Xenon vs halogen headlights: pros and cons
Car lamps are an indispensable element of lighting in the car and its safety. Today, the market for light sources for a car is simply huge and many find it difficult to choose and replace a regular lamp with a newer one. In this article, we will compare two types of headlight bulbs and tell you which one should be preferred: halogen or xenon?
What are halogen lamps?
Halogen lamps were invented a long time ago - more than half a century ago. The invention turned out to be very significant, and the idea is very simple. The halogen headlight bulb consists of a thin tungsten filament in a halogen environment, all encased in an extremely high temperature resistant glass capsule. In the flask of an incandescent lamp, iodine and bromine compounds were introduced in a gaseous state, which prevented the accelerated evaporation of tungsten and the rapid burning of the filament. When voltage is applied, the filament glows and the metal (tungsten) evaporates from the filament. Therefore, halogen lamps, at the time of their discovery, had significantly small dimensions, and even increased light output and resource.
Of course, now halogen lamps are more advanced in quality. Currently, manufacturers offer a large number of varieties of halogen lamps. With a low price and a wide selection, they have good lighting characteristics, but they also have their drawbacks.
Types of halogen lamps today:
standard;
with increased brightness;
with increased power;
all-weather;
with a long service life;
improved visual comfort.
What are xenon car lamps and what are they?
Over time, inventors came to the idea that the spiral in an autolamp can be replaced with a mixture of certain gases. Take a glass flask
rather thick walls, where an inert gas, xenon, was pumped under pressure.
Today, some manufacturers in a xenon lamp "place" mercury vapor. They are also ignited by xenon, but are located in a different outer bulb. Xenon itself gives off a bright white glow, while mercury and its vapors create a cooler, bluish glow.
Two electrodes are placed inside the xenon lamp at a fairly close distance from each other. From the outside, two contacts fit these electrodes, like a conventional lamp, this is a plus and a minus. Behind the lamp is a high-voltage "ignition unit", which is an important element of the system. Well, actually the "wiring harness" which is connected to the car's power system and connects the lamp and the ignition blog.
The ignition unit delivers a high-voltage discharge to the electrodes, between which an electric arc is formed. The arc creates an electromagnetic field, which in turn activates a mixture of inert gases. Passing through itself electrical energy, xenon begins to emit light.
After the ignition unit has provided a current supply at high voltage and the lamp glow has been activated, a constant supply of current is necessary, which will support further combustion.
According to the type of production, xenon lamps are divided into original and universal. Original xenon bulbs are installed on cars from the manufacturer's factory, universal xenon bulbs are installed on car optics, when it is converted to this type of lighting.
According to the type of design, xenon lamps are divided into
1. Mono-xenon - these are light bulbs that have a fixed bulb. They provide only one mode of light - either near or far.
2. Bixenon are bulbs that have a movable bulb and a special curtain. By the principle of magnetic resonance operation, they provide both near and far beam of light. When you switch modes, the magnet lowers or raises the lamp, which guarantees the issuance of one or another type of light.
By installation type:
1. In projector or adapted optics - these are light bulbs that have a base marked S. They are installed exclusively in the lens.
2. In reflex or standard optics - these are light bulbs that have a base marked R. They are installed in simple optics of cars with a high-quality reflector. They have a special anti-reflective coating on the lamp bulb, which eliminates incorrect light scattering.
Comparison of xenon and halogen lamps
We examined the principle of operation of these two lamps, but it is more interesting how they differ and what type of car lamps to give preference to.
Price. Here the advantage clearly belongs to halogen headlights. They are usually cheaper than xenon headlights to manufacture, sell, install and repair. Of course, there are budget options for xenon: such lamps have a slightly lower resource and stability in quality, and their service life is from one to three years. Lamps from well-known manufacturers are always an order of magnitude more expensive, they use better materials, and the service life is usually at least three years.
Lighting. Xenon is more than twice as bright as halogen, so xenon headlights illuminate more of the road. However, the light of halogen headlights is more effective in fog.
Power consumption. Halogen headlights require less power to start, but they consume more power when running. Xenon lamps use gas as a source of energy, so they consume less electricity.
Durability. The service life of xenon lamps is at least 2000 hours, while halogen lamps can last 500-1000 hours (depending on operating conditions, manufacturer, etc.).
The color of the emitted light. The light of xenon lamps has a blue tint, similar to natural daylight. The glow of halogen lamps has a warmer yellow tint.
Heat dissipation. Xenon lamps, unlike halogen lamps, emit practically no heat during operation, but only light. Halogen lamps get very hot during operation, and therefore most of the energy is spent on heat, and not on light, which strikingly distinguishes them from xenon. It turns out xenon can be used even in plastic headlights.
Start time. Halogen lamps start to shine at full brightness from the moment they are turned on, while xenon lamps take a few seconds to warm up to full brightness.
Features of installing halogen and xenon car lamps
Care must always be taken when working with headlight bulbs. Halogen lamps can crack if the natural oils from your fingers get on them. During operation, the device heats up to 500 ° C. When installing, do not touch the glass with your hands, it is better to wear textile gloves or use rags.
Installation of halogen lamps is quite simple and is done with or without headlight removal. In the second case, you just need to take a new light bulb and snap it into place.
Installing xenon lamps is a more difficult set, you will need a resistor and a mandatory headlight washer. In addition, some xenon lamps contain toxic components such as mercury. If such a lamp breaks, it may adversely affect human health.
Studies show that drivers react faster and more accurately to traffic situations with xenon headlights than with halogen headlights. However, bright xenon headlights can dazzle other drivers, which is why automatic headlight leveling is so important.
Xenon means high brightness, high-quality daylight, minimal vehicle energy consumption, as well as increased visibility and safety for the driver on the road! They last longer, but proper installation is important here. And if opportunities do not allow you, then halogen lamps will be an excellent alternative.
