"Silverstar" Headlight Replacement Bulbs For Accords: Worth Doing ?

[Robert11]

Hello;

Please see my previous post, and several answers, regarding 2004 Accord headlight illumination concern question.

Saw some posts where others have gone to "Silverstars".

My questions are:

a. anyone here make the swap, and is worth doing ?

b. are they the same electrical wattage as what's in there now ?

c. any warranty implications ?

d. life the same as the OEM bulbs ?

Any other thoughts would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Randolph]

a. anyone here make the swap, and is worth doing ?

Done the swap from stock 9003 to Sylvania 9003 SilverStar and did see some improvement. For me it was worth it.

b. are they the same electrical wattage as what's in there now ?

Yes, they are the same wattage but somewhat more efficient.

c. any warranty implications ?

None whatsoever

d. life the same as the OEM bulbs ?

Don't know, my annual headlight expenditures ar low enough that I don't care.

Any other thoughts would be most appreciated.

I use 9003 bulbs, I do not know what you use. Osram SilverStar H4 bulbs are brighter than the Sylvania SilverStar 9003 bulb and the two are otherwise interchangeable. H4 bulbs are not DOT compliant. http://www.suvlights.com sells both kinds.

 

[CaptainKrunch]

I do not know about these specific lights but I can comment on the "cool blue" lights that are mady by Sylvania I think. They can be up to twice as much and the burn out rate was more than twice as fast as the stock bulbs so the stock bulbs were less than a quarter of the cost of the cool blues. I no longer buy any bulbs other than the less inexpensive stock bulbs and I make sure my lights are adjusted correctly.

I do doubt however that the bulbs are brighter than stock because there is a federal law that limits the light output of headlights. Of course this doesn't apply to high wattage bulbs that usually state on them "for offroad use only." It isn't like the cops would know what kind of bulbs you had.

My two cents.

CaptainKrunch

 

[Fergie]

I suggest you check out this site.
I found it "enlightening". (I know...bad one)

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

Frank

 

[Scott Wallace]

Funny how things work out sometimes....I just replaced my PIAA lights with the Silverstar bulbs (one PIAA was DOA & I couldn't find a replacement so I switched both bulbs).

Now keep in mind that this was done on my 98 Accord....and I only did the low beams.

Between the OEM bulbs and the Silverstar...the Silverstar bulbs give off a MUCH more WHITE light. VERY noticeable when you put them side by side (OK I was bored). The PIAA -vs- the SIlverstar...almost the same color. Both very nice.

I perfer the light that is the most like daylight (the Silverstar are 4000K and that's about as bright as DOT -approved lights can be folks).

Not sure what else to say... other than I bought mine at Auto Zone for $20 each and had MIR forms for another $5 off a pair.

Scott Wallace

 

[Stephen Bigelow]

Hello;

Please see my previous post, and several answers, regarding 2004 Accord headlight illumination concern question.

Saw some posts where others have gone to "Silverstars".

My questions are:

a. anyone here make the swap, and is worth doing ?

Yep, just did it. 91 Accord. Very happy.

b. are they the same electrical wattage as what's in there now ?
yes.

c. any warranty implications ?
No

d. life the same as the OEM bulbs ? Dunno.

Any other thoughts would be most appreciated.

Would have prefered to get the untinted Osram Silverstars, but I really don't want to have to special order or mail order light bulbs. Sylvanias are available at Canadian Tire. $24CDN a bulb.

 

[Randolph]

there is a

federal law that limits the light output of headlights.

Which is probably why, in the US, Sylvania (which is the same company as Osram) is selling SilverStar with 30% more light than stock and not the European SilverStars which give off 50% more light than stock.

 

[CaptainKrunch]

I would like to see how they are measuring light and what loophole they are jumping through. Is it total lumens or lumens at a given distance or is it temperature or what? Perhaps they are able to get more light from the same wattage bulbs and they are following the wattage laws.

CaptainKrunch

 

[Sean Donaher]

The light appear brighter because the bulbs are coated blue. This filters out the blue light and makes the light appear whiter as opposed to the sort of yellowish tint of normal hallogens. They have the same lumen count as the factory bulbs though. Both emit 1000 lumens for the low beams (2003 Accord, older models' bulbs may vary). Even though they aren't really brighter from a lumen stand point, I still like the Silverstars in my car because of the whiter light. I find it easier on the eyes at night.

 

[Randolph]

I would like to see how they are measuring light and what loophole they are jumping through. Is it total lumens or lumens at a given distance or is it temperature or what? Perhaps they are able to get more light from the same wattage bulbs and they are following the wattage laws.

Me too, so I contacted Sylvania, asking about the differences between standard, XtraVision, CoolBlue and SilverStar. This is what they replied:

"The XtraVision is a brighter product in terms of lumen output. The increase in output on the XtraVision is by gaining a wider beam pattern for better peripheral vision. The Cool Blue is a slightly higher color temperature than the standard version, which gives it a whiter appearance. A standard product is 3200 degrees Kelvin and Cool Blue is at 3500 degrees Kelvin. The higher the color temperature the whiter the light will be. The SilverStar has a color temperature of 4000 degrees Kelvin and as I mentioned in the previous email, SilverStar also has the redesigned filament and gas mixture to maintain a fuller beam pattern. Down road distance on all these products are the same. The difference is in how intense the light output will be and the color of the light output."

 

[Tera Baap]

Me too, so I contacted Sylvania, asking about the differences between standard, XtraVision, CoolBlue and SilverStar. This is what they replied:

"The XtraVision is a brighter product in terms of lumen output. The increase in output on the XtraVision is by gaining a wider beam pattern for better peripheral vision. The Cool Blue is a slightly higher color temperature than the standard version, which gives it a whiter appearance. A standard product is 3200 degrees Kelvin and Cool Blue is at 3500 degrees Kelvin. The higher the color temperature the whiter the light will be. The SilverStar has a color temperature of 4000 degrees Kelvin and as I mentioned in the previous email, SilverStar also has the redesigned filament and gas mixture to maintain a fuller beam pattern. Down road distance on all these products are the same. The difference is in how intense the light output will be and the color of the light output."

Good info... What you should do is pick up the OSRAM Silverstars (Made in Germany). These are different from the Sylvania Silverstars even though Osram and Sylvania are the same company. I got mine from DanielSternlighting.com. I changed my Civic's bulbs (stock) to these ones and I was pleasantly surprised.

It;s a good investment

 

[Me]

The light appear brighter because the bulbs are coated blue. This filters out the blue light and makes the light appear whiter as opposed to the sort of yellowish tint of normal hallogens. They have the same lumen count as the factory bulbs though. Both emit 1000 lumens for the low beams (2003 Accord, older models' bulbs may vary). Even though they aren't really brighter from a lumen stand point, I still like the Silverstars in my car because of the whiter light. I find it easier on the eyes at night.

Lumens are a bad measures of automobiles lighting. Here is why:

lumen [n] a unit of luminous flux equal to the amount of light given out through a solid angle of 1 steradian by a point source of 1 candela intensity radiating uniformly in all directions

candela [n] the basic unit of luminous intensity adopted under the System International d'Unites; equal to 1/60 of the luminous intensity per square centimeter of a black body radiating at the temperature of 2,046 degrees Kelvin

One lumen is the equivalent of 1.46 milliwatt (1.46 x 10-3 W) of radiant electromagnetic (EM) power at a frequency of 540 terahertz (540 THz or 5.40 x 1014 Hz). Reduced to SI base units, one lumen is equal to 0.00146 kilogram meter squared per second cubed (1.46 x 10-3 kg multiplied by m2 / s3).

Therefore, depending on how you measure, a lumen is is only the light output at 2046 Kelvin OR the equivilent or the equivalent light output a 2046 Kelvin body would have.

Since the human eye does not absorb all frequencies with the same sensitivity, this is a moot measurement. On top of that, lumens are a measure of DIRECT light. Since as drivers we don't stand 40 feet in front of our cars looking at our own headlights, it is also stupid to measure the light from that point. What SHOULD be measured is the amount of light reflected back to the driver's eye from a known reflective body (i.e. a green road sign, a red stop sign, etc) in a frequency-dependant manner based on the human eye. No one has EVER used this type of measurement that I know, and as such, all talk of lumens and "illegal" bulbs is a pointless endeavor.

Nate

 

[Randolph]

Since the human eye does not absorb all frequencies with the same

sensitivity, this is a moot measurement.

Not true. For light sources that are not 555 nm monochromatic, a standardized weighting curve is used. The human eye perceives x lumens to be equally bright regardless of what color the light is, but 1 lumen at 600 nm corresponds to more than the 1.45 mW it corresponds to at 555 nm.

 

[Saturn S. Padua]

Hello;

Please see my previous post, and several answers, regarding 2004 Accord headlight illumination concern question.

Saw some posts where others have gone to "Silverstars".

My questions are:

a. anyone here make the swap, and is worth doing ?

b. are they the same electrical wattage as what's in there now ?

c. any warranty implications ?

d. life the same as the OEM bulbs ?

I replaced the OEM bulbs in my Element with Silverstars....Great light, color, etc.

Only problem is that they burnt out after only six months. Both headlights went out within three days of each other.

I replaced them with Silverstars again (giving Sylvania the benefit of the doubt)-- will be watching the clock closely this time.

Saturn

 

[J.]

I was considering the Silverstars until I saw the comparison charts for Silverstars vs standard and longlife halogen bulbs on the Sylvania website. My Prelude uses H1 bulbs (T-2 1/2 style) and Sylvania's charts showed a 100 hr life for H1 Silverstars vs 225 hr for their standard halogen. Digging into their definitions yielded some interesting insights. The life rating is basically where statistically 50% of the bulbs are expected to die, but the range varies widely.

Also, the actual light output was about 25% LESS for the Silverstars even though the wattage is upped from 55W to 65W. Presumably, the 4000 degree color of the Silverstars allows the eye to see (or perceive to see) more light.

I found the comparisons on their website by searching for details on the bulb STYLE, once I got the style from the basic bulb number. Other Silverstar bulbs (has an "ST" suffix) sometimes matched the same light output as standard halogens, but I think all had significantly less rated life.

see http://www.sylvaniaautocatalog.com/sylvania/halogenhead.asp

J.