One of the most obvious mistakes a vehicle owner can make is using a randomly selected headlight bulb because it is one of the simple things that only work is to provide clear visibility in low light conditions i.e during the night.
But this random usage of any headlight high beam bulbs can cause severe accidents as high beams can distract with an improper judgment of a close vehicle while low beam lights don’t show far objects within the visible range.
To overcome these issues we are comparing h11 vs 9005 the two most renowned headlights with their detailed specifications so one cannot confuse between them and avoid accidents as much as possible.
These things like appropriate headlight selection and their knowledge might look ignorable but this slight carelessness on highways causes lifetime regrets and in the worst circumstances death of oneself or any loved ones.
It is important to discuss and remove these types of uncertainties by having an appropriate understanding and it’s our job to provide you with all minute details for your safety.
H11 vs 9005: In detailed Comparison
Now we are getting deep with a head-to-head comparison between h11 vs 9005 and as both headlight bulbs offer a variety of functionalities covering diverse aspects of use cases.
| H11 headlight Bulb | 9005 headlight bulb |
| H11 headlight bulb, a clear intensity that provides low beam light type and can be used as both headlight and fog lights. The low beam light of this bulb provides crystal clearing on oncoming traffic conditions that lead to higher safety measures even in dense traffic conditions. Moreover, it is also suitable for extreme weather conditions like rain, fog, snow, etc. | 9005 is an ultra-wide high beam headlight bulb and is mostly considered for its high-intensity luminous functionality with ease of spreading over larger areas. It might not be allowed in your region because of its high intensity as it might confuse other vehicle drivers. |
| The H11 bulb comes with an L-shaped design that is unique because it gets horizontally installed within the headlight which enables a denser area to cover especially in the near surroundings. It helps in better visibility of the road as the light particles don’t bounce off hence not blinding the driver. | 9005 Headlight Bulb has long life span ratings because of the high-quality LEDs that are being used as a primary bulb in it. Although the drawn battery power is slightly high in these bulbs the build is premium and hence lasts longer than stock or other bulbs available in the space. |
| The power consumption of a bulb is determined by the wattage. The lower the watt the more versatile it is because many vehicles support bulbs with lower watt so that it is efficient on the battery. iN case of h11, the wattage is 55 watts as its L-shaped design enlarges the bulb exposure area concerning the surrounding environment. | The 9005 as mentioned above is a high beam bulb that provides a high-intensity light beam hence the wattage of this bulb is higher at 65 watts which is slightly more than the standard bulb capacity. Before using this bulb within the headlight it is important to check with the vehicle if it supports 65 watts for a headlight bulb or not. |
| There is a Lumen rating provided to each light bulb to determine its brightness to its surroundings. The lumen rating in h11 is 1200 lumen which falls on an average side but again the horizontal installation provides it with more density. | 9005 consists of 1700 lumen which is far brighter than any of its competitors that is obvious because it draws more power and power is directly proportional to double the current and resistance hence causing more brightness. |
| Lifespan is one important factor when it comes to lightbulbs because the headlight bulb is not a part that gets replaced on every service hence it is annoying if a headlight bulb needs to be replaced within every month. The Lifespan rating of h11 is 30000 hours which is quite efficient considering that they are LED bulbs hence it is obvious to be efficient. | With the LED technology there is one more thing that enhances the lifespan of a headlight bulb and that is its build quality. In the case of 9005 the LEDs used are superior CREE LED chips that enhance the lifespan rating to 50000 hours which is quite high even though the power consumption is relatively high in these bulbs but still it provides a larger lifespan. |
| To use different light bulbs interchangeably within your headlights it is very important to consider connectors offered by your light bulb. In the case of h11, the connector is completely different as it is a low beam-type Bulb. | The 9005 headlight bulb connector is also different as it is specifically based on a high beam type bulb. But using 9005 with an h11 connector is possible because h11 draws low power that falls within the working range of 9005. |
| Socket compatibility is one major thing to check because connectors are still not a great issue as all headlights generally have separate sockets to connect high beam and low beam headlight but socket mismatch of different light bulbs cause an issue of fitting mismatch hence completely wasting your light purchased bulb. In the case of h11, it only works with its specified socket as it is relatively larger. | Socket compatibility is 9005 is more versatile than h11 meaning that a 9005 headlight bulb can easily be used with an h11 socket with some slight modification process. The base and size of the 9005 connecting port are versatile and smaller in size compared to other competitors. |
Light Bulb Sockets Classification
After a detailed comparison between h11 vs 9005 covering all minute aspects, there may be a doubt that how is it possible to use a completely different headlight bulb that is 9005 in our case can fit in a socket type of h11 which is specifically made for h11 only?
To answer these doubts, let’s suppose a general condition that there are thousands of vehicle manufacturing companies around the world and they all have several vehicle models with our focus on the headlight bulb, means there is a possibility that each model of vehicle can have a different socket for their light bulb or even if a company decide to fix on a particular socket type still there are thousands of them.
In this condition, it is almost impossible to find an aftermarket light bulb that supports a similar socket type based on personalized requirements.
And even if one finds the replacement it costs a fortune because the demand for that particular bulb is relatively low hence restricting supply enhances the pricing.
Read: 4114 vs 3157
So to organize this unorganized sector of light bulbs there are some classifications imposed by the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations within ECE Regulations that control global standards of automotive products including headlight bulb sockets.
There is majorly 3 group classifications imposed by ECE regulations in headlight bulbs that are:
Group 1:
As per the standardization imposed on headlight bulbs all modern vehicles belong to Group 1.
In this group, the major bulb types are headlight bulbs and fog lights bulbs which include bulb types such as H7, H11, 9005, HB4, H1, H2, H3, and H4 arranged in such a way that the right one can fit within a socket of the left one.
Hence even if the sockets of all these bulbs differ, they can still fit within each other depending on the arranged sequence with slight modifications. Remember, this group contains both headlights and fog lights.
Group 2:
In this classification, there are many types of bulbs grouped such as tail light bulbs, indicator light bulbs, registration plate light bulbs, cornering light bulbs, etc.
The bulbs examples in this group 2 are H6W, C5W, HY6W, etc.
Group 3:
Group 3 is the most outdated one and is not used in modern vehicles hence making it not worth this discussion. C21W, H2, and P19W are some bulb types that generally fall in this category.
Some conclusions that can be drawn from the above Group classification which may get you confused even if you know the Grouped classifications maintained by ECE regulations:
- The power consumption can still vary even if both the bulbs are based on the same group hence modification is needed.
- If power ratings are the same but the group is different then you cannot interchange the bulb with different types.
- Socket compatibility should match but the bulb’s coupler and filaments can vary hence need to compare these things too otherwise interchange of bulbs with the same socket can still malfunction.
- Filament difference example is the H4 has two filaments for high and low beams respectively. Hence a conventional headlight with a single reflecting surface can use an H4 headlight bulb but is not compatible with H7 even with modifications.
- Power consumption and intensity variations are still possible with the use of the same bulb in different vehicles provided that one strictly followed all ECE headlight bulb regulations.
Coming back to our h11 vs 9005 comparisons, we hope that by now you must have cleared almost all doubts regarding them including Socket compatibility.
Although Socket compatibility is a complex topic with many exceptions, we still tried our best to explain it with a few technical terms as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
Q. Can you put a high beam bulbs in a low beam BULBS socket?
ANS. No, it causes serious damage as it affects the bulb in its efficiency but with modifications, it can work although even if it works it enhances the chances of accidents as the other vehicles approaching you, don’t have clear visibility of your vehicle in many circumstances.
Q. Can h11 vs 9005 be used interchangeably?
ANS. 9005 can be used within a socket of h11 with slight modifications but the inverse is not true. And even if 9005 can be used in the h11 socket, it is not advisable as it impacts its efficiency and there are separate sockets available in vehicles for both low and high beam light bulbs
Q. Can a fog light suffice as primary headlights?
ANS. Although the fog lights are best for extreme weather conditions like heavy snow, fog, or rain, they cannot be used as primary headlights because of their low visual range one can ignore larger vehicles in normal circumstances.
Conclusion: 9005 bs h11 vehicle headlights
The majority of vehicle owners don’t think about much while selecting an aftermarket headlight bulbs but as per the statistics by NHTSA,
42915 people died in car accidents in 2021 and the same study reflects that 1 in a 100 drivers claims headlight glare either leads to a direct crash or a near-miss with high instability that further leads to a major crash.
The above data shows the severity of the problem caused by the wrong usage of headlight bulbs.
But for your safety, we acknowledge this problem and backed with sufficient knowledge and practical experiences constitute this article with simpler yet delivering minute details with the medium of comparing h11 vs 9005 the most used headlight bulbs.
Hence, make your wise selection based on provided information largely considering your personalized requirements. I hope you are clear how a high beam light or low beam light bulb can effect the circumstances in a road.
So, follow proper guidance mentioned above regarding high beam light high beam bulb and low beam lights or low beam bulbs applications.