What light bulbs fit your Optima Hybrid?

What light bulbs fit your Optima Hybrid?

In short:
If one of your Optima Hybrid‘s bulbs burned out and you want to know which one you should buy to replace it, you can remove it and take it to an auto part store, or you can check the maintenance section found in the owner's manual.
If you replaced the bulb but it is still not working, you should check the fuses.

Your Optima Hybrid has bulbs that illuminate both the outside and the inside of the car. Since headlamps are more complex, there are many types. They are the ones that illuminate the road ahead without dazzling the other drivers. Brake lights are only there to be seen at a sensible distance by the drivers behind you, and their purpose is to light up when you press the brake pedal.

Generally, changing these bulbs is easy, and you can do it yourself. Cars have a different lighting system from that of a house since they are guaranteed to keep working despite the vehicle’s vibrations. You only have to make sure that their pigtail wire has been properly connected. You will know they have been connected properly because there is only one way they can be connected.

You should have a spare bulb in your Optima Hybrid if you are about to go on a road trip. Even if a bulb has a lifespan of several years, they are cheap and it never hurts to be careful.

  • LED lamps

The main advantage of LED lamps is their efficiency: they produce a lot of light, and they draw less electrical energy (up to 80% less). Moreover, their lifespan is 25 times longer than the lifespan of a halogen lamp. LED lamps are instantly on and, since the component that produces light is relatively small, these lamps can be created in any shape or form. They are made of semiconductor materials enclosed in a small, plastic shell and only one lamp may produce different colors.

There are a lot of high-end brands that use LED technology for their products, but their usage of fixed LED light panels makes it almost impossible for them to be changed without having to visit an authorized car dealer.

  • Incandescent lamps

They are the oldest ones, they consume a lot of energy and create a lot of heat. They are made up of a metallic filament which is protected by a transparent glass bulb. When the electricity goes through the filament, it turns bright red and it produces light. Nowadays, these lamps are still used to illuminate car interiors, dashboard lights, brake lights, direction-indicator lights, and front position lights, since these lights do not need to be too powerful. They have different watts, sizes, and shapes according to their usage. They may have 1 or 2 filaments (just like the brake lights).

  • Halogen lamps

They are the enhanced version of incandescent lamps. The light they produce is stronger and whiter. They work the same way; the only difference is that the glass bulb encloses halogen gas, which improves the filament’s output and, therefore, also enhances its lifespan. For these reasons, these lamps are more efficient, and small halogen lamps may be powerful.

These lamps may have different amounts of filaments, their filaments may be placed in different positions, and the shape of their bulbs may be different. The most common ones are these:

H1 lamps: They are used in fog lamps and high beam lights. They only have one filament placed longitudinally and they have a compact shape. There are 55, 70 and, 100-W H1 lamps.

H3 lamps: They are usually used in fog lamps and long-range lights, and they have only one filament, which is placed transversely. They are the most compact ones. They only include a small wire to connect them. There are 55, 70 and 100-W H3 lamps.

H4 lamps: They are the most used in headlamps because they can also be used as dipped beam headlights and high beam lights, which saves space. They have two filaments, and they are bigger than the other types of lamps. There are usually 55/60, 70/75, and 90/100-W H4 lamps (for crossings/highways).

H7 lamps: They are mainly used in fog lamps. They only have one linear filament, and they are somewhat bigger than H1 and H3 lamps.

  • Xenon lamps

They are the brightest ones, and the light they produce is whiter than the one made by halogen lamps. Their downside is that the electrical energy needed to turn these lamps on must be high (30,000 V). Their arc needs a high current, so they need auxiliary equipment called reactance, which is in charge of controlling the electrical energy of the lamp. If you are thinking of switching to Xenon’s lamps, an auto mechanic should do it for you.

These lights take one minute to reach their maximum power. The good thing is that once you turn these lights on, they consume less electricity than halogen lamps, generate less heat and their lifespan is way longer. They are more expensive than the other lamps.

Regarding their structure, they do not have filaments. They have two electrodes, separated by a few millimeters protected by a glass bulb where there is high-pressure Xenon gas. An electrical arc that produces light is created between these two electrodes. You can see this light in the following image.

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