Do you know the difference between these two common headlight types?
Today, automobiles are equipped with different types of headlights, which contributes to why you get blinded by oncoming traffic. Commonly, manufacturers use halogen bulbs or xenon bulbs that prove drastically different. From its design to its composition, here are the differences between Halogen and Xenon headlights.
Halogen headlights are most common due to their simplistic design and cheap components. The term "halogen" represents a group of chemical elements on the periodic table, particularly group 7.
Inside a halogen bulb are a tungsten filament and halogen gas. As the tungsten burns off the filament, it gets redeposited to your bulb. Because they need to operate at high temperatures to create an equilibrium reaction, the bulbs must be hard glass or fused quartz.
Commonly people replace their halogen-style bulbs with LED-style bulbs without knowing the risks of doing so. Due to the construction of halogen housings, the LED light bulbs disperse light unevenly. This is not only unsafe but highly unadvisable since they blind oncoming traffic and surrounding drivers.
Similar to its counterpart, xenon emerges from the periodic table as a noble gas. Xenon headlights are also referred to as HIDs (high-intensity discharge). The xenon bulb resembles the shape of a glass tube containing xenon gas at high or low pressure. When the electrical current hits the electrodes, it causes the Xenon gas atoms to split.
In a xenon headlight, the electric current passes through a dedicated ballast, which is responsible for amplifying the electric current from your vehicle. A xenon bulb requires intense power to illuminate initially, though they are much more efficient than halogens once active.
Although halogen and xenon headlights serve the same purpose, they are drastically different in how they function. Because of this, both headlights styles have their perks and drawbacks. Here are some of the pros and cons of each type of headlight.
Halogens and xenon lights are priced quite differently due to how each headlight is constructed. Halogens tend to be cheaper in all aspects, making them very consumer-friendly. Because they don't require as much equipment as their counterparts, halogen headlights have fewer components to go wrong.
Despite being priced cheaper than xenon headlights, halogen headlights still provide adequate lighting without denting your wallet. However, because of the cheaper design, the light emitted from your headlights won't be as crisp or precise as xenon headlights.
Due to the higher build quality, xenon headlights provide rich lighting even on the darkest nights. These types of lights tend to offer the best lighting and are commonly found on higher-end vehicles.
Despite their richness in color, xenon lighting generally requires a little more work on your end than traditional halogen lighting. This is because xenon lighting requires an extreme amount of voltage to illuminate at first, though they are much more energy-efficient once active.
Because of these factors, xenon lighting tends to be more expensive than halogen lighting.
Halogen and xenon headlights both have benefits that make one more appealing than the other. Whether you want cheaper replacements or vibrant lighting, the option is available. This is not to suggest putting LED lightbulbs in your halogen housings as they cannot properly disperse the light. Instead, it will blind oncoming traffic, negating the effect of more light from your LED headlights. It doesn't help if you can see when oncoming traffic cannot.
Based on the East Coast, Joshua Ko is an automotive writer and European Car Enthusiast. Graduate with a bachelor's degree in English from Pennsylvania State University that spends most of his time outdoors, writing, or in the garage.
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