Fog isn’t something a driver really likes to encounter. It can significantly reduce visibility, making an accident more likely to occur. A reason enough to install LED fog light bulbs into your car, don’t you think? We’re here to help you choose the best LED Fog Light Bulbs for your car. Additionally, we’ll provide you with a complete buying guide so you can have a better idea about what you should be looking for.
Best LED Fog Light Bulbs Reviewed
With so many LED fog light bulbs on the market, you may feel confused. To make things a little easier for you, here are some of the best LED fog light bulbs you can find on the market today.
Our list covers products that suit different needs, from budget options to more sophisticated ones.
SiriusLED H8 Size DRL Fog Light LED 30W 6000k
These LED fog lights are an affordable option for those looking for great value for money. Protected with an aluminum housing, the SiriusLED fog lights has enough protection to last for a long time. Featuring 6 LED chips for each bulb, the total brightness is 800 Lumens.
While 800 Lumens isn’t considered that bright, the intensity is pretty decent (6,000 K). Additionally, SiriusLED provides a one-year warranty with the product. Unfortunately, the bulbs are only offered with H8 plugs, meaning that your car needs to have an H8 socket for you to be able to install these bulbs.
What We Like
- 6 LED chips per bulb
- High intensity, 6,000 K light
- Easy setup and installation
- 1-year warranty
What We Don’t Like
- Only offered with H8 plugs
- Not the brightest LED bulbs out there
Nilight 2PCS 18W 1260lm Spot Driving Fo
Forget driving blindly without seeing the road, because these lights from Nilight will provide you with great visibility even on rainy and snowy days. These lights give an output of 1,260 Lumens which may not be that bright but it should be sufficient on the road. An 18-watt LED light bar and adjustable mounting brackets are also included in the package.
The die-cast aluminum alloy cooling fins ensure a lifespan of over 30,000 hours. Furthermore, the lights are dust and water-resistant which further extend their lifespan. The wiring is pretty long and it should be sufficient to reach the wiring harness plugs from the default bumper location.
The lights are quite easy to install too. Moreover, they’re very directional with a spot beam. The wiring is long enough to reach the factory fog light wiring harness plugs from the stock bumper mounting location. The only problems you may face with these bulbs is that the lights might be difficult to aim, and the bolts aren’t that sturdy.
What We Like
- Long lifespan, up to 30,000 hours
- Dust and water-resistant
- Easy installation
- Adjustable mounting brackets
What We Don’t Like
- The lights are difficult to aim
- No wiring harness or mounting hardware included in the package
JDM ASTAR 2400 Lumens Extremely Bright PX Chips LED Fog Light Bulbs
Replacing your stock lights has never been easier with the “plug and play” designed JDM Astar 2400 fog lights. These bulbs offer a brightness of 2,400 Lumens, thanks to the 144 chips circled around the bulbs. These bulbs will give you a clear view of the road ahead no matter how terrible the fog is.
Furthermore, they’re compatible with a wide variety of fitments, including H11, H8, and H16. These fog lights are a great option if you’re on a budget as they come at a quite compelling price. They also come with a one-year warranty from JDM Astar.
What We Like
- 144 power EX chips for each bulb
- High brightness (2400 Lumens)
- 6,000-Kelvin light intensity
- 1-year warranty from the manufacturer
What We Don’t Like
- The lifespan set by the manufacturer is only 20,000 hours
Philips 12834UNIX2 X-tremeVision LED Fog Light
The Philips X-tremeVision LED fog lights are quite easy to install. They’re compatible with many types of sockets, including H8, H11, and H16, so you should have problems installing them no matter what your car model is.
The bulbs produce 840 Lumens, which isn’t considered that bright, but for the price, we can’t complain. The patented SafeBeam Technology directs the light to the road instead of other drivers’ eyes. Additionally, there’s a reflector panel that works on directing the light straight. There’s also a heat sink that protects the housing from melting.
The bulbs are backed with a three-year warranty and the lifespan estimated by the manufacturer is up to 12 years.
What We Like
- Easy installation
- Compatible with H8, H11, and H16 sockets
- Great cooling system
- Three-year warranty
- Good price
What We Don’t Like
- Not bright enough
- The bulbs may flicker sometimes
Marsauto H16 Led Fog Lamp High Power CSP-Y11, Cool white
The Marsuato CSP-Y11 LED fog light bulbs feature ultra-thin 3.5mm tubes and 360-degree light illumination. Compatible with H8, H11, and H16 sockets, the Marsuato LED bulbs can be installed in many car models. They’re also pretty easy to install. The bulbs produce 2000 Lumens, which is very bright. Moreover, the bulbs are designed to prevent glare from oncoming traffic.
Another good feature is that the bulbs have no polarity. You can install each bulb on either side. The estimated lifespan is 10,000 hours, which is pretty decent. The bulbs come at a very affordable price. If you need some good budget fog LED light bulbs, these are your best bet.
What We Like
- Compatible with H8, H11, and H16 sockets
- 2000 Lumens brightness
- Easy installation
- Prevents glare
- No polarity
- 10,000 hours lifespan
What We Don’t Like
- The light reflection isn’t that good
Sealight H11/H8/H16 LED Fog Lights Bulbs Cool Xenon White
The LED fog Light Bulbs from Sealight offer you a high brightness level of 4000 Lumens. The top-quality aluminum shell provides the bulbs with better heat dissipation. Moreover, these bulbs are quite easy to install. Basically, it’s a plug and play design. They can fit with many fitments, including H8, H11, and H16.
The Sealight LED fog light bulbs are polarity sensitive, meaning that you need to insert them in the correct direction to function properly. These bulbs are designed to work with can-bus equipped computer systems, so you might need a can-bus adapter for them.
What We Like
- High brightness level, 4000 Lumens
- Plug and play design
- Compatible with H8, H11, and H16 fitments
- Good heat dissipation
What We Don’t Like
- May require a can-bus adapter
- Error codes are possible
Cougar Motor 9005 HB3 CREE LED Fog Light/DRL Bulbs
Giving you a combined total of 2400 Lumens, the Cougar Motor 9005 HB3 LED fog light bulbs are guaranteed to give you superb visibility even in the worst driving conditions. Coming at a super low price tag, these light bulbs have everything you need. They’re equipped with Cree X-D chips.
These chips can give you a lifespan of up to 60,000 hours. That’s not everything, they’re also energy efficient. The 6063 Aviation Aluminum housing ensures suitable heat dissipation to prevent the bulbs from premature failure.
Furthermore, these bulbs are resistant to the elements. Being IP-65 certified, they’re dust and water-resistant. Condensation is something you’ll never experience with these bulbs.
What We Like
- 2,400 Lumens
- Affordable price
- IP-65 certified
- Aluminum housing provides adequate cooling
- 60,000 hours lifespan
- One-year warranty
What We Don’t Like
- 5000K color temperature isn’t white enough
What Makes LED a Better Choice Than Halogen?
There’s a lot of controversy about which technology is the better choice for fog lights: LED or halogen. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages, but we favor LED fog lights over halogen ones. The reason for that is pretty straightforward, LED fog lights are more durable and last longer than Halogen fog lights.
To understand how an LED (Light Emitting Diode) light is more durable than halogen ones, you need to have an idea about how an LED works. Basically, LEDs have no filament. The semiconductor materials that an LED is made of produce light when a current passes through them.
That’s not the only reason. LED lights are also more efficient than halogen lights, which means less frequent problems with the car’s battery. It draws a limited amount of power as compared to Halogen lights. Since LEDs produce whiter light than halogens, it was thought that LED fog lights are inferior to halogen ones. The reason for that is in earlier years, fog lights used to be yellow.
Yellow was generally preferred for fog lights due to the fact that its wavelength is longer than white light, giving you better visibility. However, recent studies have proved that both white and yellow light are effective for fog lights, hence the shift to LED technology. A third option would be HID fog light bulbs. These are brighter than LED light bulbs, but their lifespan is much shorter.
Things to Consider Before Buying
Here are things you need to keep in mind before buying LED fog light bulbs.
Brightness
The brightness of fog lights is measured in Lumens, which indicates how intense the light is. A higher brightness level is usually preferred if you frequently drive at night and live in an area where fog is a common occurrence.
The brightness of LEDs varies significantly. Some fog LED lights may have up to 8000 Lumens, while others can be as low as 1,000 Lumens. Generally, 1,500 Lumens should be enough. However, it greatly depends on the environment you’re driving in.
Usually, brighter fog lights are more expensive than more dim ones, so it all depends on how much you’re willing to pay.
Cooling
Unlike other types of bulbs like halogen and HID bulbs, LED Fog light bulbs produce a significant amount of heat. This heat can cause premature wear of the components if a proper cooling system isn’t used. Therefore it’s important to pick fog lights that are equipped with a good cooling system to ensure their longevity.
Brighter LED lights produce more heat and usually require more sophisticated cooling systems to extend their lifetime. The housing plays an important role in keeping the bulbs cool. Housing made of aluminum will provide you with good heat dissipation.
Lifespan
While it’s true that fog light bulbs aren’t used that often, it’s still important to pick LED bulbs that have a long lifespan. The lifespan of LED fog lights is measured in hours. Usually, your bulbs would be fine with a lifespan of 10,000 hours.
10,000 hours means that you can keep them on for over 400 days until they fail, which is something you probably won’t do. This means that these bulbs would last for years.
Ease of Installation
Installing some bulbs into your car isn’t supposed to take that long. That’s why you need to choose fog light bulbs that are easy to install.
You also need to make sure that the bulbs are compatible with your car’s fitments. This is usually indicated on the box and in the spec-sheet of the product.
Size
It’s important to choose fog lights that are compact to make sure that they don’t get knocked off by something, especially exterior-mounted fog lights.
Off-road Durability
Not all fog lights are designed to withstand off-road conditions. In case you frequently drive your car off-road, you many want to consider getting a pair of fog lights that have a waterproof rating of IP68 or higher.
Just keep in mind that these are usually more expensive.
Color Temperature
A color temperature near the 6000 K mark will look great on your car. It’d be a good idea to match the color temperature of your fog light bulbs with your headlights. This will make your car look more sleek.
Efficiency
One important thing to consider before buying LED fog light bulbs is to make that their wattage is low. Low wattage means that the bulbs are more efficient and don’t draw a lot of power. This means that the lifespan of your car’s battery won’t be affected.
While it’s true that higher-wattage LED fog light bulbs are brighter and give a more intense light, it’s really not worth it. LED lights are quite effective even at a low wattage.
Beam Density
Another factor to consider when looking for LED fog light bulbs is beam density. Usually, bulbs with a higher density can pierce through fog more effectively than other bulbs.
Fog Lights – Frequently Asked Questions
Are fog lights legal?
The problem with fog lights is that they can blind other drivers due to their high intensity, putting them at risk of making an accident. Whether fog lights are legal or not depends on where you live. Some countries don’t allow them while other countries permit them.
However, even if they’re legal, there’s a high chance that using them for other purposes than their intended one isn’t allowed. One scenario is trying to blind another driver on purpose using the fog lights, especially if there’s no need to use them.
When should fog lights be used?
Just because there’s a fog doesn’t necessarily mean you need to turn on your fog lights right away. The Highway Code states that fog lights should only be used when visibility is affected by more than 100 meters.
It’s good practice to avoid using fog lights when there are other drivers in front of you, so make sure you use them wisely for your own and other people’s safety. You should also keep in mind that fog lights draw a lot of power, so use them only when it’s necessary.
How do I remove condensation from my fog light housing?
If there’s condensation in your fog light housing, there’s a high chance some sort of crack has developed on the fog light. Even a tiny crack can lead to condensation. The only solution you got, in this case, is to completely replace the housing.
However, if there’s no visible damage in the housing, remove the bulb and dry out the housing, then check the o-ring to see if it needs replacement. A blow dryer would be perfect in such a scenario. Use it at a distance of at least 6 inches and set it to “cold” to avoid damaging any of the components.
Conclusion
Our top pick as the best LED Fog Light Bulbs are The Philips X-tremeVision LED fog lights. While they may not be the brightest LED fog lights around, we really like the design. It’s also compatible with a lot of socket types and they come at a great price. It’s just hard not to recommend these bulbs.
If you need more brightness, you can opt for the Marsuato LED fog light bulbs. They produce 2000 Lumens and they also come at an affordable price, making them a favorable alternative. They’re compatible with H8, H11, and H16 sockets. Nevertheless, all of the products on our list are top-quality and should get the job done effectively.
