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Led Current Draw Confusion


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#1 Clip

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Posted 22 October 2022 - 01:07 AM

I’m always confused by claims that replacing a 55watt halogen bulb with a 55watt led bulb will result in much less current draw from the LED bulb. If they are both rated at 55 watts though, then surely they are drawing the same amps (4.6 amps)? The 55 watt led might be brighter, but still going to draw the same current? Or am I missing something? 

But when checking on reputable LED shop, they state that their 30 watt H3 LED bulbs only draw 850mA! That’s only 0.85amps! Hence my confusion. 


Edited by Clip, 22 October 2022 - 01:18 AM.


#2 Steam

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Posted 22 October 2022 - 04:10 AM

The led does not draw 55 watts it is a comparitive sales ploy.
It has the same light output as a 55w lamp.

#3 stuart bowes

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Posted 22 October 2022 - 09:16 AM

Even that's a something of a guess in a lot of cases, it varies depending on the brand (as does longevity)

In theory the 'brightness' (lumens) would be the same but the type of light being more evenly distributed does give the effect of being brighter in the case of home/ office lighting anyway when compared to florescent or incandescent

Something to remember though if you're talking about headlights is you can't just change to LED in all cases because it can be illegal and an MOT fail if the light housing/lens isn't designed for an LED lamp. Or something like that but definitely check the rules first or ask your local MOT man

Edited by stuart bowes, 22 October 2022 - 09:26 AM.


#4 roblightbody

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Posted 22 October 2022 - 02:04 PM

Do you understand household led bulbs?

It's the same thing.

I have one here from IKEA. Advertised as "60W" but its actually 5.9W. the 60W is just to help us understand how bright it is in terms we understand.

#5 Kaj

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Posted 22 October 2022 - 02:37 PM

P=IV, power = amps x volts,
55W ÷ 12V = 4.58A
5W ÷12 = 0.416A
So LED bulbs are a much smaller current draw. As previously mentioned, they quote an equivalent wattage to try and compare brightness.

#6 weef

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Posted 22 October 2022 - 06:46 PM

Regardless of the current consumptions of LED versus halogen I do not think that the LED bulb is legal to us in the UK as they are not "E" marked because I do not think there is any legislation for the use of LED technology in headlamps that are designed for halogen technology.

Headlamp units are manufactured specificly for halogen technology if the H type bulbs are used.

Some time ago looking at an Osram bulb chart showed the only LED type unit suitable for legal use was their interior light LED unit, it may have changed I do not know but suspect it has not.

Like other conversions to give a higher light intensity, yes they do give more light output, but as the headlamps are not designed to use this type of lamp there tends to be a "scatter" rather than focused pattern to make use of the brighter lamp and this can cause oncoming drivers to get annoyed.



#7 Spider

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Posted 22 October 2022 - 07:14 PM

Power (Watts) isn't a measure of light output.

 

There's a few for light, the common one is Lumens and some manufacturer's include this data for true comparison but even then, it gets a bit more complicated as the colour of the light also needs to be taken in to account as the human eye responds differently to different light colours, which is expressed as colour temperature.

 

I gotta say, it does annoy me the way some of the Snakeoil Salesmen adverse their wares.

 

A friend of mine dropped around one evening to show me his (very expensive) LED Headlights he'd just fitted in his Moke. We waited until it was well dark outside then we went down the road in each of out Mokes to get a comparison between his lights and mine (H4's fitted with 100 / 160 Watt lamps). He put his on and to me they seems OK for suburban driving, then he went to Hi Beam and again, they were OK but it was clear from the light pattern they'd dazzle on coming drivers. He left his on, then I flick mine on, they pretty put 'blotted' out his except to the right, then I flicked mine to High Beam,,,,,,,,,

One other thing my friend found was that being such a white light they were horrible in heavy rain and fog.



#8 gazza82

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Posted 22 October 2022 - 09:11 PM

LED headlamps .. complete units are legal in UK ...but putting an LED in a headlamp designed for a halogen bulb is not legal and an MOT fail. When they check the headlight alignment the light scatter is obvious ...

#9 KTS

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Posted 22 October 2022 - 10:50 PM

LED headlamps .. complete units are legal in UK ...but putting an LED in a headlamp designed for a halogen bulb is not legal and an MOT fail. When they check the headlight alignment the light scatter is obvious ...


Sorry, but this is not correct; as of 22 march last year pre '86 cars may have LED bulbs fitted to existing headlamp units. As long as the beam pattern is acceptable they must not be failed just because they have LED bulbs fitted

https://www.gov.uk/g...amp-conversions

#10 Clip

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Posted 23 October 2022 - 06:49 AM

Thanks for all your comments. I’m replacing H3 55W halogen with LEDS in my 4 spotlights and want lowest current draw, so will fit “advertised” 60 watt LEDs. These then should only draw around the equivalent of one 55W Halogen H3.

 

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Edited by Clip, 23 October 2022 - 06:54 AM.


#11 stuart bowes

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Posted 23 October 2022 - 02:45 PM

 

Sorry, but this is not correct; as of 22 march last year pre '86 cars may have LED bulbs fitted to existing headlamp units. As long as the beam pattern is acceptable they must not be failed just because they have LED bulbs fitted

https://www.gov.uk/g...amp-conversions

 

 

well it is still true for probably the majority of the cars on the road in fairness

 

useful to know the update though (and handy for those real old cars with the most dismal of lighting compared to modern standards..) annoying though it is that mine's an '88


Edited by stuart bowes, 23 October 2022 - 02:46 PM.


#12 gazza82

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Posted 23 October 2022 - 10:44 PM

Key is the beam pattern .. most LEDs in a halogen headlight bowl will scatter

#13 Clip

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Posted 24 October 2022 - 04:46 AM

Key is the beam pattern .. most LEDs in a halogen headlight bowl will scatter

Ive found the “crystal” type headlight to be the best. Standard lens do scatter too much. Also after trialing many many H4 leds for headlights, the best I have found so far are the lower output JW Speaker ones (not as bright as the other more expensive ones with the fans or cooling fins, but perfect on low beam and good cut-off line). 

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Edited by Clip, 24 October 2022 - 04:50 AM.


#14 Lplus

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Posted 24 October 2022 - 08:41 AM

 

Key is the beam pattern .. most LEDs in a halogen headlight bowl will scatter

Ive found the “crystal” type headlight to be the best. Standard lens do scatter too much. Also after trialing many many H4 leds for headlights, the best I have found so far are the lower output JW Speaker ones (not as bright as the other more expensive ones with the fans or cooling fins, but perfect on low beam and good cut-off line). 

 

They look interesting.  Presumably they don't get very hot since they don't have fans/heatsinks.  Part of the point of using LEDs is the lower current due to far more of the power being used to make light instead of heat.  The bulbs with add on cooling must still be generating a lot of heat which makes me wonder if they are also using a lot of current.  I seem to recall that some LEDs have to have an additional resistance to enable more modern cars to recognise the presence of the bulb and not throw a fault code.



#15 Clip

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Posted 24 October 2022 - 09:06 AM

 

 

Key is the beam pattern .. most LEDs in a halogen headlight bowl will scatter

Ive found the “crystal” type headlight to be the best. Standard lens do scatter too much. Also after trialing many many H4 leds for headlights, the best I have found so far are the lower output JW Speaker ones (not as bright as the other more expensive ones with the fans or cooling fins, but perfect on low beam and good cut-off line). 

 

They look interesting.  Presumably they don't get very hot since they don't have fans/heatsinks.  Part of the point of using LEDs is the lower current due to far more of the power being used to make light instead of heat.  The bulbs with add on cooling must still be generating a lot of heat which makes me wonder if they are also using a lot of current.  I seem to recall that some LEDs have to have an additional resistance to enable more modern cars to recognise the presence of the bulb and not throw a fault code.

 

No they don’t get as hot because not so bright, hence no need for additional cooling. To be honest I just don’t get the need for massively bright low beam headlights. But that is what seems to be the vast majority of led replacement bulbs. What I want is a whiter beam (that I prefer) that is a little brighter than standard but has much lower current draw. The other big difference I’ve noticed with these particular bulbs is the difference between high and low beam - there is actually a difference where high beam is brighter than low beam, unlike the other others where there is barely any noticeable difference other than increased light scatter. But to be honest, the best solution by far is a dedicated full led replacement headlight unit - it’s just that look so naff on a 60 year old car, IMHO. 






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