Xenon HID Bulbs – 3 Reasons to Buy - Insurance News Magazine

Xenon Car Headlights

3 Things You Need To Know About Xenon HID D3S Bulbs

Time to change your headlamps? Well if you’ve been reviewing the market for options, you’ve probably already run into the plug-and-play Xenon HID (high-intensity discharge bulbs). These bulbs have been available for a few years now and are made by a variety of leading brands. They are sold ready to fit a wide range of modern cars.

They were originally introduced to be a more eco-friendly alternative to other conventional halogen-based bulbs. These modern and powerful lights don’t use any mercury and operate at a more efficient voltage making them a sound choice for the environmentally conscious.

In this article, we’re going to give you a quick summary of 3 crucial things you need to know about Xenon HID bulbs. Keen to nail down your best options? These are the most important points to keep in mind:

1. Xenon HID bulbs can create up to 200% more light than a standard halogen

If safety and performance are at the top of your agenda, then these bulbs are going to prove a huge upgrade on regular halogen headlamps. Most standard halogen headlamps will operate with a bulb that delivers around 1000 – 1200 lumens whereas the Lumro HID Xenon D3S Bulb, for example, has a light rating of 3200 lumens. This incredible difference in light quantity makes all the difference in varying conditions and especially during night-time driving.

2. Xenon HID bulbs are now more affordable than ever before

When this form of lighting first came to market, it’s key selling point was it’s crystal clear lighting quality and it was initially reserved for premium car models. Now, however, a huge range of affordable modern vehicles are being built with this bulb format and the price of plug-and-play replacement Xenon HID bulbs has reduced significantly.

Just like any form of technology, you often get exactly what you pay for. A common myth is that these bulbs tend to last forever. Even top of the range options like the Philips D3S Bulb, costing around £70 – £80 for a pair, has an estimated lifespan of up to 5 years. As you’d expect, cheaper alternatives are likely to weaken and die out much faster.

3. Xenon HID bulbs come in a wide range of colours – pick carefully

One of the best things about HID Xenon bulbs is the wide variety of colours available. Lumro, for example, offers their D3S Xenon bulbs in 4 colours – original white (4300K), cool white (6000K), aqua blue (8000K), and sapphire blue (10000K). The “K” stands for Kelvin. The Kelvin rating is an indication of how much colour is in the lighting relative to visibility. Higher Kelvin ratings mean the colour is more pronounced, but a 10000K light will provide less clarity of vision than a 6000K bulb.

When weighing up your options, you’ll want to think carefully about how much night driving you realistically expect to be doing and whether you should be prioritizing aesthetics or visual performance.

That’s our list! We hope you found this quick overview helpful. Xenon HID lights can prove a huge step forward over halogen lights, but these are the main pointers you’ll need to keep in mind as you decide which variants you want to try out first.