LED Fog Light Bulbs

The lamps in fog lights should provide illumination in poor weather and visibility conditions. The peculiarity of such light is that the radiation is not reflected by moisture droplets in the air and does not dazzle the driver.

Fog lights are the type of headlights in which bulbs with any technology can be installed. Both the dimensions and the requirements for the light beam contribute to this. In this case, it is important to understand which of the bulbs to use in fog lights is better?

In this article, we will tell you what the most popular bulbs for fog lights are on the market and what to look for when choosing bulbs for fog lights.

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Best LED Fog Light Bulbs

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Fog Light Bulbs

Fog lights help the driver to operate the car in conditions of limited visibility. This article discusses the types of fog lights, gives recommendations on what bulbs are better to choose, as well as provides instructions on how to replace a bulb in a fog light.

What bulbs are better to put in fog lights?

Fog lights are not part of the basic equipment of many vehicles. Despite this, this option is simply essential when driving in poor visibility conditions. The low location of these lights allows them to illuminate the pavement area without reflecting or scattering light.

Every driver who has ever driven a car in foggy conditions is aware of the value and importance of additional lighting in such situations. In this case, its quality, economy, durability directly depends on the bulbs, so their choice should be treated most responsibly.

Fog Lamp Design

The design of the fog lamp emitter is similar to the device of day and night road lighting. The standard fog lights have:

• base with a socket for the lamp;
• a deflector for reflecting and directing the light;
• radiator;
• light diffuser.

But the distinguishing feature is that the fog lights direct the light flux parallel to the surface of the track, it provides additional range and does not blind oncoming drivers. Therefore, the bulbs for fog lights are installed below the main light.

What bulbs are suitable for installation in fog lights?

Fog lights are characterized by a rather complex design of the optical system. This is due to the fact that the light flux emitted by fog lights must meet certain characteristics:

• the angle of dispersion in the vertical plane – about 5 degrees;
• the angle of dispersion in the horizontal plane – up to 60 degrees;
• location of the beam – the upper light and shade boundary.

Otherwise, the headlights will be simply useless. That is why you need to approach the purchase of bulbs for PTF very responsibly. If you make a wrong choice, you will either spoil your optics, or you will blind oncoming drivers. And if the bulbs are too powerful, it may lead to intense heating of headlight glasses, so they can even crack.

To install in the fog light bulbs fit no more than 60 watts, which forms a beam of light with a wide spectrum of radiation. A good source of light for fog lights will be:

What bulbs are used?

The fog lamp regardless of the type of emitter must have the following characteristics:

1. A color temperature reading of 2500-3200 K. It gives a warm yellowish hue, which has a greater range compared to the cold emission.
2. The range of the beam and the formation of a clear beam of light, which should not be scattered, refracted through the drops of moisture in the air.

Now the most common: are halogen, xenon, and LED types of emitters for fog lights.

Halogen. Halogen bulbs in the headlights are installed as standard in the factory. They have an average life (about 150-250 hours or 2-4 years). Halogen fog lights give a yellowish or orange hue of illumination, which may not be enough for comfortable driving.

Improved Halogen. Each brand has its own models that give either a brighter, whiter light or longer life. These lights contain a richer gas mixture in the bulb, which gives an increase in color temperature.

Xenon or gas discharge fog lamps. Not every car can be fitted with these lights. Xenon has a very bright light beam and can blind oncoming traffic. Therefore, the use of discharge lamps must meet the requirements of GOST, otherwise you can get a fine.

Often such a headlamp gives cold radiation, which is more scattered in fog or precipitation than a neutral or yellowish light. But the advantages of discharge lamps include their low power consumption and high light output. At the same time, the service life of xenon is at least 3 years.

LEDs. Have the highest efficiency at low power consumption. The light temperature is closest to natural daylight and has a neutral range. The light beam is bright and has a clear contour (radiation is not scattered due to fog, snow or rain).

The service life of diodes is more than 20 000 hours. But their installation is not possible on all brands. To cool the lamp, you need to install a system that may not fit into a standard headlight housing. Therefore, before buying, clarify the possibility of installing LED fog lights on the car.

Requirements for lamps in fog lights

Given the fact that fog lights are used when visibility is impaired, the requirements for bulbs for installation in fog lights will be specific. Namely:

• High intensity of the light beam;
• The neutral spectrum of color temperature (ideally yellow);
• Minimal susceptibility to dispersion under the influence of particles hanging in the air.

The beam of fog lights, both front, and rear, should most clearly indicate the way and indicate the car on the road in poor weather conditions. Therefore, it is worth taking a detailed look at the advantages and features of all existing types of lamps.

It is worth noting at once that each of the three subspecies of bulbs (halogen, LED, and xenon) can be used in fog lights. Here there are no serious restrictions on either the size of the principle of operation.

Halogen bulbs in the fog lights

The most budget-friendly set for fog lights will be a halogen auto bulb. The easy-to-install element will last at least 200 hours of operation, which is enough for several years of use. At the same time, the color temperature of classic halogens is usually in the warm spectrum. This suggests a yellowish-orange beam, which can cause eye fatigue and be subject to scattering under the influence of fog or rain.

As an option, you can put reinforced halogen bulbs. The bulb of such an element, in addition to the standard mixture of gases, contains xenon, which enhances the light about the red-hot tungsten filament. But it is worth understanding that such an improvement slightly reduces the service life.

LED bulbs in the fog lights

LED bulbs have excellent light output and color temperature. The beam of light coming out of the headlights is bright and has a white shade (neutral spectrum). This color is not only the best perceived by the human eye because of the maximum proximity to daylight, but also does not scatter in the air.

LED bulbs consume a minimum amount of electricity and last a very long time (more than 30,000 hours). However, as features, it is worth pointing out the presence of a cooling system, which requires a certain amount of space in the headlight and the high cost. This type of bulb is the most expensive to date.

Xenon light bulbs in fog lights

The properties of xenon bulbs have long won the target audience. Given how bright the light and stylish shade gives the headlights such a bulb, it is usually used only for the main lighting. Although the performance of the element is ideal, in order to install a good xenon in the fog lights. And it is a good one, as xenon purchased and installed by handicrafts will bring more trouble than good.

Xenon lamps with low current consumption, produce the brightest beam of light, a color temperature that can range from neutral to cold spectrum. Car lamp life exceeds 5,000 hours, and the cost of the set allows it to fit into a modest budget. Important: the cold spectrum is more susceptible to dispersion in the air during precipitation, so if the bulb has a bluish-lilac shade of light, it is better to refuse to install it in the PTF.

It is necessary to pay attention to the peculiarities of xenon installation. To achieve this indicator, the ignition unit, which comes with a set of lamps, is used. The block can be built into the structure of the bulb, but more often it is placed separately in the underhood space, and the bulb is connected by high-voltage wires. This is another argument in favor of the fact that the installation of xenon should be carried out by professionals.

Which lamps are better?

Usually in the regular optics are halogen elements, it makes no sense to change for the same, but more powerful. It is better to install LED lamps in the fog lights, a good option – to replace the fog lamp with xenon.

LEDs can be installed in fog lights without restrictions, unlike xenon. Replacing the bulb in the fog lamp does not require special equipment and specific knowledge, so you can replace it yourself. It is better to buy products of proven brands, as cheap Chinese samples are often of poor quality and quickly fail.

When buying LEDs, you need to pick up a lamp with a socket similar to its halogen counterpart. An important parameter for fog lights – is brightness, measured in Lumens (Lm). Fog lights with xenon must have a brightness of at least 1000 Lm.

Guide to bulb replacement

It is more convenient to change bulbs in Fog lamps on an elevator or observation pit. To do this, you need to buy either the same bulb as it was standing or a suitable one according to the parameters. To change the bulb is not difficult.

To do this, you should follow the sequence of steps:

• To remove the optics you need to unscrew the fixing bolts.
• First, you need to move the rubber protection to get to the power strip of the PTF.
• Then you should disconnect the block from the optics.
• To remove the bulb, you need to gently press on one end of the latch and slide down.
• The bulb is removed along with the base. The halogen bulb has several contacts, which should be remembered in order to properly install the new one.
• Next, you must install the new product so that all the contacts match. If you make a mistake, the fog light bulb will not shine.
• Assembly is done in reverse order.
• After assembly, you need to check the operation of the optics.
• Replacement of fog lamps on other car brands depends on the peculiarities of their design. There are cars on which the fog lights are together with the head light, in which case you will need a little disassembly of the optics.

Conclusion

To summarize, it is worth noting that the final choice of bulbs for fog lights is influenced by subjective indicators. This, and the frequency of weather deterioration in the region of residence, the regularity of travel, and the financial capacity of the owner of the vehicle.