Can someone please give me a simple explanation as to the differences between Halogen, Xenon, and HID headlights. Also, are there any other kinds available??

 

Halogen - Ugly Yellow Lights
Xenon - Replacement Blue Rice Lights
HID - Pimp *** Blue lights

 

HIDs are more powerful and more efficent than regular halogen bulbs, HIDS are measures in Ks like 4000K or 8000K the higher the K the bluer it gets

 

6000K is pure white light and has the farthest visiblity

 

halogen and xenon are the same technology though right? xenon is just a different gas? It sounds like xenon bulbs don't last very long from the posts i've been reading. Why do they cost so much more if they go out so much?

 

Halogen is a standard yellowish light bulb that has been around for a long time. The bulb runs on 12 volts.

HID = High intensity discharge. This is often referred to as xenon. A hid system is the blue lighting you see from higher end vehicals like BMW and Audi. A hid system is much different than a halogen, which uses only a bulb. The HID system has a transformer (ballast) which turns the 12Volt into thousands of volts and sends it to the special Xenon bulb. Much like a fluorescent bulb.

You will see on ebay and some websites people selling "xenon bulb" replacement for your halogen ones. What they do is take a tiny amount of xenon and pump it into a halogen bulb and market it as "Xenon!". Now while they are not lying, it is not exactly the truth!

 

Thanks jest, but do you know if the "xenon" halogen bulbs are less reliable than regular halogens? They both use the same amount of power right?

 

no, the HID use only 35w vs. 60w so the HID's use less power... They are hotter due to the technology and they allow you to see the road way better... HID's last way longer, almost 3 times as long as Halogens

 

what about the life expectancy between standard halogen and the fake "xenon" halogens though?

 

halogen's last longer than the xenon lights.... the gas that they put in the halogen/xenon lights don't last very long, about 6mo's to 1yr depending