The lamps used in the first vehicles were very rudimentary; basically, they were lamps that used a glass housing with a candle burning inside it to light up the road. Which is almost hard to fathom today.
Thomas Edison, the inventor credited with the first long-lasting headlamps in 1879 used incandescent light bulbs and most cars today are based off his original designs.
Simply put, a light bulb has a filament and when electricity is applied to each side of the filament, the filament gets very hot and reaches a state of incandescence.
Light bulbs that use filaments are called incandescent light bulbs. Incandescent light bulbs are not very efficient - about 5%-10% goes to making light and the rest makes heat.
What are halogen bulbs?
Incandescent light bulbs, as used in car headlights, are filled with a special gas called Halogen. Halogen reacts to the hot filament by creating a large amount of light (1,200 Lumen of light output).
It is also why standard automotive headlights are called Halogen bulbs. Compared to the tungsten, the previous metal used in bulbs, they were superior.
What are xenon bulbs?
Xenon bulbs (also called HID bulbs) are not the same as a Halogen bulb. The HID light bulb (which stands for High Intensity Discharge) is filled with Xenon gas which responds to the spark created inside the HID bulb.
This xenon gas creates a much more powerful amount of light- measured in thousands of Lumen- depending on the power consumption which normally is 35w, 55w or 75w.
Today, a factory equipped xenon lighting use a 35w lighting system.
A true xenon HID bulb does not use a filament, like the Halogen bulb. Instead, it uses two electrodes that meet inside the xenon glass filled bulb.
A Ballast is used to send up to 24,000 volts of electricity which creates a potent spark and ignites the xenon gas mixture.
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Disadvantages of halogen bulbs
Halogen does not emit as much light as a xenon; and road vibrations will cause the Halogen incandescent filament to slowly decay.
But it is also less expensive than xenon.
Advantages of xenon bulbs
There are many advantages to the Xenon bulb:
- Xenon light is 300 times brighter than Halogen
- Xenon can last 10 times longer than Halogen
- Xenon produces a cleaner, whiter light than a 55w Halogen bulb
- Xenon light is whiter, bluish light whereas Halogen is more yellowish
- Halogen bulbs burn hotter than the same wattage xenon bulb
No doubt about it: xenon technology can make a tremendous difference at night.
At night, the xenon projects a wider beam, and a broader beam of light; the better you see the more time you have to react. It is expensive, though.