1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

12W LED H11 Bulbs

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by Texas-Prius, Sep 13, 2012.

  1. Texas-Prius

    Texas-Prius One more Prius to fight terrorism

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2007
    79
    32
    0
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Has anyone replaced their H11 Halogen builbs with LED H11 Bulbs? There is a company selling them on eBay for about $40 a pair:

    2x 12W 4 OSRAM SMD LED Car Foglight Front Fog Head Driving DRL Light Lamp Bulb | eBay

    After doing a little googling, I found that a 12W LED is equivalent to 100W Halogen. If this is truely the case, then these bulbs should perform better than the stock Halogens, and draw a lot less power.

    I know that a lot of people are going to have a lot of opinions on this subject, but I'm not looking for opinions, but rather actual side by side comparisons done in the Prius headlight housings. I am not only looking for the difference in light output, but also stability (LED burnout, possible reflector burns, etc...). Please post pictures if you can.

    Thank you,

    - TP
     
  2. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2005
    29,110
    8,589
    201
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    There is no way you can use these as replacement headlight bulbs.

    Foglamps, yes. Not as bright, but they would work. More for aesthetics.
     
  3. Texas-Prius

    Texas-Prius One more Prius to fight terrorism

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2007
    79
    32
    0
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    So if that's true, then the claims that are made (like 12W LED = 100W Halgen) are false. Does anyone know of a accurate cross reference to compare LED to Halogen wattage?

    - TP
     
  4. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    7,869
    3,116
    0
    Location:
    Honolulu, HI
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    A comparison of lumens would be more meaningful, that is if you could get accurate specifications on that.
     
  5. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    7,869
    3,116
    0
    Location:
    Honolulu, HI
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I'm getting a pair of LED H11 bulbs to use as DRLs in my foglights:

    LED foglights as DRLs, what 12v wire to tap? | PriusChat

    I'll post my impressions about how bright they are. I know ahead of time that they couldn't possibly be as bright as a 55w halogen bulb, but I'm just looking for a low wattage solution for a DRL, hopefully something that is bright enough to be seen in broad daylight.
     
  6. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2009
    7,543
    1,558
    0
    Location:
    Alaska
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Buy a pair and let us know how you like em.
     
  7. Texas-Prius

    Texas-Prius One more Prius to fight terrorism

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2007
    79
    32
    0
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    You are correct. I thought about this later, after I had already posted this thread. You know, I've seen a lot of posts on LED driving lights, but haven't seen anything that broke it down in to lumens.

    I've done a bit more searching. The LED bulbs (the brightest I could find) were 400-450 lumens. To give an idea just how dim that really is, halogen bulbs rate anywhere from 1350-2100 lumens. So even the cheapest of halogen bulbs puts out almost four times as much light. Then there is HID which put out 2800-3500 lumens on average, while only using 35W of power after start up.

    So, based on this information, I would have to say that HID has a huge lead over LED. I have just ordered a couple of H11 kits to replace my high and low beams. I will be running 6000K on low beam and 3000K on high beam. This is the same setup I run on my motorcycles and the combination has always worked well for me.

    - TP