#H11 halogen vs hid bulb length upgrade#

They also generate large amounts of heat, which is wasted energy. Now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to ask: which type of headlight is the best? And why?Ĭompared to xenon headlights, halogen lights require less energy to start up, but more energy to keep going. Even so, it can take a few seconds for the light to turn fully on. The xenon gas is only used during the start up to give instant light while the other gases are still heating up to their operating temperature. The ballast is a capacitor that creates and regulates the high-voltage that xenon lights need to operate. The ballast switches to continuous operation with a constant supply of power so the light won’t fail. The temperature quickly rises, ionizing the gas mixture, lowering the resistance between the two electrodes.ģ. A high voltage pulse produces a spark that ionizes the xenon gas and creates a connection of current between the electrodes.Ģ. How do they work?Ī xenon (HID) lightbulb is a transparent quartz housing with tungsten electrodes at each end and filled with a mixture of gases. Also known as High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps, xenon headlights deliver a white-blue light, approximately two to three times brighter than a halogen, last approximately 2,500 hours and are energy efficient. Xenon headlights are more popular on high-end cars of the last decade, where they have a premium, stylish look.

The bulb uses an inert gas and a small amount of a halogen such as iodine or bromine. The electrical current heats up the tungsten to approximately 2,500° Celsius and it starts to glow (incandescent process). It works by sending electricity through the tungsten filament inside the glass capsule. How do they work?Ī halogen headlight consists of a thin tungsten filament surrounded by a halogen gas in a glass filament capsule which is extremely resistant to high temperatures. They offer many advantages: they’re cheap to manufacture, easy to replace, give a bright, yellow-white light and last up to 1,000 hours. Halogen headlights can be found on approximately 80% of the cars on the road today, making them the most common type of headlights currently available. Plus, which type is best for your car? What are halogen headlights? Keep reading to be enlightened about what halogen and xenon lights are and how they work. But what are they? And why are they considered better than the standard halogen headlights? Otherwise the Xenon kits installs nicely, and effectively upgrades the halogens to HID.Ĭheck this post and the links contained within for other photos and tips from others.Every time you turn around, there’s another car with xenon headlights. I guess if you want the official HID factory lights, then you will need to change the housings out.

#H11 halogen vs hid bulb length upgrade#

THere is no need to change the headlight assembly or housing out in order to upgrade to HID lights.

With the Xenon kit, your low beam becomes HID, when you activate your high beams the HID low beam stays on, and the high beam also turns on. The DRL is different bulb all together that doesnt operate when the HIDS are on. when you turn on the highs the baffle moves adjusting the light higher, then downward when you put the lows on.

There is a baffle that moves up for low beam, down for high beam.

The HID acts as both the low beam and high beam on Factory HID assemblies. The HID operation from factory is different form the Halogen. Click to expand.Not sure what the question is, this has been discussed in other threads to.