Survey: Xenon HID headlight bulbs

GW readers share their views on xenon high intensity discharge vehicle lighting

Survey: Xenon HID headlight bulbs
The introduction of Xenon HID bulbs has been one of the biggest vehicle lighting developments of the last 20 years.

A quarter of all cars that enter independent workshops are equipped with Xenon HID headlights, according to 69 per cent of GW readers.

The survey also revealed that 92 per cent of respondents purchase and replace HIDs, while just one per cent admitted that they “don’t know” about HIDs.

Ring, Philips and OSRAM were recognised as some of the most popular automotive lighting brands in the survey.

While 75 per cent of respondents don’t recommend annual HID bulb replacement to their customers, Ring suggests vehicle owners should have them replaced at least every five years, and both left and right bulbs at the same time to ensure light output is consistent.

During the life of the bulb, the light from a Xenon HID bulb will change colour temperature and its light output will fall.

How Xenon HID bulbs work

Instead of a traditional filament, Xenon HID bulbs have a glass capsule in the centre of the bulb containing xenon gas.

Two metal electrodes going into the glass capsule enable a high voltage to cross the xenon gas.

This voltage ignites the gas to produce a bright white light output.

For the bulbs to illuminate, the start-up voltage has to be very high and therefore a ballast is required for each headlamp.

These ballasts convert the vehicle’s 12V DC voltage to ignite the bulb and then maintain a lower operating voltage.

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