LED lights work well in almost all weather conditions. Whether it is dawn, dusk, or night, LEDs offer unparalleled visibility.
This is why most automobile manufacturers don’t have any problem using them. As the primary source of illumination in their vehicles.
Yet, there is often a hesitation when it comes to the adoption of LEDs. At least in the aftermarket setting. Due to some rumors and myths about LED performance in bad weather conditions. That prevents people from trusting them with their lives.
The majority of these rumors are often based on the color temperature argument. Which revolves around the wavelength of light itself.
For those who don’t know about this, blue light has a shorter wavelength than yellow light. This is often said to be bad for visibility. At least from the driver’s perspective.
As our eyes perceive different colors with different sections of the eye. Blue light activates the central part of the iris. While yellow light activates the outer parts of the eye.
This results in extra strain for the drivers, as the blue light seems harsher on our eyes. While yellow light is just a bit more soothing, and thus preferable.
Another reason for this lack of comfort occurs during bad weather conditions. In the form of refraction of the light. This happens when the light from our headlights is basically bounced back to the driver. As the water droplets hanging in the air reflect it naturally.
This is often referred to as glare by drivers using blue light in foggy conditions. Who think of it as a loss of visibility. And assume that the blue light isn’t able to penetrate the fog as much as traditional yellow halogens.
When, in fact, it is exactly the opposite. You see, even with the extra refraction and glare, LEDs barely lose 20-25% of their usable light. Even with this loss, they still are better at lighting up the road than yellow light.
This is also due to the same wavelength equation that people try to debunk LEDs with. You see, there is a reason why blue light seems so much brighter than yellow. It is because it has a shorter wavelength. Which means that it also has a higher frequency.
Higher frequency waves travel faster and thus cover longer distances sooner. They also aren’t absorbed as easily as longer wavelengths. This means there is a better chance of them reaching an object in the distance fully intact.
As a result, blue light illuminates a longer area in front of the car. And can also maintain full intensity for much of this distance. While yellow light is absorbed faster. So, it not only lights up less area in front of the car. The light also gets dimmer the farther you get from the vehicle.
At the same time, headlights need filters to convert halogen light to yellow. These filters themselves eat up around 20% of the light from the halogens. Which in turn makes them even dimmer when compared to unfiltered LEDs. Thus, any advantage that you may have gotten from sticking to halogens gets wiped out entirely.
So, even if you win against the glare initially, you won’t be seeing much else either. Moreover, with brands like OSRAM investing heavily in glare-reduction technology. These losses are also being gradually cut down. So, you can expect better visibility over time, as technology continues to upgrade.
Even in the current generation of tech, there are lots of options in car lighting. That are specifically designed to deliver the best performance, even with these handicaps.
You can pick between any of these options, without compromising on safety. While also getting world-class build quality and lighting capacity.
The most obvious option would be the Night Breaker series from OSRAM. These are the first street-legal LEDs created by the brand. Which can be easily adapted to a number of vehicles on the road.
This model of LED headlight comes with some unique characteristics. That makes it a great aftermarket option for most people looking to upgrade their car.
The most readily visible one is the usable light itself. Which is 220% brighter than a standard halogen bulb. While also using 70% less energy to produce the same.
This light produces a longer, wider beam, which can penetrate up to 300 meters ahead. Which is almost double the visible distance as compared to halogens. While also producing 50% less glare in comparison to other LED products.
All of this combined makes it a near-perfect option for upgrading your car headlights. You can always go for the LEDriving XTR series if you want similar performance but in an off-road setting.
As you can see, there are lots of options when it comes to upgrading car headlights. But that isn’t the only important lighting source for cars. In fact, in foggy weather conditions, it isn’t even the primary source that we rely on.
Fog lamps are much more vital for driver visibility in bad weather. As the name suggests, they are specifically designed to deal with foggy conditions.
This is why they are specially placed at a height of 12-24 inches above the ground. The optimal space to light up, in order to avoid the refraction problem.
As the fog generally hangs a bit above the ground. So, if your light is located below the fog, it can still light up the road, while avoiding the white blanket entirely.
By upgrading these fog lights to LEDs, you can further increase the light output of your vehicle. While also increasing the low-angle visibility on the road.
This is because Indian drivers are often prone to using fog lights all the time. Even in regular weather conditions, as it adds to the visibility during the night.
OSRAM has an entire series of fog lights under their LEDriving FL series. These include regular OEM replacement options. That fits the standard H8/H10/H11/H16 brackets. As well as the PS24W ones.
You can either opt for the bulb alone. Or get a more complex Fog Lamp with an integrated controller. Both are meant to be easy retrofits, so you don’t have to worry about getting a separate assembly.
The light produced by these LED fog lamps matches the 6000K color temp of most OSRAM LED products. So, you get a stock LED feel once you upgrade all the lights in your car.
By making these simple upgrades, you can easily improve your visibility and safety. Even if adverse weather conditions like fog. And put to bed the myths that LEDs don’t perform that well in bad weather conditions Learn More
