When it comes to choosing your perfect driving lights, all the numbers and figures can seem a little confusing! When deciding on the colour temperature of your lights, it’s important to get the best light to suit your environment and where you will do most of your diving. While it can seem complicated, here we look into the different colour temperatures and explain the difference, to help you get the right light for you.
Colour temperature is measured in Kelvins (k), a thermodynamic temperature scale. To make it simple, a candle is 1500k. Daylight is about 5000k. Headlights start at about 4000k, and range up to 8000k. Anything above 6000k is blue light, and often illegal (and unnecessary). The accepted sweet range is 5000-6000k, for balancing definition and clarity.
4000k Light Colour
If you want a ‘warmer’ hue, many people opt for the 4000k range. These lights can be very useful, particularly where there is a lot of mist and fog. The more yellow light penetrates the fog without reflecting back, allowing you to see further while avoiding getting blinded by the glare.
Here at Ultra-Vision, we offer two different light temperatures – 4000K light colour and 5700K. Our 4000K lights produce a warmer white colour, compared to the more brilliant white of the 5700K – take a look at the images below to see the difference in the colour or ‘temperature’ of the light…
There are many different reasons why one colour might work better for you and your driving conditions.
4500k vs 5700k Colour Temperature
4500K Colour
4500K lights provide a warmer light that will give you less glare from road signs and can actually be better for driving in areas where poor weather conditions are frequent such as fog and rain, as the warmer colour means there is less reflection back into your eyes. For snowy areas, the 4000K lights may be preferable, as the colour won’t combine with the white snow to distract and blind you as you’re driving.
5700K Colour
5700K lights produce a whiter light, which are perfect for if your drive is mainly going to be in wide open spaces or on long roads and areas were light reflection isn’t going to be an issue, as the whiter colour helps with more defined distance penetration, and can also pick out more details around the edges of the beam in open areas.
Conclusion
So overall, the choice of which colour temperature to get will be down to what you are going to be using them for. Those who love getting off the beaten track and away from it all, or are hitting the more remote trails, may find the 5700K option could work best for guiding you on your way. If you drive your vehicle more in built up areas, in a place where there is more traffic or need versatility in town and remote places, the 4500K might suit your style better.
