Swapping halogen headlamps with LEDs may not be a good idea. Here's why

LED headlights are all the rage in the auto industry globally these days. While LED headlamps used to be a premium feature previously and were available only in high-end cars, over the last few years, these headlights have found an increased penetration in lower-priced mass-market cars. However, the LED headlamps are still available only on the higher trims of these mass-market cars.

However, the wide range of LED headlamps, available in the aftermarket offers car owners to fit them into their vehicles even if the OEM is not providing that feature. In a nutshell, yellow light-emitting halogen headlamps are becoming passe and white light-emitting LED ones are replacing them at a rapid pace.

Do LED headlamps make illumination better?

LED headlamps often offer better illumination than their halogen counterparts, but not always. The design of the headlight assembly and the reflectors, the parts that shine the light down the road play a key role in defining the illumination level.

In some situations, halogen headlamps offer better visibility than their LED counterparts. Especially, during rainy weather or foggy weather, white LED headlamps can actually pose a problem for the driver. In these cases, the LED headlamps reduce the visibility instead of improving it.

In a nutshell, swapping your car's halogen lamps with LEDs may not always be a good idea.

Blinding other drivers

LED headlamps are blindingly bright over a greater distance compared to halogen headlamps. The LED chips emit 100 per cent luminous intensity along the centre axis and lose that intensity as the distance grows from the centre axis. The smaller size of LED chips enables the focusing process of light more effectively compared to halogen lamps. This often causes temporary blindness for drivers of vehicles coming from opposite directions.

Ineffective in rain and fog

The white LED headlights often render ineffective in rain and foggy weather. In foggy weather or during heavy rain, white LED headlamps often pose a challenge in visibility for the drivers. While yellow halogen lights offer much better visibility for the drivers in such weather conditions. This is a key reason why automakers offer yellow lamps for fog lamps in most cars.

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