LED Versus Halogen Fog Lights

The experience of driving in the fog is one that almost everyone has gone through and even with the best car lighting it is still one of the worst driving scenarios out there. This is because fog hinders the most important aspect of driving; visibility.

Now fog is not like rain which you can just wipe off your windscreen as you keep ploughing down the high way. It is dense and thick meaning if the fog does not clear you are most likely going to spend hours getting to your destination safely. Fog is common especially during the winter when the temperatures plummet and foggy weather has been the cause of numerous vehicle accidents over the years. It is not conducive, neither is it advisable to drive in very thick fog due to the massively low visibility that comes with that type of weather.

However, if you find yourself in a situation where you have to drive in the fog, I recommend having the best lighting option available to help increase your visibility and prevent any accidents.  I cannot state how crucial it is to have fog lights installed onto your vehicle to ensure that you are adequately prepared for any fog. With all that said, here are the two of the most common fog lights, their applications and their performance in the fog.

Where there is fog, you need lights that can produce the maximum bright light output. The water droplets within the dense fog tend to reflect the light from your car headlights back to your eyes which goes on to further impair visibility while driving. So fog lights have to be placed strategically on your vehicle. They are usually positioned much lower on your car angled towards the ground. This helps you to see better by reducing the glare that reaches into your eyes.

Fog lights have a unique design that combat low visibility from reflected light. They have a beam shape and the beams are wide and flat almost like a narrow bar. This shape of the beam is not a coincidence. It is specifically created to cut through the fog and light up the road surface to enable you to move forward within your lane and to ensure that you remain on the road.

Fog lights are located at the front and rear of the vehicle, low near the front bumper and the back bumper respectively. The front fog lights give you the maximum range of visibility directly ahead of your vehicle while the rear ones serve to warn other road users of your presence on the road. They are usually red to indicate to oncoming vehicles that they should slow down and tread carefully.

Fog lights do not serve as long distance lighting options even though they are usually extremely bright as they can blind oncoming vehicles and cause them to lose visibility in regular weather, it is therefore recommended to restrict their use only for driving in severe foggy weather.

The most common fog lights are halogen fog lights and LED fog lights. Both serve the purpose well, but which one works best for you? Let’s go through some of their applications, pros and cons. Keep in mind the application you need for the vehicle in order to help you make the most effective and convenient job.

Halogen fog lights are a more outdated lighting option as newer and more efficient technology has surpassed and replaced it in many applications. Nevertheless, they are still pre-installed as a standard in some vehicles. Despite being the older technology, they prove to be worth your while in certain aspects. Halogen bulbs usually come as standard in many vehicles and this ensures your safety as the driver the very instance you purchase your car. Also, the cost of installing fog lights has already been eliminated by the manufacturer. They are relatively cheap making their maintenance and replacement extremely manageable.

Another advantage of halogen bulbs is that they can be upgraded meaning you can increase the watts of your bulb to have a higher light output. The upgrade does not require, you to change your bulbs and this is both time and cost effective.

LED lights are functionally more superior to halogen lights. Here are some of the reasons why. Although they are more on the pricy side they are a more durable and long-lasting investment that can save you money in the long run. They require little maintenance and even less repair as they are not susceptible to damage. Led lights consist of semiconductor materials that produce beams of spectrum light when an electric current pass through it. Since they have no filament like halogen bulbs, they do not damage easy. This in itself makes LED lights last longer.

LED lights produce very little heat and do not take a toll on your charging system. This saves you quite a bit of money over time. They are also not very energy consuming which does not put pressure on your electric system.

Unlike halogen bulbs which take a few moments to go on since they need to warm weather. LED bulbs are highly affected by very warm temperatures therefore you will have to invest in a good cleaning system and this will cost you more.

LED lights do not take time to ignite as this process is instantaneous, they do not need to warm up and offer an immediate solution to any low visibility problems that you may encounter on the road. You can use LED fog lights at any time and access their maximum light at whatever situation. This makes them the best and most ideal choice for many drivers today.

LED lights are much brighter than halogen lights. They have a cooler color temperature which produces white light which lights up a large surface area allowing even better visibility during the night for the driver. Whether you go for LED or halogen lights it is important that you purchase new fog light to increase its longevity.