Comparing Cost of HID Spotlight Versus Halogen Spotlight

Halogen incandescent bulbs operate on Edison's basic concept. Electricity flows from positive to negative across a small, thin wire, called a filament. The filament is actually a very poor conductor of electricity. As a result, it glows, producing light and much heat. The heat eventually destroys the filament. Given the small, thin nature of the filament, various types of vibration will often break the filament before the heat destroys it. Incandescent lights are widely used and produced, making the technology cheap. Some of the best halogen light designs offer several hundred hours of life at a low cost.

High Intensity Discharge (HID), or gas discharge technology works differently. HID bulbs (HID globes) have two electrodes. Sparks jump across electrodes igniting the gas sealed inside the lamp. The gas is often in the form of a small amount of paste placed against the inside glass of the bulb. The sparks ignite the paste and the HID bulbs fill with some type of gas, usually xenon or metal halide gas. The type of gas dictates the color of the light produced. For example, metal halide gas produces a more blue-white color, approximately 6500-7000 Kelvin, while Xenon gas produces a more natural 4500 Kelvin color temperature.

In order to ignite the gas, an electronic device, called a ballast, controls the amount of current to the electrodes. Initially, the ballast sends a high amount of current to the electrodes to get the gas lit. Once the gas is burning, the ballast reduces the amount of current sent to the electrodes to keep the gas lit. For this reason, HID lights are much more efficient with electricity usage. In other words, HID lights require less amps to run than a comparable wattage incandescent lamp. A 35 watt HID will pull 3.3 amps on a 12 volt circuit, while 250 watt halogen will require 20 plus amps. Both may produce comparable illumination at distance.

HID lights are growing in popularity and HID headlight upgrade kits in higher end European cars are increasing demand. The bulbs are complex to construct and cost more than incandescent bulbs to produce. The ballast, which is not required in halogen incandescent spotlights, is fairly expensive to create in a small form factor. As a result, the cost of an HID spotlight or HID flashlight is significantly higher than that of a halogen incandescent spotlight or flashlight.

HID spotlights and HID flashlights offer many benefits, including more light with longer battery life. If properly constructed, the HID bulb will last more than 5,000 hours (compared to 300-400 hours for high end halogen bulb) and the HID bulb has no filament to break. As such, the cost for consumables (i.e. more bulbs) is minimal and HID are exceptionally durable and long lasting, in addition to being far brighter than halogen lights sporting much higher wattages.

In the off-road world, the benefits of the HID lights are particularly relevant. The durability of a high quality HID bulb is very resistant to the intense vibration that comes from navigating off road conditions at high speeds. Delivering more projected light for fewer amps makes for efficient use on vehicle’s electrical systems, especially since fewer lights are required to provide the same lighting patterns as halogen alternatives. Ultimately, the total cost of ownership of high quality HID lights can be significantly lower than halogen lights, when navigating off road conditions at high speed.

On the commercial side, HID lighting is critical to all manner if heavy equipment, including front loaders, forklifts, boom trucks, graders, skidders, wheel dozers, track tractors, wheel excavators, wheel loaders, paving equipment, multi-terrain loaders, off highway trucks, telehandlers, feller bunchers, cold planers, backhoe loaders, articulated trucks, industrial loaders, forest machines, knuckleboom loaders and motor graders. These work machines create intense ongoing vibration and frequent jolting. This type of activity easily damages filament bases halogen lights, creating work stoppages and downtime needed to change bulbs and fixtures. HID bulbs, with their long life and vibration resistant operation minimize down time, while providing dramatically more light. Increasing the work area lighting pattern and overall intensity of light improves work accuracy while reducing the number of times the work machines have to be re-positioned. Thus, the positive financial implications of using HID lights over halogen incandescent lights multiply, given that there is less bulb replacement and increased work productivity.