# Halogen vs. Xenon



## UEXplorer

I recently purchased a Princeton Tec light. With it came a catalog showing many of their lights (it's piece of paper that folds into squares.) 

In this "catalog" it says one of the following over every light:

LED Power
Halogen Power
Xenon Power
Nothing (does that mean its a krypton bulb?) 

The question is - whats the difference between Xenon and Halogen. Is one type whiter or brighter than the other? Take the Shockwave original which is Halogen and the Shockwave 2 which is Xenon. Whats the difference?


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## Lagged2Death

Halogen, xenon, and krypton all refer to the gasses used to fill the bulb.

Light bulbs are usually filled with a mixture of gasses, selected to help retard the evaporation of the filament and to minimize heat loss from the filament. Argon works OK for this, krypton works better, and xenon better still. The better gasses are more expensive, of course. Because flashlight bulbs are so small, it's relatively economical to use pricier gasses like krypton and xenon, so they're pretty common.

Halogen, on the other hand, isn't a particular element or chemical. Halogen bulbs include small amounts of one of the halogen family of elements (usually iodine) in the fill gas. The halogen gas in the bulb can actually bond temporarily with evaporated filament metal, and redeposit the metal back on the filament. This extends the filament life and keeps the bulb's glass free of the filament deposits that make other bulbs turn gray as they age.

There isn't anything mutually exclusive between krypton/xenon and halogen. Some bulbs are both xenon and halogen, or both krypton and halogen.

In any case, the goal of both strategies is the same: to allow the filament to have a reasonably long life when burning at the highest possible temperature, burning more brightly and more efficiently.

There's a lot more detail available on subjects like these at Don Klipstein's Lighting Info Site. He's got a page specifically about xenon incandescent flashlight bulbs, and a longer section on incandescent lamps in general, including some info on halogen bulbs.

As for why Princeton Tec switched technologies as part of a product update, I dunno. The halogen cycle only works in a hot bulb, so halogen bulbs are better off in applications that burn the bulb for several minutes at a time - like indoor lighting, automotive and bicycle lighting, or (I'm guessing) dive lighting. In applications that involve short bursts of light, like walking down a dark trail at night, xenon may be a better choice, because its benefits don't require the bulb to be hot. PT's web site says the rechargeable Shockwave II uses a halogen bulb; maybe xenon alone couldn't manage the kind of performance (20 watts, 389 lumens claimed) they were shooting for in that version.


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## tony2008

Still unenlightened

I have a bathroom sconce that uses three 50W xenon bulbs. If one of the three bulbs broke and I replaced it with a 50W halogen, would I see a difference? Would the one halogen have a brighter or different color light? Would the halogen burn hotter and produce more heat in the room?

Tony2008


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## BlueBeam22

I believe Xenon gives the whitest light. A halogen bulb might give a more yellow tint.


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## DonS2346

You will also find the halogen hotter than the same wattage xeon bulb. I changed the halogens to xeon bulbs in my motorhome and noticed a difference in heat level.


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## yellow

possibly You mix "xenon"-filled hotwire bulbs with real "xenon" lights (= HID lights)

as for 12 V hotwires: does not really matter what gas is inside, they will be more-or-less identical.

for high power flashlight bulbs: 
Xenon / Halogen does not make too much of a difference, both tend to be on the yellower side
krypton-filled usually are very white


PS: "nothing" means its cheap and crap, very low power (= dim and yellow).
for sure no krypton fill ... krypton bulbs cost more


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## 1pt21

I have a possibly dumb question that has been bothering me with my newly acquired incans:

Should I avoid touching the actual glass of the bulb just as I would with an automotive halogen bulb?? Something about the oils from your skin getting onto the bulb.

Thanks for any help!!


--Paul


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## Sgt. LED

Yeah don't touch them.

If you have to touch them try to wipe them down with alcohol before use.


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## 1pt21

Sgt. LED said:


> Yeah don't touch them.
> 
> If you have to touch them try to wipe them down with alcohol before use.


 

Thats what I thought AND have actually been doing (pretty much the same handle/care I take when changing automotive bulbs). Just making sure I'm not being over-anal with my lights as usual 

Thank you for the info Sargent!!


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## coby116-1

What if anything is the difference between halogen and Xenon when it applies to head lights for cars.
We are looking for a xenon replacement and are confused. One guy has one and says it's halogen, another has one that is xenon and is almost twice the money. I know i need xenon, but don't know if halagen is the same thing. 
Can you help me out?
thanks, kevin (coby116-1)


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## yellow

what I type in post #6



but, to make it easy: 
* when You turn on Your lights and it is there INSTANTLY (and a bit on the yellow side), then its _Halogen_ bulbs, which You can change easily.
Access to the bulb is usually easy, just take it out our its "seat" at the back side of the reflector.

* when the Lights "flicker" at the beginning, start low and get brighter within some seconds and are very "blue" (Sorry, I refuse to call car HIDs "white"), then You have _Xenon_ lights, where changing is quite more complex. The whole light "bulb" is a big thing consiting of several parts.


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## compasillo

Halogen is a group of gasses wich includes elements like Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon and Radon.
You can talk about differences between these gasses but is a nonsense to do it between Xenon or Krypton *and* Halogen, i.e. They're both halogen gasses!


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## LuxLuthor

compasillo said:


> Halogen is a group of gasses wich includes elements like Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon and Radon.
> You can talk about differences between these gasses but is a nonsense to do it between Xenon or Krypton *and* Halogen, i.e. They're both halogen gasses!



Not accurate. This post may be of some use. Noble gases are not halogens.


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## compasillo

LuxLuthor said:


> Not accurate. This post may be of some use. Noble gases are not halogens.



You're absolutely right. I mixed up Noble Gases with Halogens... 
Luckily, you have pointed out the right direction. Thanks :thumbsup:


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## LuxLuthor

Well it is easy to confuse them because bulb makers do not make the separate categories clear (*not even on Don's website*). It actually took a bit of digging to get that clear classification of halogen (& their gas/liquid/solid states) vs. nobles. I doubt most incan users at CPF ever knew the differences between them.

Then there is so much mixing of Nobles with Halogens, it all blurs together. It's likely that some bulb makers add just enough of Xenon or another Noble gas to the Halogen(s) so they can make a claim of it being a Xenon, Krypton, etc.


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