Try Light Bar Reviews
LED light bars have grown in popularity by a significant amount over the past few years and, in the process, their market has grown significantly as well. There was a time when LED light bars were only a small segment of the light bar market, with most of the market being dominated by light bars that featured noble gases like neon.
However, over time, LED light bars have grown into the largest segment of the market, and now buyers have numerous options from which to choose.
If youâre on the market for the first time looking for a light bar for your truck, then you may have a bit of a problem knowing what to look for.
There are lots of options on the market, and it can be a bit difficult to make a decision, especially when you donât have a strong foundation of knowledge about light bars. Not to worry, however, since that is why this review is here. Weâll tell you about light bars so you understand what distinguishes the very best models out there from the very worst. Weâll also include a list of our favorite models so you have a smaller set of choices to pick from.
Letâs get to check out our favorite light bars currently in the market.
The Nilight is pretty lightweight, durable, and easy to use and can generate both the long and narrow spot beam and the wider flood beam.
Main features
- It is super bright and comes with a great combo triple beam design that maximizes on the brightness.
- It has an upgrading reflector cup that allows for refraction at many different angles.
- It has an adjustable mounting bracket for convenience.
- It has an IP67 waterproof rating. The housing is die-cast aluminum, and the lifespan is over 30,000 hours
- It has a built-in heat sink for efficient cooling.
Super Bright Light Bar
This particular light bar may seem small, but it comes with some really great features. For starters, it gives you 126 watts of light, which is pretty powerful for its size.
It has 42 LEDs, and each LED offers 3 watts, which adds up to 126 watts.
The lights are in a die-cast aluminum housing with brackets made of stainless steel and a PC lens. There are also dedicated heat sinks built into the design for efficient cooling and both spotlight and floodlight capabilities.
- Dedicated heat sinks
- Firm stainless steel brackets
- Bright illumination
- Long wiring
- The floodlight has a short range
What the Customers are saying
I use these lights for rain, fog, and off-road conditions, and have had them since 2015. They are very easy to wire and have some of the most durable brackets I have ever seen. Moreover, I have zero issues with them.
When it comes to power, you can hardly go wrong with the AUSI curved light beam. This powerful beam was built for off-road conditions as well as normal ones.
Main Features
- 288 watts of power with 17,280 lumens of brightness offering clear visibility
- IP68 water and dustproof rating
- Raw aluminum alloy housing
- Stainless steel mounting bracket
- Can be used on many different car and truck designs
LED Bar with Extended Lifespan
When it comes to power, itâs pretty hard to beat this monster. It comes with 2 rows of LED lights. Each LED light has 3 watts of power, and there are 96 of the little things that combine well to bring you 288 watts of power.
The flood beam has a beam angle of 60 degrees while the spot beam has half that at 30 degrees.
Itâs also more affordable than conventional straight 50-inch light bars on the market and versatile enough to be fitted on many kinds of cars and vehicles, so thatâs a plus.
- Very high-quality aluminum casing
- Stainless steel brackets
- High waterproof rating
- Extremely bright illumination
- Affordable
- Needs extra sealant if you trend to drive in rainy conditions
What the Customers are saying
This light bar is fantastic and comes with some pretty great illumination. Iâve had it for many years now, and I think anyone who drives in off-road conditions a lot should get one.
For a bonus, weâre going to also suggest the light bar by Bell & Howell, which is great for household use, just in case you want to get something for your house and not for your car.
Main Features
- 720 lumens of light provided by 60 LEDs
- Rechargeable
- Lightweight and portable design
- Efficient heat dissipation via dedicated heat sink
- Has a built-in standing rack and hook for flat surfaces and hanging respectively.
- A single charge will power the LED light bar for at least 24 hours.
Great Work LED Light Bar
This light bar by Bell + Howell isnât made for your vehicle. Instead, itâs made for your home, and it does its job just as well as other light bars do it for vehicles.
It makes for a fantastic and versatile lighting system that you can use to illuminate just about any part of your home. Itâs not only bright, but also energy efficient.
It has an on/off switch, a built-in rack for use on flat surfaces when you want it to stand alone, and a hook for those times when you want to hang it on a wall or the ceiling.
- Extremely versatile
- Very bright
- Has a built-in heat sink for efficient cooling
- Comes with a built-in rack for standalone use
- Can provide light at full brightness for up to 24 hours between charges
- Doesnât seem able to last beyond 1 year of frequent use
What Customers are saying
Itâs a great idea, and the light works superbly. Just donât expect to use it for many years as it starts having issues around the 10-month mark.
About Bell + Howell Light Bar
Does Bell + Howell have a lifetime warranty?
No, Bell + Howell do not have a lifetime warranty. Actually, Bell + Howell have not indicated any warranty for their light bar on their Amazon page or website.
Is Bell + Howell made in USA
It is hard to tell. The company Bell + Howell is certainly headquartered in the USA. Their address is 230 5th Ave ste 800, New York, NY 10001, according to the contact information on their website. However, they havenât indicated where their manufacturing operations take place.
How long does the Bell + Howell light bar last?
There is no official lifespan indicated by the company Bell + Howell. However, given customer reviews on Amazon, it lasts anywhere between 8 months and a year. Anything beyond that is rare and lucky.
Buying Guide
Contents:
The Superiority of LED Light Bars
LED light bars are not the only type of light bar out there. There are halogen light bulbs on the one hand, and high-intensity discharge, or HID, light bars on the other hand. These are both alternatives to LED light bars. LED light bars, however, are superior to both.
The question you probably have on your mind is, âwhy?â For that, there are a few reasons.
For starters, LED bulbs are much smaller than the alternatives on the market and yet offer so much power. That means your light bar wonât take up as much space, or add as much weight, to your vehicle when it is an LED light bar as opposed to the alternatives.
Second, there is the issue of efficiency, which is very important wherever your battery power is concerned. LED light bulbs are some of the most power efficient bu8lbs on the market. They will use half as much power as HID bars and up to ten times less than halogen light bulbs. Thatâs good news for your car battery.
Third, there is the issue of lifespan. LED light bars can live for tens of thousands of hours, with the average good quality LED light bar going for 40,000 or more hours. With that kind of lifespan, these light bars may even last longer than your vehicle.
Led light bars are also pretty hardy and will resist most kinds of damage, such as the type caused by impact or vibration. That means they are your best choice if you typically drive off-road or on unpredictable roads.
LED light bulbs also have a lot more style and versatility. You can get them in all sorts of sizes, shapes, and colors. If you like something that you can customize, then itâs pretty hard to go wrong with an LED light bulb.
Something to note is that, because of all these benefits, LED light bars are typically more expensive than their counterparts. However, the expense is justified, considering all the perks youâre getting and how much money youâll be saving going forward.
That said, there are also varying levels of quality within the LED light bar niche, and it is important to recognize them. For example, LED light bars tend to be very sensitive to heat in their immediate environment, which is why you should go for one with a dedicated heat sink. But letâs not get ahead of ourselves and take a closer look at his.
Features of an LED Light Bar
The capabilities and features of an LED light bar pretty much depend on what you intend to use it for. The features that the LED light bars on the market come with are many and varied indeed. However, no matter what model youâre looking for, there are some common features that matter more than others. Here are some of them.
The Length of the Light Bar
This is the first thing you should obviously consider. The last thing you want to do is get a really cool LED light bar that doesnât fit your vehicle. It all ultimately depends on the size of your truck. If you have a full-size truck, then youâre looking for a light bar with a length of at least 50 inches.
The Angle of the Beam
In this case, weâre talking about both pot and flood lighting. You want an LED light bar that can offer all 3 beam angles, preferably, no matter the size of your vehicle. These are the spot beam, the mid-range flood beam, and the short-range flood beam. They are all important for different uses. The spot beam is the longest and narrowest and allows you to illuminate an object from a great distance due to the narrow beam of concentrated light. The mid-range and short-range flood beam have a smaller range in terms of distance but cover a much wider area. The kind of width they provide is much more useful if you want to illuminate a large nearby area, such as a work site. The kind of beam angle you go for pretty much depends on your needs, so assess your needs carefully.
The Resistance of the Light Bar
LED lights are fairly advanced technology and much more resistant to hazards than halogen lights or high impact display lights. However, they are not invincible. They can still be full of defects and easy to damage, depending on what you throw at them. In this case, the two most dangerous things you can throw at LED are water and dust. When these two find their way into the components of an LED light bulb, they wreak havoc.
There is also the issue of environmental heat, which can also damage LED lights. However, so long as you buy quality LED light bars, this issue should not be a major concern. A dedicated heat sink will have been installed in all good quality LED light bars.
So how do you know whether the LED light bar you are about to purchase is protected against the various dangers it faces?
Well, there is a rating that is given to them, known as ingress protection but abbreviated IP. There are 5 scores in this rating system that are common to LED light bars. Each score is an indicator of the specific hazards that the model has been tested for and is protected against.
- IP65 protects against water projected from a nozzle and dust.
- IP66 protects against water projected in a powerful jet and dust.
- IP67 protects against temporary immersion of the light bar in no more than one meter of water and dust.
- IP68 protects against the constant immersion of the light bar in at least one meter of water and dust.
- IP69K protects against water sprays of both high temperature and pressure and dust.
To figure out what rating is best to go for, take a while to think about the kind of hazards that are common to the vehicle you will be attaching your light bar to. Will you be around water a lot? Will it be high-pressure water? Will the light bar get immersed in water? AS you may have noticed, all ratings protect against dust, so itâs really the nature of the water that you should be worried about. Whatever grade of hazard youâre likely to encounter, buy a grade higher in terms of rating so youâll be even safer.
Wrapping Up
And with that, we come to the end of our light bar review. As you can see, choosing the right light bar to purchase boils down to understanding the most important features in light bars and your own intended use. With that in mind, you should be able to get some pretty good quality products on the market, depending on your budget, of course.
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