Headlights, or headlamps, are the light bulbs attached to the front of your car that illuminate the road. The purpose of headlights is to improve your safety during night time and other periods of low-visibility.
In most situations, cars use low-beam headlights. Low-beams are also called "dipped beam" because the headlight closest to oncoming traffic (the left one on right-traffic cars; the right one on left-traffic cars) is aimed downward toward the road so that there is less glare directed at oncoming drivers as they pass by.
During the night-time, when it is very difficult to see the road, high-beams can be used instead. High-beams are the same, except that they are aimed directly ahead. Unlike low-beams, high-beams produce a fair amount of glare for oncoming drivers. For this reason, it's important to shut off your high beams when there are cars in front of you or in the oncoming lane.
As for the type of light bulb used in the headlight assembly, a few popular designs exist. Tungsten filament bulbs were one of the first types of electric headlights developed for use on cars. One of the drawbacks to tungsten light bulbs is that they aren't very efficient. Compared to the more modern types of headlights, tungsten light bulbs use a lot of energy for the amount of light they produce.
Halogen technology makes tungsten filaments more efficient. In halogen light bulbs, electricity passes through a tungsten filament in vacuum (sealed space where nothing gets in or out) of halogen gas. As the tungsten is burned off from the heat, it reacts with the halogen gas in such a way that it is restored. This process is known as the halogen cycle.
HID, or high-intensity discharge, is another kind of headlight found on modern vehicles. HIDs have a very high light output for the amount of energy they use and, as a result, they are quite effective. The light given off my HIDs is not produced by electricity passing through a filament, as in tungsten light bulbs. Instead, it is given off from an electrical arc, which is a kind of electrical current that passes through a gas (such as air) between two conductive electrodes.
One of the most recently-developed kinds of headlights uses LED, or light-emitting diode, technology. LEDs are often used as indicator lights, like the little red or green "power on" lights often found on portable electronic devices. The headlights use an arrangement of these light-emitting diodes to illuminate the road ahead and achieve power efficiency somewhere between halogens and HIDs.
Over the years, headlights have developed to the point that they are very easy to replace. In some headlight assemblies, the bulb itself can be changed. It is more common, however, that the entire headlight assembly can be taken off, with a new one being installed.
Headlights Ottawa
