HID Lights for Headlights

Types of HID Kits
High intensity discharge lights are also commonly known as HID lights and are well known to automobiles users for their widespread use among all the modern cars. An HID kit a very welcome upgrade to your vehicle and not only add significantly to your style statement but also saves a considerable amount of money as they last longer than halogen headlights and require are less prone to wear and tear.  They also use far less battery power as compared to ordinary halogen headlamps and as they are usually requiring 35W/12V power supply unlike their traditional counterparts that work on 55W/12V power. They also require very less maintenance because they do not use filaments that burn to produce light. The most important advantage of HID kit is its visibility on the road. Your transport if equipped with HID lamp not only allows you to see at farther distances on the road but also makes easier for incoming traffic to see you at farther ranges and thus improves your road safety by giving you that extra time.
HID lights are fundamentally different from the traditional halogen lamps because they do not have a filament in them and produce light kits produce light through electrical discharge between two electrodes in a sealed Xenon environment. This process is very much similar to lightening in natural atmosphere. However incase of xenon the discharge is systematically controlled and is very stable and thus producing a stable, reliable beam of light. The process starts when very high voltage (usually 20,000 Volts, and is provided by the ballasts) is applied between the two electrodes that are separated by a Xenon atmosphere in a sealed bulb. This causes the Xenon gas to ionize and become electric conductor and in the process it starts to produce light. Once the process has stabilized it only requires nominal 85V power to continue its operations and only consumes 35W.
There are a lot of different type of HID lights available in the automobile market and can also be bought online from various online shopping stores. The HID lights are categorized in two different ways. One on the basis of the color temperature of the light produced by the Kit and second by the bulbs and beam configurations. We will discuss both these classifications in detail. First of all to understand the classification on the basis of temperature it would be important to note that each temperature range corresponds to a different color and this change in color marks a change in temperature category.
Generally available xenon kits begin with a color temperature of 4300K and peak at around 30,000K. However the most common temperatures that are often seen on the road are in the color temperature range of 5000K to 6000K. These temperatures correspond to white and crystal white colors respectively. Beside these other temperature categories are 3000K, 4300K, 8000K, 10,000K 12,000K, 14,000K and higher. Each of these temperatures is considered as a different category and is marked by its own color. The colors corresponding to these temperature categories are 3000K for Golden White color, 4300K for Bright White, 5000K for White, 6000K for Crystal White, 8000K for Crystal Blue, 10000K for Aqua Blue, 12000K for Purple Blue, and 14000K for Purple color.
If you are planning to buy an HID kit with color temperatures of 10000K or higher you should be aware of any legal issues regarding the color temperatures of 10000K and above in your country. As traffic regulation in USA and Canada as well as ECE regulation do not allow such high color temperature lights to be installed on the common on road vehicles. Most of the Hid Kits that have a color temperature of 12000K or more are normally being used off the road. They are very common in the race car arenas as well as their use is also very wide in ornamental light displays.
It is fairly simple to understand weather the HID kit you are planning to buy or you have already installed is legal or not. All HID kit manufacturers are legally bound to mark the outer lens of a headlamp with the light source used in the headlamps. If your car is equipped with a Xenon system, the markings D1S, D1R, D2S or D2R, would be present on the lens depending upon the design of your headlamp. “S” (as in D1S or D2S) type of markings indicate that your headlamp uses a projector type of optics while the “R” (as in D1R or D2R) type of markings indicate that your headlamp uses a reflector type of optics. The letter “DOT” should appear on the lens to indicate that your kit complies with U.S. Department of Transportation regulations.
Here it is also worthy to mention that HID temperature (K) only refers to the color of the light emitted by the Xenon bulbs and should not to be confused with Lumens that is a measure of the intensity of the light. Thus an HID kit with a higher color temperature does not necessarily mean a higher light intensity. In fact the light intensity decreases as we increase the temperature beyond 8000K as the color of the lights starts to get darker. However the light brightness does increase with increase in color temperature up to 8000K.
The other major classification of HID headlamps is on the basis of bulbs and beam configurations. There are four major categories of HID lamps based on this classification criterion. These kits are commonly available in the market and all fulfill a very distinct set of requirements and are best suited for those situations.
First major category is the Single beam kits. These kits come with a pair of HID bulbs, 2 ballasts, and are suited for vehicles that use different light systems independently for low beam and high beam. In such vehicles HID kits are commonly installed for your low beams, while the high beam functions are performed by the standard Halogen Bulbs. The bulbs sizes that are used with this kit include H1, H3, H4-1, H7, 9004-1, 9005, 9006, and 9007-1.
The second major category includes High/Low Beam xenon kits. These HID kits are commonly termed as Hi/Lo Kit, and come with 2 pairs of bulbs (one HID and one halogen) and 2 ballasts. Halogen bulbs are used for high beam, while bulbs are used for low beam operations. Common bulb sizes in this category are H4-2, 9004-2, 9007-2.
The third category is called Telescopic HID Kit and they give a full range of low and high beam operations. It is a Single kit that can switch between high beam and low beam, and comes with 2 ballasts, relevant installation clamps and uses bulbs of H4-3, 9004-3, and 9007-3 size.
Bi-xenon kits are the third category of HID headlamps and they come with 2 pairs of HID bulbs 4 ballasts and installation clamps. Two HID bulbs are installed on each side, one of which works for high beam and other for low beam, it uses bulb sizes like H4-4, 9004-4, and 9007-4.
Although the initial cast of purchase and installation of an HID kit is exorbitant, now-a-days many automobile owners are installing HID kits onto their vehicles and saying goodbyes to their old headlamps. But beside their use in the headlamps HID lamps have many other uses as well. The use of lamps is almost a fashion in sports arenas and other places where high intensity light beams are required. The HID lights are also used in indoor gardens as they provide high intensity light while consuming very less power.

The different types of bulbs and kits on the market:

High intensity discharge lights are also commonly known as HID lights and are well known to automobiles users for their widespread use among all the modern cars. An HID kit a very welcome upgrade to your vehicle and not only add significantly to your style statement but also saves a considerable amount of money as they last longer than halogen headlights and require are less prone to wear and tear.  They also use far less battery power as compared to ordinary halogen headlamps and as they are usually requiring 35W/12V power supply unlike their traditional counterparts that work on 55W/12V power. They also require very less maintenance because they do not use filaments that burn to produce light. The most important advantage of HID kit is its visibility on the road. Your transport if equipped with HID lamp not only allows you to see at farther distances on the road but also makes easier for incoming traffic to see you at farther ranges and thus improves your road safety by giving you that extra time.
HID lights are fundamentally different from the traditional halogen lamps because they do not have a filament in them and produce light kits produce light through electrical discharge between two electrodes in a sealed Xenon environment. This process is very much similar to lightening in natural atmosphere. However incase of HID the discharge is systematically controlled and is very stable and thus producing a stable, reliable beam of light. The process starts when very high voltage (usually 20,000 Volts, and is provided by the ballasts) is applied between the two electrodes that are separated by a Xenon atmosphere in a sealed bulb. This causes the Xenon gas to ionize and become electric conductor and in the process it starts to produce light. Once the process has stabilized it only requires nominal 85V power to continue its operations and only consumes 35W.
There are a lot of different type of HID lights available in the automobile market and can also be bought online from various online shopping stores. The HID lights are categorized in two different ways. One on the basis of the color temperature of the light produced by the Kit and second by the bulbs and beam configurations. We will discuss both these classifications in detail. First of all to understand the classification on the basis of temperature it would be important to note that each temperature range corresponds to a different color and this change in color marks a change in temperature category.
Generally available HID kits begin with a color temperature of 4300K and peak at around 30,000K. However the most common temperatures that are often seen on the road are in the color temperature range of 5000K to 6000K. These temperatures correspond to white and crystal white colors respectively. Beside these other temperature categories are 3000K, 4300K, 8000K, 10,000K 12,000K, 14,000K and higher. Each of these temperatures is considered as a different category and is marked by its own color. The colors corresponding to these temperature categories are 3000K for Golden White color, 4300K for Bright White, 5000K for White, 6000K for Crystal White, 8000K for Crystal Blue, 10000K for Aqua Blue, 12000K for Purple Blue, and 14000K for Purple color.
If you are planning to buy an HID kit with color temperatures of 10000K or higher you should be aware of any legal issues regarding the color temperatures of 10000K and above in your country. As traffic regulation in USA and Canada as well as ECE regulation do not allow such high color temperature lights to be installed on the common on road vehicles. Most of the Hid Kits that have a color temperature of 12000K or more are normally being used off the road. They are very common in the race car arenas as well as their use is also very wide in ornamental light displays.
It is fairly simple to understand weather the HID kit you are planning to buy or you have already installed is legal or not. All HID kit manufacturers are legally bound to mark the outer lens of a headlamp with the light source used in the headlamps. If your car is equipped with a Xenon system, the markings D1S, D1R, D2S or D2R, would be present on the lens depending upon the design of your headlamp. “S” (as in D1S or D2S) type of markings indicate that your headlamp uses a projector type of optics while the “R” (as in D1R or D2R) type of markings indicate that your headlamp uses a reflector type of optics. The letter “DOT” should appear on the lens to indicate that your HID kit complies with U.S. Department of Transportation regulations.
Here it is also worthy to mention that HID temperature (K) only refers to the color of the light emitted by the Xenon bulbs and should not to be confused with Lumens that is a measure of the intensity of the light. Thus an HID kit with a higher color temperature does not necessarily mean a higher light intensity. In fact the light intensity decreases as we increase the temperature beyond 8000K as the color of the lights starts to get darker. However the light brightness does increase with increase in color temperature up to 8000K.
The other major classification of HID headlamps is on the basis of bulbs and beam configurations. There are four major categories of HID lamps based on this classification criterion. These kits are commonly available in the market and all fulfill a very distinct set of requirements and are best suited for those situations.
First major category is the Single beam kits. These HID kits come with a pair of HID bulbs, 2 ballasts, and are suited for vehicles that use different light systems independently for low beam and high beam. In such vehicles HID kits are commonly installed for your low beams, while the high beam functions are performed by the standard Halogen Bulbs. The bulbs sizes that are used with this kit include H1, H3, H4-1, H7, 9004-1, 9005, 9006, and 9007-1.
The second major category includes High/Low Beam HID kits. These HID kits are commonly termed as Hi/Lo Kit, and come with 2 pairs of bulbs (one HID and one halogen) and 2 ballasts. Halogen bulbs are used for high beam, while HID bulbs are used for low beam operations. Common bulb sizes in this category are H4-2, 9004-2, 9007-2.
The third category is called Telescopic HID Kit and they give a full range of low and high beam operations. It is a Single HID kit that can switch between high beam and low beam, and comes with 2 ballasts, relevant installation clamps and uses bulbs of H4-3, 9004-3, and 9007-3 size.
Bi-xenon HID kits are the third category of HID headlamps and they come with 2 pairs of HID bulbs 4 ballasts and installation clamps. Two HID bulbs are installed on each side, one of which works for high beam and other for low beam, it uses bulb sizes like H4-4, 9004-4, and 9007-4.
Although the initial cast of purchase and installation of an HID kit is exorbitant, now-a-days many automobile owners are installing HID kits onto their vehicles and saying goodbyes to their old headlamps. But beside their use in the headlamps HID lamps have many other uses as well. The use of HID lamps is almost a fashion in sports arenas and other places where high intensity light beams are required. The HID lights are also used in indoor gardens as they provide high intensity light while consuming very less power.