pros of LEDs

1) The first and biggest advantage of LEDs is their energy consumption. It is several times less than that of halogen and xenon. An LED lamp, which produces a luminous flux equal to that of a 60 Watt halogen lamp, takes only 20 - 30 Watts of energy (if there is a special driver).

2) Fuel economy. The less energy is taken, the less fuel is consumed. The load on the generator from lighting devices drops, and accordingly the load on the engine also drops - you save on fuel. Again, you shouldn’t expect to save liters, but still 0.1 - 0.2 liters per 100 kilometers can easily be achieved.

3) Although there is a special driver. It can often be hidden in the rubber cover of the headlight, meaning there is no need to cut or take anything out. To be fair, they still don’t fit into some headlights.

4) Luminous flux. Of course old LED bulbs, it would be a stretch to call them bright, they could, but xenon is not bright enough. But again, progress does not stand still, and the third generation of lamps is coming out, which are based on completely different LEDs. Now the luminous flux is much higher than halogen lamps and almost reaches xenon. Sometimes it is not possible to distinguish what is installed in the headlight, xenon or LEDs, the glow is the same blue - bright white. .

5) LEDs can be installed and no one will forbid you to use it, even by law. The thing is that LEDs have many colors of light; if you wish, you can even make the headlights red or blue. You can also choose the color and power of a regular halogen, that is, it will not be clear that you have halogens or LEDs installed. And as the law says, if the luminous flux is no different, then there is nothing to prohibit. They are officially permitted by the law of the Russian Federation, and they can also be presented at a technical inspection.

6) Luminous flux. It shines brightly, but does not blind drivers like the opponent's. Here the light is diffused, and up close it illuminates a large area, which is really useful in foggy and slushy weather.

7) Shapes and sizes. Now you can install LED lightening for almost all cars, that is, the format and size of the lamps do not differ from halogen ones. They often combine both low and high beams.

8) Price. They are now inexpensive, the same as xenon lamps. The difference is minimal.

But LEDs don’t have many disadvantages, but they are all significant.

Cons of LEDs

1) Temperature. Modern systems with “drivers” they get very hot due to the large flow of energy. Therefore, cooling is mandatory; radiators are often installed with “coolers”. Without them, they will fail very quickly.