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Best halogen headlight bulbs, 9005 or 9011?

Wait...before you quit...I'm scratching my head on the 2 bulbs not equaling more light thing...

Let's say I have an overhead light in my room with a diffusing cover that spreads the light around the room. I know for sure that the room is more brightly lit with 2 bulbs in the fixture compared with just 1 bulb.
 



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Wait...before you quit...I'm scratching my head on the 2 bulbs not equaling more light thing...

Let's say I have an overhead light in my room with a diffusing cover that spreads the light around the room. I know for sure that the room is more brightly lit with 2 bulbs in the fixture compared with just 1 bulb.
That is because the 2nd bulb is in a different place and lighting up a different area. You do get more light in the room because of that. However, the actual output of the bulbs is still the same assuming they are of equal output rating. Each bulb is of a fixed wattage, so yes, you have more light but the wattage of the bulbs remains the same.
 






That is because the 2nd bulb is in a different place and lighting up a different area. You do get more light in the room because of that. However, the actual output of the bulbs is still the same assuming they are of equal output rating. Each bulb is of a fixed wattage, so yes, you have more light but the wattage of the bulbs remains the same.

I'm not buying it, Peter. The two florescent light tubes over my head right now are non-directional, especially when behind a diffuser panel, so the "lighting up a different place" argument isn't making sense. If I remove one of those tubes, I still get light in the same places, just not as much of it. Back to Summers22's argument...more lumens equals more light in the room/space, no matter whether it is an increase in the number of bulbs, or an increase in the lumens per bulb.
 






For the sake of this dragging on, all I know is 2 of the 9011 HIR's are much brighter than 2 of the 9005 bulbs!!! That we can all agree on! LOL
 












No, their light output is the same assuming the bulbs are rated identically. As I mentioned in my post, they may light up the room more but that does not increase their output. That's not possible. If you were able to get the 2 light sources close enough together and aim them at the same spot, the room would not be any brighter than if you used 1 source. The only way in that scenario that there would be more light would be if one of the sources had a higher output rating (lumens). I think you're confusing light dispersion with output.


The output of two identical bulbs would be the same, but the power or watts would obviously increase by two, assuming each bulb had the same wattage. I disagree that if you place two light bulbs at the same distance from a source that it would not be any brighter, it would be brighter or have more intensity or photons per unit area of measurement. With that said, two bulbs would not be twice as bright as one bulb because like our ears, brightness work on a logarithmic scale, so the brightness would be increased in a perceptible amount, but not twice that of one bulb. Also, Eric F is correct in his example above of two florescent bulbs overhead being brighter than one so long as he is talking about about areas that the lights hit being the same or close to the same distance from each light source.
 






So...been a few days and I see this thread has gotten theoretical! I play Engineer all day at work, so I don't have the motivation to play it now... lol. My reason for changing the bulbs is strictly a vanity (like Carley Simon vain) issue - I'd like the colors to match. No complaints here really about the output of the 9005's. That being said the wife waffled on me and instructed me to just get the 9005 and don't screw around trimming... So I get to autozone and they sell me on the ultra's being whiter than the zxe's, which are approaching a blue tint. Well, both those statements are bs. I wrestled one ultra in and try it - looks identical to the LL (assuming long life?) sylvania that came out. Back to autozone to get the zxe's. Got them in (that was a treat) and they are ok at best - def have a yellow hue to them compared to the clean white LED light, but they are better than the stockers. If sylvania had a suggestion box and actually cared what I thought, I'd suggest them to not advertise the zxe's as HID attitude and blah blah.... oh well, wife is happy, so I'm good. Thanks everyone for your help!
 






Thanks to you guys, the color difference between low and high beams is now irritating me, and I have a growing urge to change out the high-beams to 9011s.
 






I dont mind the color difference, but the 9011 HIR floods the area in front of the car with light. Its a huge difference in my opinion.
 






I dont mind the color difference, but the 9011 HIR floods the area in front of the car with light. Its a huge difference in my opinion.

That's the more important difference, to be sure. :)
 






I dont mind the color difference, but the 9011 HIR floods the area in front of the car with light. Its a huge difference in my opinion.
Agreed. Changed out my bulbs last week. Drove before installing and after. Definitely a difference.
 






After reading this thread (and performing a whole lot more Internet research) I decided to try the HIR1 9011 headlight bulb upgrade. My PHILIPS 9011 blister packs arrived a couple days ago. I sat down with one 9005 bulb, the new bulbs and a large nail clipper this evening and did the tab modification. It took hardly any time at all. I installed the PHILIPS bulbs, comparing my factory stock Sylvania halogen with the first PHILIPS bulb. Wow, the HIR1 bulb is definitely brighter! I declare this the easiest, most practical auto upgrade EVER!
 






After reading this thread (and performing a whole lot more Internet research) I decided to try the HIR1 9011 headlight bulb upgrade. My PHILIPS 9011 blister packs arrived a couple days ago. I sat down with one 9005 bulb, the new bulbs and a large nail clipper this evening and did the tab modification. It took hardly any time at all. I installed the PHILIPS bulbs, comparing my factory stock Sylvania halogen with the first PHILIPS bulb. Wow, the HIR1 bulb is definitely brighter! I declare this the easiest, most practical auto upgrade EVER!

Looking to do this swap as well. Is this the bulbs you got? Philips 9011 HIR Standard Halogen Replacement Headlight Bulb, 1 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00480J5CW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_BfPvBbN86HFTH

If not, what did you get?
 






Looking to do this swap as well. Is this the bulbs you got? Philips 9011 HIR Standard Halogen Replacement Headlight Bulb, 1 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00480J5CW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_BfPvBbN86HFTH

If not, what did you get?

Yes, that is the exact item I ordered from AMAZON. The blister pack is slightly different (older, perhaps?) but it is the same part number. The tabs were easy to trim and match up to my 9005 bulb so that I had no trouble inserting them in the headlight housing.
 






Looking to do this swap as well. Is this the bulbs you got? Philips 9011 HIR Standard Halogen Replacement Headlight Bulb, 1 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00480J5CW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_BfPvBbN86HFTH

If not, what did you get?
Have you tried to get your hand in there to attempt a bulb change? I tried it just to see and wasn't able to get my hand in. Too tight. I wasn't looking at changing anything since mine is a lease and I'm quite happy with the OEM setup but was just curious. Good luck.

Peter
 






Have you tried to get your hand in there to attempt a bulb change? I tried it just to see and wasn't able to get my hand in. Too tight. I wasn't looking at changing anything since mine is a lease and I'm quite happy with the OEM setup but was just curious. Good luck.

Peter

I have large size hands (according to my glove size) and I didn't have too much trouble accessing the bulbs. I do have nimble fingers though, so that probably made it slightly easier.
 






Hello,
I have a 2015 Explorer Sport. I am not happy with the performance of the low beam bulbs. Is the Philips 9011 still the best upgrade path for my XSport?

Thanks,
Dave
 






How is the lifespan of the Philips 9011 HIR bulbs for anyone that has them. Been putting this whole bulb switch off for awhile now and looking to finally brighten up my high beams. My concern is the longevity. Especially with auto high beams, my high beams come on a lot. Can anyone comment on whether the bulbs longevity?
 






UPDATE: I've just had my second PHILIPS 9011 bulb fail in less than a year. I'm a bit disappointed. Yesterday I checked out the various SYLVANIA 9005 bulbs offered at a chain auto parts store and was surprised to see estimated life expectancy of 100 and 200 hours depending on the model of bulb. Since I run my headlights near 100% of the time I'm on the road 100 to 200 hours is not very long in terms of calendar months. I just checked the package for the PHILIPS 9011 bulb and it claims "up to 150 hours" average lifetime, so that explains why I've lost two in less than a year.

Last night I read some reviews on PIAA 9005 bulbs online. Maybe I'll give them a try for comparison's sake to see if they last any longer. Surprisingly, PIAA doesn't manufacture a 9011 style bulb. I'm also having trouble finding an estimated life expectancy for their bulbs.
 



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I haven't been able to make up my mind because my '15 Limited uses the 9005's as the DRL's. Although there's not as many volts going to them while in DRL mode, they'll still get alot of hours on them quickly. I definitely want a brighter setup but don't want to be changing them a couple times a year.
 






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