Question about H1 bulbs

I have a set of PIAA Pro90's and the fog light bulbs in them are H1 12V 55W=85W. Now, I've been told that means they use 55 watts and put off light equal to an 85 watt bulb. On the bulb it says H1 12V 85W. How do I know that this bulb only uses 55 watts and not 85 watts? According to PIAA they came with 55W=85W but I bought these used so I dont know if they had been replaced or not. I can get 55W bulbs really cheap through my work and also 100W Xenon bulbs. But all they say is 55W and 100W. There is no =. I want to get bulbs that use 55W. They can put off whatever but I want them to use the right amount. Also, what does Xenon mean?

 

[Bill Kemp]

PIAA now makes the H-1 as a 55watts = 100 watts of light. www.autosupermart.com has them as do others.
Any other 55 watt bulb will not be as bright as the 55=100.
Xenon is a gas they use in bulbs to make them burn brighter. It is very expensive so you can bet there is very little in cheap bulbs. They use the xenon in the superwhite blue type bulbs to compansate for the blue tint on the bulbs that naturally makes them less bright. All the tint is, is coloring. Doesnt make the bulb brighter. They have to increase the wattage to get the same amount of light as a clear bulb.

 

[X24]

Ok, so if the bulb just says H1 12V 85W that means it uses 85 watts and puts off 85 watts worth of light? Am I correct in saying that not all H1 bulbs use less watts than they put out? If so, that means that the bulbs that were in there (both blown) were using way too much watts than the wiring was designed for. Would that cause them to blow?

 

[Bill Kemp]

Right...Unless the bulbs are the "extra" type, they put out the amount of light as the watts they consume. I dont think the bulb itself has the 55=85 marking. I think it is just usually on the package.
Most good light sets will be able to handel 100 watt bulbs. Wiring is not the problem. Heat is the killer. Bulbs burn out faster if the light isnt designed to handel the wattage.