Clean, Bright Lights
Technology has certainly made lives easier. One of technology’s great contributions in the automobile industry is the invention of HID lights. High Intensity Discharge lights or HID kits as it is commonly called is a type of lamp that produces the bright light intensity that most automobiles of today use. A HID kit typically comes with two bulbs, two ballasts, mounting hardware and a complete set of wiring.
Contrary to traditional Halogen, Xenon headlights do not have filaments. Within the bulb are two electrodes split by a small gap which generates a plasma discharge when hit by a voltage current. Once ignited, the headlamps begin to operate approximately at 25, 000 volts. Then it cools down and retains energy at 80 to 90 volts only. Therefore, Xenon bulbs run cooler and consumes lesser energy than Halogen bulbs do.
Additionally, HID bulbs come in diverse colours, which is contrary to Halogen that only gives off dingy yellowish light. Conversely, bulbs that come off as a product of HID conversion shine in multiple colour spectrums. Examples are white light with tinges of yellow, blue, purple, pink or clear white. All colours are expressed in Kelvin (K) which is the basic unit of thermodynamic temperature.
Here is an example; yellow light is 4300 K and white light is 6500 K. This points out that the higher the temperature, the brighter the light. Don’t get confused though. Even if, you increase the temperature, or Kelvin (K), the energy consumption remains the same. Keep in mind that the shade of light is measured via Kelvin, while light intensity is expressed via luminous flux or Lumens. Hence, the colour scale is just a means to measure the colour output and not the luminous intensity itself.
Each colour has its own advantage, a distinct shade increases road visibility and updates the look of the vehicle. For instance, clear, white light is more suitable for nighttime driving as yellow light causes eye fatigue. Nonetheless, fog lights utilise yellow lights as it has a longer wavelength which consequently reduces the glare reflected by fog particles. Apparently, this only works well when divers use low beams as low mounted lights can illuminate the road at a greater distance.
On a different note, LED lighting strip or Light Emitting Diode is a new product which is also making it big in the market today. These are flexible strips with colour changing remotes that are used by many car manufacturers and automotive decorators. It is dimmable, waterproof, inexpensive and vibrant which makes it as an ideal interior or exterior car decor. What’s more, it is relatively easy to install and can be used in multiple applications.
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