However, that’s per unit and you could need up to four, depending on the vehicle. Prices run from around $40 for something like a Chevy Blazer, to around $80 for those that will fit a semi. Upgrading sealed beam units requires complete replacement of the entire headlight housing, but they’re not as expensive as you might think. We wouldn’t expect to pay less than $25, and $40 to $60 per pair is the sweet spot where you’ll find the best balance of price and performance. They might be very bright, but beam patterns often have serious black spots, and a lack of adjustability renders many illegal. What we can say is that we’d be wary of very cheap LED headlights. You can take two competing products that have very similar specifications and one can be $40 and the other $140! Offering price comparisons is an important part of our buyer’s guides, and we usually like to show you what’s available for low, mid-range, and premium budgets, but it’s very difficult with LED headlights. Modification isn’t necessarily difficult, but it’s best avoided. Cheaper models tend to be larger, and this can create problems when trying to fit the LED inside the headlight housing. On high-quality LEDs, this is relatively small. To compensate, all bulbs are fitted with a heat sink and fan. Heat: As heat increases, LED headlight efficiency decreases. Two brands known for high performance are Cree and Philips. A wide range of modules is available to provide a fix, though this increases the complexity of installation.Ĭhips: The LED chips themselves are often not made by the manufacturer of the headlight. Unfortunately, not all LED headlights are CAN bus compatible. Dual-beam headlights use a single bulb with two functions.ĬAN bus: Many modern vehicles incorporate Controller Area Network (CAN bus) systems allowing all kinds of microprocessor and digital equipment to communicate with each other. Single-beam headlights have one bulb for low beam and a separate one for high beam. Single- or dual-beam: Check whether you need single- or dual-beam headlights. LED headlights should be 6,000K or higher. Adjustability of the bulb itself is a big advantage.Ĭolor: Headlight color is defined by a Kelvin rating. LED headlight patterns are different from those for halogen bulbs, so it’s vital to get them the right way around. All headlights rely to some extent on the reflectors within the housing to focus the beam, but cheap LED headlights can be patchy. One of the limiting factors on high beam is that it’s important they don’t dazzle oncoming drivers. The biggest difference is usually noticed at low beam.
They can be anything from around 20% to 200% brighter than the standard halogen lights your vehicle was fitted with originally. Halogens and HIDs become less bright as they age.īrightness: LED headlight brightness, measured in lumens, typically exceeds 7,000 lm. LEDs maintain the same performance throughout their life. Halogens tend to reflect back off fog and snow.
LEDs cut through fog and snow better, increasing the distance you can see. Halogen and HID headlights take a few seconds to warm up. Halogen and HID headlights are slightly yellow.
Here are some of the most noticeable differences between LED headlights and older types: Despite this, they only use about a fifth of the energy of glass bulbs. These lights get hotter than glass bulbs, so a heat sink and tiny fan prevent overheating. They rely on an array of light-emitting diodes directly powered by an electrical charge. LED headlights: These are completely different headlights. These last longer than halogens, but the electrodes eventually burn out. The bulb is filled with xenon gas, which increases the intensity of the arc’s light. Instead, they have two electrodes that create a bright arc between them. HID headlights: High-intensity discharge headlights do without a wire. Eventually, however, the wire burns through and the bulb blows. The halogen gas has two jobs: it increases brightness and slows the burning of the tungsten wire. Halogen headlights: Like any traditional light bulb, halogen headlights work by heating a wire in a glass chamber. LED bulbs can last over 30,000 hours, so you'll likely only fit them once.
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