There are several sizes and shapes optional for LED light bars, despite the fact that they are designed to perform the same job of lighting the road. Plus, they have combinations of beam patterns, which are quite commonly seen on the single and dual row LED light bars. Each of these can contain either a flood light beam, spot light beam or a combination of both. Adjustable mounting brackets are another difference to check for in LED light bars, as they enable the user to change the light beam angle as needed. Also, these LED light bars are made to be installed easily and quickly. The LED light bar configuration people choose will greatly depend on various aspects like weather conditions, the reason for the off-road journey and terrain, etc.
Why Do We Need LED Light Bars?
LED light bars provide better vision at night, which is quite useful while driving or staying off-road. Adding these auxiliary light bars to the vehicle will do more than just increase illumination. These auto auxiliary lights come in different sizes and offer broad coverage that works well for various driving conditions and different vehicles. The illuminated surface area depends on the size, shape, beam pattern and type of LED light bar.
Another benefit of these auto LED lights is longevity and energy efficiency. These automotive LED lights consume less energy and last longer than any other automotive bulbs. Also, off-road LED light bars with aluminum housing will offer superior heat dissipation efficiency to prolong their lifespan.
The off-road lights should be able to be mounted at various locations of the vehicle. These LED light bars get easily mounted onto numerous different attachments like roof racks, front grille guards, engine hoods, and small off-road vehicles like UTVs and ATVs as well.
Let's take a look at the factors that influence people's choice of purchasing LED light bars.
Price:
This isn't always true but most customers will stick to their budget while purchasing any product, including LED light bars. With LED light bars come in various size options, you will have various price ranges for your customers to choose from. And you should always let your customers know that there are key factors like LED chips, housing finishing, and several features like lux, lumens, watts, etc., that will affect the price of automotive lighting equipment.
Design:
We notice a lot of LED light bars are arranged in linear cuboids that come in tiny rows of the casing which the flashy reflector is more evocative of glitter and rhinestones. There are mini LED light bars as well. All these will provide broader design options for the buyers. So, appearance or aesthetic is one of the key factors, then your customers can go with various options available and select the best design.
Watts:
Wattage is a measurement that tells how much power the LED light bar consumes. One can easily calculate the wattage of a LED light bar by taking the wattage of each LED chip and then multiplying that by the number of bulbs on the bar. Generally speaking, the higher the wattage value, the brighter the LED light bar will illuminate. But a more efficient LED light bar will produce more lumens compared to one with poor quality LED chips or reflectors.
Brightness or Lumens:
Most LED light bars will offer brightness that ranges from 1,500 to 25,000 lumens depending on the number of LED chips and size of a given LED light bar. Lumen is the unit used to measure the quantity of visible light and its brightness. LED light bars with higher lumens will generally supply brighter illumination, and so LED light bars with more lumens tend to be more expensive. One only needs to take the lumens of the bulbs into account when looking for low-energy consumption bulbs, because the wattage only tells the amount of energy the light bar draws. That being said, one has to check the lumens rather than watts for LED light bars to determine the light bar's brightness.
Color Temperature:
While discussing the LED light bars'quality, apart from light brightness, it's vital to consider the quality of the light, which is to check out the color temperature, it should be as close to daylight as possible. LED light bars with color temperatures ranging from 6,000K to 6,500K will offer more natural daylight output.
Beam Pattern:
There are mainly five different types of beam patterns available for LED light bars. They are flood, spot, combo (spot combine with flood), fog, and driving. Among these beam patterns, floodlight and spotlight are considered the most popular.
Spot light beam pattern - These LED light bars are designed to project the light as far as possible.
Flood light beam pattern - These LED light bars are known to cover a wider forward lighting area.
Combo beam pattern - Combo beam pattern LED light bars come with both features of spot light and flood light, in which the LED light bar can provide a wide and long range of visibility.
Fog beam pattern- The top of the fog light beam is cut off sharply so the light does not shine into the fog like the other beam patterns and reflects off it. Fog hovers close to the ground, therefore LED fog light bars are engineered to shine down, project an adjunct to the low beams and illuminate the road beneath the fog. Since they are dim and aimed downwards, they should be reserved for harsh weather or when it's hard to see the road ahead.
Driving beam pattern - Driving lights provide an extremely bright, focused light beam pattern designed to project straight ahead a great distance instead of to the sides.
Beam Angle:
Piercing the darkness of the night through a powerful beam, LED light bars are an external accessory typically used on ATVs, UTVs, trucks or SUVs. The beam angle is essential on these light bars because if adjusted wrong they could potentially blind oncoming traffic. Therefore, the light bar should be focused at the perfect angle required for driving. In the case of off-roading, the beam angle requirements are going to be different than the usual driving light bar beam angle based on the terrain type. The easily changed beam angle is also convenient for scenarios such as stopping for camp or field party, etc. That is why flood beam or combo beam light bars with larger beam angle are more popular for off road.
Mounting Options:
LED light bars have to be mounted on the vehicle so they can function properly, which mainly depends on the mounting options offered by the LED light bars. Versatile mounting options allow users to mount their LED light bars on the engine hood, below the headlights, or position them on top of the license plate, etc. Most LED light bars can be easily mounted to accessories like roof racks, while there're users prefer to mount them to the bumper. With the help of T-slots and circular tubes, users can easily slide or clamp the light bars on/off by using the right accessories. At OGA LED, we offer our own line of mounting accessories that are vehicle specific, make sure you check them before purchasing.
Housing & Durability:
Housing is important when it comes to keeping the light bars safe from harsh environmental factors. Lighting equipment that is made of aluminum, their housing is more durable and reliable. The cooling fins on the housing results in faster and better heat dissipation.
It is quite important to check out the durability of LED light bars because no one wants them to work for a shorter time or bust while driving at night.
Size:
LED light bars normally come in various size options that range from 6 inches to 50 inches long. Therefore, before selecting a model, one should make sure it will fit their vehicle perfectly, and the best way to do that is to measure the area where the light bar is targeted to mount and then pick the suitable one.
Straight Vs. Curved:
Based on LED light bars' shape, there are two main types of them - straight and curved.
With straight LED light bars' flat design, they provide a high-intense light output that is ideal to use as spot lights shining straight forward. These are particularly useful for off-roading but the areas they cover are relatively small when compare to the curved ones.
Curved LED light bars emit light over a wider space that is perfect for lighting up an extensive area, yet they sacrifice projecting distance for the exchange of larger lighting cover areas.
Single or Multiple Rows:
Is it true that having more rows in the LED light bar the lighting will be better? It greatly depends on the driving requirement, floodlight or spotlight. The higher the number of rows, the broader the light scope, and so create a flood beam effect instead of a spotlight beam.
A single row works much better compared to four rows or multiple rows because single or fewer rows will have a more concentrated beam if the driving requires spot light.
IP Rating or Weather Resistance:
The dustproof and waterproof rating of LED light bars is rated by using the Ingress Protection scale, mentioned as IPXX, in which the first X is meant for dust resistance and the second one means water resistance. Here the dust proof ranges from 0 - 6, which means a 6 rating is perfect for dust proof; while waterproofing ranges from 0 - 9, in which 7 or above is perfect for waterproofing. So, purchasing any lighting device with less than an IP67 rating is not advised.
The lights with a higher IP rating will ensure that the lighting device can withstand the harsh weather conditions while exposed to heavy rains, ice, snow and dust. We know that driving off-road comprises dusty, cold, damp and sometimes even moist conditions due to rains. So, light bars that are weather resistant can handle these conditions and will not fail while driving at night.
Warranty:
Since there is a chance that even a weatherproof light bar may stop working due to wear and tear after some time, off-road enthusiasts all know that it is essential to choose LED light bars that are durable and reliable. Although the water resistance of a light more or less lets you know about its build quality, any product should have a warranty period for its customers to rest assured before buying. Most OGA LED's models come with a warranty of 2 years for much better longevity and peace of mind.
Conclusion:
Many car owners like to install additional lights on their SUV or jeep so they can easily see everything on the road even when it is pitch dark. While there are various light options available, an LED light bar can be a highly bright option for many. We have shown you all the right things to look for while purchasing the best LED light bars. Although, if you still cannot decide which one to buy, you can always consider going to ogaled.com for reference.