Automotive bulbs are as important to the cars as the eyes to us. They come in many different ranges depending upon the type and intensity of the light they emit. Some are bright and some project a normal frequency of light. They come in all different temperature ranges, which basically determine the type of color possessed by the bulb. Types of automotive bulbs also depend on their life span.
Generally the types of automotive bulbs are: the Headlights, Fog light bulbs, mini bulbs and specialty bulbs. We are going to acquaint ourselves with them one by one. First of all the most important type, that is the headlight bulbs; there are mainly two types of headlights installed in the vehicles, one is the sealed beam type and the other is bulb type headlight. The sealed beam type are the lights which need to be replaced completely if damaged, this means that if the bulb is fused or any other part of it is damaged, it can not be replaced individually. It requires a complete new headlight assembly including bulb, glass and the metal casing.
Whereas; the bulb type headlights offer a much more convenient method of replacing the damaged part. If the bulb gets fused or damaged, you can simply replace it approaching the bulb from the engine compartment and your light is as good as new. There are a lot of variations in these bulbs which you can have in you headlights. By just changing the type of bulb you can control the light intensity and can also select a color of particular range. Some of the bulbs available in the market are; Xenon ( 30 % brighter light) this bulb outshines the usual bulb by providing 30% brighter view of the road up till 50-75m.then we have the Xenon Ultra ( 50% bright) which provides better orientation on the road thus giving an early warning to the hazards. Long life (LL) is the bulb offering longer life and this is done by using heavy gases such as Argon and Krypton. For the commercial vehicles which are prone to damage their headlight bulbs due to some shock, the Heavy Duty type is best suited as their filament is made of a heavy duty material that resists failure for a longer period of time.
Finally the Truckstar which are a uniquely designed new generation halogen bulbs meant to cope with the extreme demands of 24 volts heavy duty commercial transport applications.Now let us discuss the Fog lights. Both types, the ones which are mounted on top of the truck as an aftermarket product and the standard type installed on the bottom of the car operate on Halogen bulbs. Halogen bulbs are useful because they do not reflect the light off the fog which creates a glare in driver’s eyes. The other major type is Mini bulbs which are shorter in length than other bulb and are not used as often as others. Indicators, brakes and interior dash board lights usually operate on these bulbs.
Lastly the type having many implications is Specialty bulbs. These bulbs are used to perform various functions such as the Neon LED lights on the side mirrors are quite useful as the additional blinkers. Similarly the additional lights on the rear of the vehicle add on to the brake indication. Running boards and step rails also use this type of lights which come on when the vehicle door opens to ensure the safe footing while coming in or out of the vehicle. Sequenced lights also fall in the specialty bulbs category.
Types of Automotive Bulbs