Trend Shift! From LED to Halogen: what say you?

[mrseth]

Has anyone else noticed/followed suit with the re-emergence of halogen offroad lighting?

It seems that more and more rigs in my immediate area (Colorado) are switching to KC, Lightforce, and Hella, ditching their older light bars. Now, going from an Amazon light bar to some 100W KC's, I can see the benefits- but why are more and more people ditching their Rigids, Extreme LED, Black Oak, and Baja Designs to go with older tech?


(((I am certain there are more pros and cons than I have listed, but I just want to throw a few out there for you to build your thought process on here. )))

+++++
1. Inexpensive LED bars/cubes

PROS: Price, availability, moderate durability, fast shipping, and low theft rates
CONS: Scattered light pattern, low lux despite high lumen ratings, laughable IP68 rating, poor heat sync, plastic lenses

2. Expensive LED bars/cubes

PROS: great beam patterns, strong housings, sealed wiring, rust free mounting, good warranty, great wattage and good lux
CONS: well price for one, higher theft rates, not really many cons to a good solid product that I can think of.

3. Halogen Lights

PROS: relatively inexpensive, replaceable bulbs with variable wattage, great beam pattern, warm light, great lux
CONS: bulbs do burn out, the more lights the more amp draw on your wires and electrical system, some setups can get extremely hot during operation
++++++

Is it more of a choice/fashion statement change to be switching back to a halogen? Or are we all missing out on great light for a great price?

LET me know what you think!!!

 

[MMc]

I love my Baja Designs and would not go backwards when it come to lights. Overhead light bars were a fashion thing, If you are serious about light you want them in front of you not above you blowing out on your windshield. The SCORE guys will use overheads but they don't have a windshield. There is lots of fashion over practically in overlanding now.

 

[Seanm26]

I prefer the color of halogens. My mother and I both have a sensitivity to blue lights. The bluer the light, the less we can see detail. Blue Christmas lights are almost painful to look at.

 

[mrseth]

I prefer the color of halogens. My mother and I both have a sensitivity to blue lights. The bluer the light, the less we can see detail. Blue Christmas lights are almost painful to look at.

Interesting you say that- on long trips overnight or desert runs, I get headaches from eyestrain with LED's but not halogen. We have blue Christmas lights out front of the hospital I work at and a few patients have stated that it hurts when they look at them. I want to do more investigating on this- thanks for your response!

 

[M Rose]

Blue lights hurt my eyes as well as my wife’s... it’s getting so I don’t like going out any more t night, I put halogen KC lights on my Bronco for both the old school look, and I can actually see where they are shining.

 

[MidOH]

LED'S are for crawling or flooding. My ditch lights are LED.

I prefer upgraded Halogen bulbs in OEM headlights. I've tried the led replacements, and they don't melt snow, and don't throw as well.

When I go scuba diving, an LED light will light up a cavern entirely, perfect flood. But any silt, or ''snow'', lights up extra bright and blocks my vision. Halogen bulbs can punch through snow and dust better.

I intend to add a set of FYRLYT's to my front bumper soon, for deer and such on country backroads.

 

[Sasquatch SC]

My rig has steering responsive LED headlights (they turn with the steering wheel and self level). They are OEM and are great for driving. That being said - my OEM fog lights are halogen and I have a set of halogen Hella on a bumper bar and 4 more forward facing across the top. All of my halogen lights have the amber shield over them. They cut right through fog, dust or whatever better than the blue-ish LED's because of their lower wavelength frequencies without sacrificing any of the illumination. For instances where I am using my trail lights I'm not trying to see super far into the distance so the halogen are not only more cost effective, but they are perfectly suitable for any trail situations where I need more than my OEM LED headlights. I do have LED spot/flood pods mounted on my basket that face out at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock position and a set that face the 6 o'clock. They are still that harsh blue-ish light but the lights that face the side are excellent for checking on the livestock (eye shine). The rear facing set are harsh, but they are great for some extra illumination for launching the boat.

 

[MMc]

LEDs are for more power efficient than the the other bulbs, the LEDs that are used in offroading use a 4k,5k,6k, for the color output, it is more to the blue spectrum and carries farther. Hid's are about 2k or 2.5k in color. You can add a filter to the front of the light. I have amber covers, I have a buddy that has amber and rose covers.
So, do I want a light that I can change the color and pushes light father down the road, or do I use a HID.

 

[RoarinRow]

I prefer HID in projector housings (low beams) because of the intensity and light cutoff compared to LED. For everything else I have LEDs all around for it's brightness and color temperature options, longer life, efficiency, etc. I prefer not to mix and match LED/HID with Halogens for the external lights.

On my daily driver with HID low beams and LED fogs.

 

[USStrongman]

I use a mix.

- LED headlights, fogs, tails, front turn signals. The MOPAR led headlights in the triangle pattern work incredibly well. No heat as mentioned, but its long efficient lighting is amazing. JW Speaker LED tail lights were a spontaneous buy. I rounded out all other OEM applications with LED. Reliability, function and brightness for my aging eyes has made a huge difference.
- 4 KC rock lights under front doors and back of the rig for improved camp lighting.
- I run 6 of the IPF 968 Halogens. 2 on the bumper. The IPF halogen decision is purely financial. I'd like to run KC or BD's but thats money I can spend elsewhere on my rig.

 

[WAYAWAY]

Warm light is the big kicker for me. I kinda hate the strange cool glow of LED.
I have a single cheapy LED bar now.. when (if) I redo the front of my rig, it will be round Halogen.

 

[Trail_pilot]

I have Ridgid spot cubes on my front bumper and a cheapo LED bar on the roof ( that i basically never use and kinda hate). My headlights are aftermarket LED units and I run small LED turn signals and LED rock lights that I built from cheapo LEDs. The only one I would consider ditching is the light bar because I never use it and the noise is irritating. I need to replace the windshield frame soon so the bar may not make it back on during the rebuild.

 

[KonzaLander]

I have been running [the same] HID auxiliary lights on my TJ for 15 years and absolutely love them. When it came time for lights on the Land Cruiser I tried some IPF halogens. The output was pathetic...so I upgraded to a similar HID that is on the TJ. I shopped around for LEDs and determined an equivalent LED would be 4x the cost of the HID. I guess I've just stayed stuck the in same rut and am back to being 'cool', even though I have DOT LED amber fog lights.

 

[mrseth]

Thank you @KonzaLander @James_Girard @WAYAWAY @USStrongman @RoarinRow @MMc @Sasquatch SC @MidOH @Slimpartywagon @Seanm26 for your responses and conversations! I love reading different facts, opinions and experiences with both types of lights.

I for one run 7x KC 100w on my roof, 2x LED ditch lights with amber covers, and my headlights are LEDs. Kind of a mix of both worlds.

 

[RoarinRow]

Thank you @KonzaLander @James_Girard @WAYAWAY @USStrongman @RoarinRow @MMc @Sasquatch SC @MidOH @Slimpartywagon @Seanm26 for your responses and conversations! I love reading different facts, opinions and experiences with both types of lights.

I for one run 7x KC 100w on my roof, 2x LED ditch lights with amber covers, and my headlights are LEDs. Kind of a mix of both worlds.

Sweet setup!

 

[mrseth]

I use a mix.

- LED headlights, fogs, tails, front turn signals. The MOPAR led headlights in the triangle pattern work incredibly well. No heat as mentioned, but its long efficient lighting is amazing. JW Speaker LED tail lights were a spontaneous buy. I rounded out all other OEM applications with LED. Reliability, function and brightness for my aging eyes has made a huge difference.
- 4 KC rock lights under front doors and back of the rig for improved camp lighting.
- I run 6 of the IPF 968 Halogens. 2 on the bumper. The IPF halogen decision is purely financial. I'd like to run KC or BD's but thats money I can spend elsewhere on my rig.

I run those rock lights as well! It is great for camping, and the kiddos love it when we turn them on at night going places. IPF is good, the only reason I got KC is that I got a heck of a deal from a friend, I'd honestly prefer Hella, but those are waaayyy pricey for my build.

 

[MOAK]

I never jumped on the lighting bandwagon. However, I did replace the 2nd and third row dome lights, the door lights ( red) and my back up lights with LEDs. I’ve a pair of old school KC clear wide beam fog lamps out on the nose and continue to use the stock headlamp bulbs.

 

[MazeVX]

Wrong choice of lights causes frustration, wrong beam pattern with massive light output from a led cause you to see less instead of more.
More isn't more when it comes to light output!
Giant lightbars put out way to much so your direct surroundings will blind you...

You have to step back and think about where you need more brightness and where you mount it on your vehicle, choose the right beam pattern and right output and everything is fine.
Besides melting snow, there is nothing a halogen light can do better than a led.

 

[Sasquatch SC]

2019 Subaru Outback 3.6R Touring - “The Appalachia Wander Wagon”
OEM LED Adaptive, self-leveling, steering responsive headlights
OEM halogen fog lights w/ Hella yellow tint shields
Bumper Bar: halogen Hella 500 fog beam w/ yellow tint film & protective grilles
Roof Basket: forward facing halogen Hella 500 Amber driving beam w/ protective grilles, side facing LED Rigid D-Series spot beam pods, rear facing LED Rigid D-SS flood beam pods

 

[MMc]

Come see the Baja 1000, half of the race or more is run at night. The cars are using LEDS, not so many light bars. Many are using overhead light but they do not have windshields. Trophy trucks and Class 1 cars cost $400,000.00 plus to build, they can use any light they want, they chose LED's. Yes choosing the right light pattern is very important.
I have used both and LEDs win for off road driving at night in the western USA. YMMV

Wrong choice of lights causes frustration, wrong beam pattern with massive light output from a led cause you to see less instead of more.
More isn't more when it comes to light output!
Giant lightbars put out way to much so your direct surroundings will blind you...

You have to step back and think about where you need more brightness and where you mount it on your vehicle, choose the right beam pattern and right output and everything is fine.
Besides melting snow, there is nothing a halogen light can do better than a led.