Samieee

Hey everyone

I've been hearing that a 55W HID set up will be too hot and burn the headlight housings. I would like to buy a set for the low beams but am afraid it's going to damage the car. Can anyone with 55W HIDs or other experience comment on this? Thanks

dcjwlee

Errrr, HID operating temperature (not halogen bulbs with "xenon" in them) is not measured in watts but in Kelvin (i.e. 4000K, 5000K, 6000K).

In all my past cars with halogen headlamps, the usual wattage was around 55w (i.e. 2003 E320 with H7 bulb). So, I can't imagine you running into a problem, but I'll leave that for someone else to answer.

I switched out my reverse lamps in an older car to a higher wattage because I do tons of night driving and I wanted the extra light when backing out of dark areas. The extra wattage wasn't a problem in that case because the reverse lamp is never on for more than a few seconds...

denot

the wattage is for the light output power, wile Kelvin is for the temperature/colour.

the only problem I found with 55w HID is the ballast can be too hot sometimes. (besides you might blind oncoming traffic)

dcjwlee

I thought wattage measured powEr draw and lumens measured light output.

denot

Kelvin is for temperature hence the higher the K, the lower the Lumens. but 55w HID with 6000K is brighter than 35W with 6000K.

Samieee

How long have you had the set for? Notice any burning around the ballast and headlights?

jctevere

The real answer is quite the contrary. While the K in 6000k or 8000k does indeed stand for Kelvin, which is a unit of temperature in the Si system, in this application it is being used to refer to color temperature, not operating temperature. You can have a bulb that is 8000k in color, but 1w and be cool to the touch, while a 4300k 100w bulb will burn you...

HID kits (at least OEM kits) don't burn as hot as conventional halogen bulbs rated for the same lumens output. So a 35w Xenon bulb vs a 55w halogen bulb will put out similar lumens (if not advantage for xenon) but the HID will run much cooler, the bulb itself. But HID's have built in electronics an circuitry, as well as LEDs, that must remain cool; which is why heat is the problem. Where as halogen bulbs don't have on-board electronics. So while I don't expect a 55w HID kit to melt your housing or lens, the components probably won't last as long (and most only provide a marginal lumens output gain vs 35w, with the increased downside of worse reliability, shorter longevity and more heat) This is not to be taken as a guarantee, so don't blame me if it does melt or burn your housing or wires or anything.

Bottom line is this, despite the color temperature, the bulb does not get "hotter" as the kelvin rating rises from 1000k to 8000k or to 12000k. But what does happen is that the Lumens or light output intensity is shaped like a bell curve. The drop is not as drastic from 2500k - 6000k with 4300k having the best or highest lumen rating for providing most light output within the visible light spectrum, but any higher or lower than that range, light output (within the visible light spectrum) drops fast.

For instance, a typical 4300k xenon HID bulb is rated at about 3200lm or lumens, while a 12000k xenon bulb is only rated at around 2200lm, so its almost 1/3 less light output intensity, because most of the 12000k light waves are in the ultraviolet spectrum (not detectable by the human eye). Quite the same case could be made for a 1000k bulb though, because most of its light is in the infrared wavelength (again not detectable by the human eye).

The one exception where lower kelvin rated lights improve visibility is during precipitation or inclement weather. A 2500k rated bulb will have less lumens than a 4300k rated bulb, so there is less visible light output, but that means there is also less visible light reflected back to the driver's eyes during snow, fog, or rain, which is an improvement for visibility. But higher kelvin rated color lights with lower lumen ratings such as blue or pure white aren't as effective at improving visibility is because even though there is less visible light bounce back, the human eye is much better at focusing in yellow light, then in pure white or blue.

So to end my rant and my answer, all the HID xenon bulbs should be the same operating temperature, given that they are rated the same wattage. However, there are a few external factors such as quality of the bulb/lens, as well as how they achieve the higher or lower kelvin color temperature ratings of their bulb. On average a 35w Xenon HID bulb will be cooler than a 35w halogen bulb. But like I said, I'm no expert, so don't hold me liable if you happen to find an exception. I hope I was of some help with my long answer, haha.

Samieee

Thanks for your responses. I'm not really looking for an answer regarding Kelvin and color. I'm looking for comments regarding watts and operating temperature that might have the potential to damage the car.

boostin500

I've been running a set of 55w HID in my car for 6 months. There is no sign of burning anywhere.