How Many Lumens In A Car Headlight? All Things To Know About Car Headlights 

Have you ever questioned how many lumens in a car headlight there are? While many people think lumens are unimportant, understanding them may help you travel safely. Today, Driverevolve’s team will look closely at car headlights, their lumen, and different headlight types. Dive in!

What Are Lumens?

A few lamps might light stronger than others, and a few cars’ headlamps may shine brighter than others. This is mainly due to the vehicle’s lumen power.

Lumens are the standard measure of a bulb’s light brightness. Higher lumens suggest stronger lighting effects, whereas lower lumens indicate weaker lighting. When purchasing headlight bulbs, consider lumens rather than watts.

How Many Lumens In A Car Headlight Are There?

The specific number mainly depends on the type of headlamp in the issue. Car headlamps are classified into three categories.

Halogen Bulb

Standard or replacement halogens will provide approximately 700 Lumens in a low beam, while the high beam will offer roughly 1,200 lumens.

In addition, the type of halogen headlight will also have an effect. Halogens meant for high-beam-only applications (like those on cars with quad-headlight setups) will be stronger, ranging from 1,600 to 1,700 lumens, depending on specific automakers.

So, if your car has standard halogen headlamps, the lumens specification of the lamps will range between 700 and 1,200 lumens.

When compared to HIDs and LEDs, halogen outputs will be the weakest. However, they are economical (from 40+ USD for even the best halogen headlight bulbs), serve a long time, and usually shine brightly enough for most car drivers. There’s a valid reason they’ve been around since the 1960s.

HID Or Xenon Bulb

HID Bulb and Jeep TJ Headlights, which do you prefer? HID or Xenon bulbs are a more famous option compared to halogens. Apart from that, HID or Xenon uses less electricity.

There are 2 other key reasons why you should consider changing from halogens to HIDs:

• Color temperature: You may customize the lighting color temperatures of the system using a collection of HID headlights. HID bulbs range in temperature from 3000K to 12000K. This implies that you may choose the color of your lighting based on the aesthetic or design of your vehicle.
• Brightness or lumens output: Xenon headlamps outperform conventional halogens in brightness. In fact, a standard HID (or Xenon) lamp has a lumen rating of roughly 3000, which is approximately 3 times stronger than Halogen lumen output.

Typical HID or HID systems will have a rating of 80 lumens for each watt. This equates to around 2,800 to 3,000 lumens if you possess a 35-watt HID setup. HID bulbs configured at 50 watts (from the best HID headlights) will produce 4,000 to 5,000-lumen output, making them among the most robust options available nowadays.

LED Headlight 

This can be difficult. Although 2,000 – 4,000 Lumens are standard, an LED headlamp system’s brightness is based on many variables. Among these factors is the count of LEDs in every bulb.

When choosing replacement LED headlamp bulbs, though, you must proceed with caution. If you encounter bulbs advertised at absurd numbers like 10000 or 13600-lumen output, don’t buy them!

The brightness of LED headlamps is determined by the watts of their bulbs like how the lumens value of HID headlamps is estimated. A 1-watt diode, for instance, may produce nearly 130 lumens. If your car’s lighting system has 16 lightbulbs and every lightbulb is designated at 16 watts, it’s about 2,080 lumens.

Fitting 2 of those LED headlights in your vehicle will result in a total brightness of roughly 4,000 Lumens. This is about the same rating as an HID lighting fixture.

LED headlamps are somewhat costlier than HID ones, but they consume less electricity, last longer, and require less maintenance. Refer to our best LED lights for cars if you are too confused.

Beyond that, if you wonder whether Morimoto’s headlights are worth your money, let this post clarify their pros and cons sufficiently.

How Many Lumens Are Illegal/Dangerous?

So basically, lumens are strong; anything above 2,000 – 4000 lumens can pose a risk. When your lumen output is too high, it is perilous. Indeed, 6000 lumens in a headlamp may blind a guy in darker surroundings. 

However, it is difficult to specify how many lumens are not allowed because this varies by country and region. In most cases, vehicle headlamps’ standard and acceptable brightness should range from 2,000 to 4,000 lumens.

As previously said, while purchasing headlamp bulbs, pay close attention to their lumens and, if feasible, research what is allowed in your area and the standards for your model of headlamps. 

FAQs 

Wrapping Up 

How many lumens in a car headlight are there? Specifying a number is tricky since the final answer depends on different headlight types. Thus, think of various headlamp options and their lumens and pick whichever suits your needs.

Another thing to consider when choosing your lumens is your area’s regulations. Sure, using powerful headlamps on the street may seem like a good idea, yet they can be dangerous to other people. 

You will only need enough lighting to view the obstacles and be recognized in the dark, and 2000-4000 lumen output will usually work!

For more knowledge of car parts, refer to our Fun Autopart section.