I have a 2008 Prius. Passenger headlight is out. I want to change the bulb. How do I know if I have a discharge bulb or Halogen? I cant figure out what package I have. I believe that would tell me what kind of bulb I have. I have a GPS. Does that help to narrow down the available packages that I might have?
If you have fog lights you have the High Intensity Discharge headlights. If you do not have fog lights, then you have regular Halogen headlights!
A halogen lamp is an incandescent lamp with a tungsten filament contained within an inert gas and a small amount of a halogen such as iodine or bromine. The combination of the halogen gas and the tungsten filament produces a chemical reaction known as a halogen cycle (see below) that increases the lifetime of the bulb and prevents its darkening by redepositing tungsten from the inside of the bulb back onto the filament. The halogen lamp can operate its filament at a higher temperature than a standard gas filled lamp of similar power without loss of operating life. This gives it a higher efficacy (10–30 lm/W). It also gives light of a higher color temperature compared to a non-halogen incandescent lamp. Alternatively, it may be designed to have perhaps twice the life with the same or slightly higher efficacy. Because of their smaller size, halogen lamps can advantageously be used with optical systems that are more efficient.
