Quote:
Originally Posted by african_andy189
I think LED's for all the stop/indicator/fog/reverse/number plate lights and HID is more realistic
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And while retrofitting LED headlights is a real chore (if you can do it at all) retrofitting secondary car lights to LEDs is actually pretty easy to do, if you shop at the right places.
For example, on my CRX, I converted almost all of my non-headlight bulbs (I still have a few small backlight bulbs that are hard to get to inside the car, and while my "fog lights" haven't been converted I'm not currently using them either) to LED modules purchased from
http://www.superbrightleds.com . And in most cases the conversion was very simple to do (in most cases I just unplugged the stock bulb, and plugged the LED module in its place), with the obvious exceptions being the small (hard to get to) dash backlight bulbs. A few things to keep in mind:
1) Do NOT buy just on price, look at the specs (light output, color, and beam angle) of the module, and buy on that. If you can't find the specs, odds are good that the module is going to produce sub-par lighting. In my case, I usually bought the brightest modules available in a given shape/size, and as a result many of my lights are brighter than stock. When I tried the cheaper modules I was usually disappointed with the light output.
2) Only buy "white" modules if/when you really need white light. If you need colored (green, amber, or red) light, buy a module that already produces light in the color you need (even if/when your stock bulb was white). By doing this, you will get much brighter/crisper light color, by avoiding the light loss that you always take when converting white light to colored light.
3) Since most LEDs are directional, make sure your beam angle is at least wide enough to fully light the car lens. If you go with a too narrow beam angle you will get a "pin hole" effect from the light. OTOH it's OK to go "too wide", as doing so just uses the natural car reflector to bounce some of the light back out the lens as a normal (incandescent) bulb would also do.
4) Be mindful of what angle the "bulb" will mount in the car assembly. For example, most car mountings expect their light directly in front of them, and most LED modules are built to that assumption. However, if/when you have a "sideways" bulb mounting, be sure to either buy LED modules with a 90 degree bend (to point the light out the side) or extremely wide angle LED modules (that throw light in essentially all directions, including the side). Otherwise, you won't have the light where you need it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by african_andy189
for the headlights.Has anyone changed to HID's and noticed fuel economy is affected?typical HID's draw about 35 watts compared to about 50 for a normal halogen.
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I did some research, and not only are HIDs a bit pricey, but (even more significantly) to be street legal you CAN NOT use stock car optics! Instead, to have legal HIDs, you have to change to new projector type lens optics, and somehow properly mount them to your car! Seemed like much bigger of a project than I was willing to do (or pay for).
However, what I was willing to do, was to replace my CRX's 9005(high)/9006(low) bulbs with Toshiba HIR1(9011)/HIR2(9012) bulbs. I didn't save any power at all doing this (the HIR1 is a stock 9005's 65w and the HIR2 is the stock 9006's 55w), but I did get a lot more light without using any more power. And unlike HID bulbs, HIR bulbs work well with the stock 9005/9006 optics (putting the light in the same places the stock bulbs do), and have a close to normal light color spectrum (i.e almost stock light tint) as well. And HIR bulbs also (unlike HID) come on just as fast as normal halogen bulbs do.
So while I didn't save any power from this conversion, I did get a lot more light for the same power/fuel used. And in a small way I probably do save a little fuel, as my "low beams" are now bright enough that I use my "high beams" even less than I used to use them.
FWIW: Yes, I still consider the low beams (much less the high beams) to be "power hungry" in my car. And even my secondary LED lights make a small difference in FE when they are on (and the headlights a noticeable amount more than that). So my current strategy is to use the lights as follows:
1) High beams are only used for short periods of time, when I need to quickly check something (for example, is that dark patch beside the road a deer that I'll need to watch out for?) on a dark road. i.e. Even on dark roads (at night) I don't run my highs all the time.
2) Low beam headlights are used when I need them to see and/or I'm legally required to have them on at that time.
3) If I simply want to be easier to be seen (overcast skies, heavy traffic, vacationing in Canada, etc) I'll use my secondary (LED powered) lights (i.e. everything except for the headlights themselves, and that includes the front facing white LED modules). By doing this, the car is VERY VISIBLE to other drivers, while still saving the large power usage of the headlights (the LED modules only draw a few watts total, whereas the low beams are 110w just for the 2 bulbs + the power for all the secondary lights).
4) And if it's very bright (and I'm not traveling in an area where lights are required/recommended), I'll just turn off all the lights (counting on a bright red CRX to be visible to other drivers) and save even the minor hit of the power required for the LED modules.
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