Are Yellow LED Bulbs Better for Bad Weather?

Are Yellow LED Bulbs Better for Bad Weather than White Bulbs?

When spring arrives, there will be a lot of rain. Blizzard conditions are still going strong for those of you who reside in the northern part of the United States. The question still stands: Are white headlights the best for visibility in bad weather, or are yellow ones better?

You can read more about our previous blog post, which covered the specifics of color temperature in your car's lighting, here. In that piece, we go into great detail, but this time, we'll keep it short and dive straight into determining the optimal fog light hue.

Disclaimer: The US Department of Transportation (DOT) regulates lamps, reflecting devices, and related equipment in the US. It is illegal to use these LED lights on cars that are registered for on-street use, even if they can be used in place of the original halogen lightbulb. Only when employed in a fog lamp application, an off-road application, or in a jurisdiction outside of the United States where it is permitted, can this kind of alteration be carried out for a more thorough analysis of compliance and information on how to assess if this kind of product is safe to use and permitted on US public roads.

INTRODUCTION

When picking a fog light bulb, the three main factors to take into account are brightness, color temperature, and bulb type (such as LED or halogen). You can read about our selection of the top fog light bulbs available here if you already know what you want.

Brightness and Color Temperature

If brightness is your main priority, we advise using a white or cool white fog light (about 5000K color temperature). Yellow fog lights, in this instance, are less about performance and more about personal taste and style.

The LED bulbs are less effective than the traditional halogen headlights at passing through fog and comparable circumstances. Their operating wavelength is the reason for this. Single-wavelength or narrow-spectrum lights are, to put it succinctly, the orange-glowing tunnel lights you see on the highway or the outdated halogen headlights. They emit one particular wavelength spectrum. Imagine that an orange light emits solely orange wavelengths.

LED lights are a type of multi-spectrum light since they emit a variety of colors. Its projection is a blend of blues, greens, and reds. The light then refracts off the airborne particles, limiting your vision and lighting everything you view.

In conclusion, the type of light released from a halogen bulb makes old-fashioned halogen lights more effective at piercing fog and other conditions when the atmosphere is murky. For that use, OSRAM and their Cool Blue Boost Series in halogen would be among the top brands available.

If you are serious about switching to LED bulbs, continue reading to test how the color difference between white and yellow light works.

GTR Lighting Ultra 2 White vs Yellow

As a reference, we use a Lux meter to measure the Lux of your conventional halogen fog lightbulb. It measured a reasonable 110 max. Lux. You should be more concerned with the percentage rise between the lights than with the Lux number.

We evaluated the GTR Lighting Ultra 2 (yellow) as our first aftermarket choice. With a maximum lumen of 240, this bulb outperformed the original bulb by 118 percent. A broader and more uniformly bright beam pattern is also seen.

Next up is the identical GTR Lighting Ultra 2, but in white this time. We measured this one at 320 maximum lumens, which is 190 percent more than the original bulb. It is immediately apparent that this one is brighter than its yellow sibling.

The halogen and LED bulbs have different beam patterns, which you can see by comparing them. The LED lightbulb is the best option if you want a higher beam pattern and won't be exposed to many lousy weather conditions. The next step is to choose whether you want the appearance of yellow lights or the brightest output.

We suggest the S-V.4 bulbs or the renowned Morimoto 2Stroke 3.0 if you want something more stock-like in terms of beam pattern. Compared to stock, both are brighter and will provide a comparable beam pattern despite being more reliable than halogen bulbs.