What is the Difference Between LED HID and Halogen

The key difference between LED HID and halogen lamps is that LED lamps have high longevity and HID lamps have moderate longevity whereas halogen lamps have the least longevity.

The term longevity refers to the long life of lamps. We can compare different types of lamps such as LED lamps, HID lamps and halogen lamps using longevity as a parameter.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is a LED Lamp
3. What is a HID Lamp
4. What is a Halogen Lamp
5. LED vs HID vs Halogen in Tabular Form
6. Summary – LED vs HID vs Halogen

What is a LED Lamp?

LED lamp is a type of electric light that is able to produce light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). This type of lamp is highly energy-efficient compared to equivalent incandescent lamps. These are the most efficient commercially available LED lamps having an efficiency of 200 lumens per Watt (Lm/W). Also, these lamps are efficient than most fluorescent lamps.

Typically, LED lamps need an electronic LED driver circuit in order to operate from main power lines. Any losses from this circuit mean the LED chips it uses has higher efficiency than the efficiency of the lamp. The driver circuit needs specific features for it to be incompatible with lamp dimmers that are intended to be used on incandescent lamps.

More specifically, LED lamps come to full brightness without any warm-up delay. Moreover, switching the lamp on and off frequently does not usually reduce the life expectancy of the lamp (in contrast, the life expectancy of fluorescent lighting is reduced if switched on and off frequently). Furthermore, the light output of LED lamps decreases gradually over the lifetime of the lamp.

Sometimes, we can use LED lamps as drop-in replacements for incandescent or fluorescent lamps. These LED lamps tend to use multiple LED packages for improved light dispersal, heat dissipation and overall cost. There are different forms of LED lamps, such as white light LEDs and colour-changing LED lights.

What is an HID Lamp?

HID lamps are high-intensity discharge lamps and a type of electrical gas-discharge lamp that produces light through an electric arc between tungsten electrodes placed inside an arc tube. This arc tube can be either translucent or transparent and is usually made from fused quartz or fused alumina. Typically, manufacturers tend to fill this arc tube with a noble gas; it also may contain suitable metal or metal salts. The use of a noble gas enables the initial strike of the arc. After the arc starts, it tends to heat and evaporate the metallic admixture. Typically, the presence of noble gas inside the arc plasma increases the intensity of the produced visible light.

More importantly, brand new HID lamps can make more visible light (when considered the light produced per unit of electric power that it consumes) than fluorescent and incandescent lamps.  However, its lifetime is short and can deteriorate up to 70% over 10,000 burning hours.

There are different types of HID lamps, including Mercury-vapor lamps, metal-halide lamps, sodium-vapor lamps, Xenon short-arc lamps, etc.

What is a Halogen Lamp?

A halogen lamp is a type of incandescent lamp that contains a tungsten filament sealed in a compact transparent envelope. This envelope structure is filled with a mixture of inert gas and a small amount of halogen. The halogen is typically iodine or bromine. The halogen gas combines with the tungsten filament to produce a halogen-cycle chemical reaction. This chemical reaction can redeposit the evaporated tungsten on the filament. Also, this chemical reaction can increase the lamp life and maintains the clarity of the envelope. Furthermore, this chemical reaction allows the filament to operate at a high temperature compared to a standard incandescent lamp having similar power and operating life.

However, we need to handle these halogen lamps carefully. These lamps must run at much higher temperatures compared to a normal incandescent lamp. This ensures the proper operation of the lamp. Also, the small size of these lamps helps in concentrating the heat on a small envelope surface, which is closer to the filament compared to a non-halogen incandescent lamp.

What is the Difference Between LED HID and Halogen?

The term longevity refers to the long life of lamps. We can compare different types of lamps such as LED lamps, HID lamps and halogen lamps using longevity as a parameter. The key difference between LED HID and halogen lamps is that LED lamps have high longevity, and HID lamps have moderate longevity, whereas halogen lamps have the least longevity.

The following infographic lists the differences between LED HID and halogen in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – LED vs HID vs Halogen

LED lamp is a type of electric light that is able to produce light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). HID lamps are high-intensity discharge lamps. Halogen lamp is a type of incandescent lamp that contains a tungsten filament that is sealed in a compact transparent envelope. The key difference between LED HID and halogen lamps is that LED lamps have high longevity, and HID lamps have moderate longevity, whereas halogen lamps have the least longevity.

Reference:

1. “HID (High Intensity Discharge): Light Bulb Types.” Bulbs.com.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Led-lampa” By Zátonyi Sándor, (ifj.) Fizped – Own work (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “2010-05-30 Destroyed 300W linear halogen bulb” By Ildar Sagdejev (Specious) – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
3. “Xenon short arc 1″By Atlant (CC BY 2.5) via Commons Wikimedia