LED lowbeam experiment

[American Viking]

Originally Posted by justme1969

But now someone needs to do the math and figure out how many years that$100 price tag takes to pay off. it may be just a year if you consider it is in the long life range bulb category. those are $24 -$27 replacements.
So if you need a bulb it might just pay to upgrade to them.

Well the brightest, whitest, 55w Halogen h7 bulbs I've found are these - Amazon.com: OSRAM - Night Breaker Unlimited H7 (Pair): Automotive

In my car (with disabled DRL's) these bulbs lasted a year. That's twice as long as the Sylvania long life bulbs for about the same price.
My son's Jetta (which still uses the low beams for its DRL's), burns through low beams bulbs about one every 5 months.
So it would take about two years for these bulbs to pay for themselves and they supposedly have longer life that an normal incandescent bulb.

Originally Posted by justme1969

So you tried these first then bought and tried the h5?? because those were too bright??

No read my posting again. I bought the H7 Led for my VW Jetta low beam headlights and the H4 led bulbs for my Honda motorcycle.
Too bright hasn't happened with the headlights in either of these vehicles, yet.

[PaleMelanesian]

Originally Posted by justme1969

We can estimate payback in 2 years from your figures and less if you also take in account the life cycle expense on alternator and loss of effective power from alternator draw especially during accelleration activations.
looks a little better this way.

Then for my application Ill take into account key off coasting in dark that saps my system.

So long stories short if you plan to keep your car more than a year it may just pay.

That right there is the big potential payoff. If lower power lights allow more EOC, the payback could be in months instead of years.

[RedDevil]

I monitor battery voltage on my UG.
When I stop at the lights the engine cuts off (AutoStop). The voltage will sag a bit, the DC converter will jump in and replenish it from the hybrid pack. Or end AutoStop.

I got a new 12V battery under warranty.
It keeps its voltage better; I can see that the converter does not step in, so it does not draw from the hybrid pack, and AutoStop lasts longer.
The lower draw from the HID beams helps too of course.

[zjrog]

Originally Posted by echo-francis

did your friend got his LEDs??

Sorry for the delayed response. He did finally get them and has been using them for a couple weeks now.

First, he drives a Jeep Cherokee, which normally has sealed beam lights. He already did a relay harness upgrade, Cibie H4 housings with Narva 90/100 bulbs. He is a truck driver by trade and hates crappy lights. His opinion of the LED replacement bulbs is, he LOVES the low beam and finds it comparable to what he had already. High beam though is less than overwhelming and he would like something more. So now I need to decide if I want try them in any of my vehicles.

Speaking of LEDs, I have since installed my 18 watt, 1800 lumen, 30* lamps in the fog light spots on my Neon. They shine too high to be foglights, so are useless in snow and fog, too blinding. Where they, um, "shine", is spotting critters eyeballs along the road. And illuminating the faintest of reflective stripes on the road when wet...