What's the Best LED Headlight Bulbs

Details	Stedi Copper Head	Philips Ultinon	Pro Vision Quick-Fit	Pro Vision Extreme Series	Pro Vision Extreme Plus
Cost	$129 to $149/set	$230 to $280/set	$129.00/set	$189.00/set	$229.00/set
LED's	Philips Luxeon Z ES	Philips Luxeon Z ES	Philips Luxeon Z ES	Custom Engineered HML3	USA Made Bridgelux
Lumen/Brightness	3520lm/pair	4200lm/pair	5000/pair	7000lm/pair	10,000lm/pair
Can-Bus Compatibility	Yes	No - Decoders Needed	No - Free Decoders Available	Yes	Yes
Thermal Management	Braided Cable Belts	Body Heat Dissipation	Hybrid - Body + Fan Dissipation	Hybrid - Body + Fan Dissipation	Hybrid - Body + Fan Dissipation
Headlight Compatibility	Reflector	Reflector	Reflector	Reflector & Projector	Reflector & Projector

Coming into 2020 there are a couple of new products on the market and a couple of old ones.
Of course, i may be a bit biased being the director of Pro Vision Lighting in Australia, but there are a few things to look that i have considered for 2019 and going into 2020 when it comes to led headlight globes.

I have looked at Stedi copperhead, Philips Ultinon (Not their extreme version), our Pro Vision Quick-Fit kit, our Extreme Series, and our New Extreme PLUS Series.

First of all, the Philips Luxeon Z ES chips are a definite winner, they have proved themselves over the last few years, and depending on how hard you drive them and which versions you get will determine the lumen/watt ratio.

A newcomer is the high intensity HML3 led's and a new Bridgelux led. The HML3 have proven to be a stayer in 2019 and we will keep them on in 2020 at a discounted price. The new bridgelux i suspect will be the best for 2020 as bridgelux in the USA have been around for a long time and have just as good a reputation as CREE and Philips.
So i am expecting big things from these new Extreme Plus LED Bulbs.

Another thing i have noticed in regards to the advancement of thermal management is that they are now going towards a hybrid style system whereby they are combining technologies they have been doing over the years, so that the can effectively put more powerful led's in their led conversion kits.

The only downside to the copper belts is that they are outdated and a bit suss on the safety side. Copper belts were first introduced around three years ago and have pretty much been phased out now by heat sinc and dissipation and better quality fans.
The problem with the old fans, (which came out in the first led headlight bulbs), is that they were noisy and if they failed, the led's would burn out.
Now the fans are noiseless, have a long lifespan (way longer than the actual kits), and they have coupled them with latest heat-sinc and dissipation engineering through the body.
This allows high powered led kits to have a much greater lifespan.
In a nutshell, you can now have much brighter led headlight bulbs that last for years.

There are a few companies bulbs i have not included in this blog to try and keep it short.
Like Narva and JW Speaker. To be honest, they are still selling the same bulbs they were a couple of years ago.
The Philips Ultinon are probably the best out of the lot in terms of being conservative and new, they stay well below their limits and obviously have the Philips price tag.
The Stedi copperhead are just too old now.
In the Pro Vision line, the quick-fit and the extreme series have performed very well in 2019 so we will keep them on for 2020 at affordable prices, and i am keen to see how the Extreme Plus series perform in 2020. Given that they are designed so well and use quality components like the Bridgelux led's, i expect not many kits will touch them for a couple of years.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us.
Lex Boyle, Director,
Pro Vision Lighting & Electrical.
www.pro-vision-lighting.com

3 Tips on What to Check before you Upgrade Halogen Headlight Bulbs to LED or HID.

1. Headlight Bulbs Adapters.

On around 1% of vehicles headlight bulbs are fitted into an “adapter” before they are fitted into the headlight housing.
Normally, headlight bulbs sit directly into the headlight housing and are either held by a retaining clip or are pushed in and twisted in to lock into the headlight housing.
When you buy a led kit or hid kit, check how the bulb is retained in the headlight before you purchase them. If they need “headlight bulb adapters”, make sure your supplier gives you the bulb adapters for free with the kit, or has them available for purchase.

2. Bulb Type.

The best way to check the bulb type that your vehicle has in its headlights is to check your manual, call your dealer with the VIN number, or check to see if a part number is written on the bulb.
Some websites may not be accurate for the bulb type in your vehicle as they vary from country to country.
The most common bulb types will have part numbers such as H1, H3, H4, H7, H9, H11, HB3 9005, HB4 9006. If you call your dealer for the part number, make sure they give you this OEM number, and not their stock keeping number.

3. Can-Bus Decoders.

On vehicles that where your lights turn on automatically, you will need to get can-bus decoders.
Can-Bus is where your vehicles computer turns your lights automatically when you open the door, put the key in the ignition, or when you go through a dark tunnel and the lights switch on automatically.
Make sure when you buy a LED or HID headlight bulb kit your supplier has can-bus decoders available or has them available for purchase.

LED Bulbs for Headlights - What You Need to Know.

LED Headlight Bulbs are starting to flood the market and there are a few things you need to know before you buy them.
Below are a few tips on LED Bulbs that will be helpful, and we will concentrate on H7 LED Bulbs and H4 LED Headlight Bulbs.

H4 LED Bulbs for headlamps replace a "Double Filament" halogen bulb, and the H7 LED Headlamp Bulbs replace a "Single Filament" halogen bulb.

H4 LED Globes can also be called "H4 H/L LED Globes". The H/L denotes a High/Low beam, this is where one halogen bulb has two filaments in them serving to do both Low and High Beam in the one bulb.

H7 LED Globes replace the H7 halogen globes with a single filament, which denotes that the single beam does the job of one set of lights, either Low Beam, or High Beam. In other words you would need 4x bulbs to do both high and low beam.

Can-Bus LED Bulbs.
Can-Bus is a technical term for when the vehicles computer controls when to turn your lights on. This can be when you put your keys in the ignition and start the car, the headlight come on automatically without having to manually switch them on.
When you get an LED Conversion Kit to upgrade your bulbs from halogen to LED, you will need to make sure you get Can-Bus Decoders with the kit. This is so that the computer can recognize the lower wattage LED Bulbs you have put in the headlights, and will switch them on automatically and not give you an error code telling you that the bulbs blown.

LED Headlight Bulb Adapters.
On some vehicles, instead of having a normal metal retaining clip, the bulbs plug into a plastic or metal adapter, and then is secured in the headlight housing by the adapter.
You will need to check if you bulbs are held in by a normal retaining clip or an adapter before you purchase you led kit, and make sure that the supplier is able to provide you with the extra adapters to suit your vehicle.

Plug & Play LED Bulbs.
Some headlight bulb housings are small, and some led bulb kits can be too long, or too wide to be able to fit them easily in your car headlights. Make sure when you buy an led kit that you check out your headlight housing and then look at the dimensions of the led bulb kit that you have your eyes on so you can see if it will fit in easily.

Low Beam LED Headlight Bulbs for Projector Lights.
As i mentioned before about the difference between H4 and H7 bulbs, different led bulbs can react differently with different headlight reflectors.
A projector style headlight is a small "fish-eye" style light that gives you good cut-offs and most led globes are made for "reflector" style headlights.
If you buy led headlight bulbs for projector lenses, make sure you get them from a supplier who makes led bulbs for projector lenses. this is so that they react correctly with the projector lens and still give you more light and good beam cut-offs.

For more information visit our Pro Vision Lighting website or contact us via E-Mail.

Lex Boyle, Director,

Pro Vision Lighting & Electrical,

(Arco Imports Pty Ltd),

444 Jones Street,

Ultimo, NSW, 2007,

Australia.

Tel: +61 2 9698 2543.

Mob: 0438 654 765.

Web: www.pro-vision-lighting.com

Web: www.hidlighting.com.au