Why Aren't Car Bulbs LED?

anotheruser

Yes I know modern ones are but what about older ones?
The good old H5s and H7s Ford seem to favour.

Why aren't these LED?

twhitehousescat

because it is only recently that work has progressed to make led s work in cars , in many cases the light reflectors are different design and led bulbs dont work/focus in older cars

DUTR

anotheruser wrote: »

Yes I know modern ones are but what about older ones?
The good old H5s and H7s Ford seem to favour.

Why aren't these LED?

For lots of reasons, it's not a one horse race with lighting, they have their pro's n cons.
Halogen lowest cost, wide beam spread, warmer colour temperature, more lumens.
HIDs whiter light for headlights
LED headlights still new , lowest power consumption for the actual light .

daveyjp

LED, great until they no longer work.

H4 bulb a few quid, LED lighting unit? 4 figures.

Tokk

It's mostly a focus issue.

You can buy aftermarket LED bulbs that'll fit H7 housings but (like aftermarket HID conversions in 99% of cases) they're illegal for road use.
Mostly because the actual beams are dazzling - it's fine if they're focused properly (in a projector lamp, for example) but in a bogstandard reflector they'll cause problems with glare.

forgotmyname

Because LED did not until very recently have the same spread of light as other bulb types.

LED's can produce a fair bit of heat at the light output required, how many people want to pay £120 for a bulb instead of £10? It maybe a whiter light but can you actually see more at night?

The answer to that was a no. Similar to the cheap HID bulbs, they often gave a bright blue glare but where your actual vision was no better or maybe even worse.

Want LEDs buy a newer car with the headlights designed for them. If you fitted them to my car they would stick out the back so leaving the light unit open to the elements.

AdrianC

There's also issues around legislation lagging behind the technology.

anotheruser

This is where I don't understand.
I've had LED bulbs in my house for over 2 years now.
Surely some sort of resistor can be added so it's not so bright?

Just don't understand why it's taken/taking so long, nor why the bulbs have to be so expensive. LEDs for the home are the same cost, if not cheaper to buy than any others currently available.

forgotmyname

Yes you can add a resistor like the "canbus" LEDs on ebay. Then the resistors cooks itself to death after a couple of weeks and you get a charred mess and no headlights or flashing headlights.

Chrishazle

Non-LED headlights are designed for the light spread produced by a filament bulb, which is totally different to the light spread produced by an LED. Hence installing LED bulbs in a fitting designed for halogens is illegal. Plus an added element of illegality is that the chance are the LED's are not CE Marked.


If you car has normal H4 or H7 bulbs, and you want to improve the headlights (as I have done on my current and last car) best and legal is to change the standard bulbs to something like Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited or Laser bulbs - try Autotrader etc for headlight bulb comparisons. I've used NB's for best part of 10 years now, loads better than standard H7's but OK do not last as long and are somewhat more expensive, but the improvement in road lighting is superb.


Over on the MBOA forum we have a specialist who gives chapter and verse on this question every time it's asked, he not only works in this field but also knows the law. I've just precied his advice!

jeradon

The Osram Nightbreakers are pretty bright though these bulbs don't have the best lifespan.