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How to Choose Between White and Amber Off-road Lighting

Posted by Jeff Palmer on Jan 31st 2022

How to Choose Between White and Amber Off-road Lighting

When it comes to choosing either white or amber light for your auxiliary lighting, the first thing you need to do is ask yourself what conditions you find yourself driving in normally, and if you find yourself driving in conditions that could benefit from amber light over white. Generally speaking, an amber light will excel in dusty, foggy, rainy, or snowy conditions as they appear to cut through airborne particles much better than a more intense white light does. However, keep in mind, a white light often appears much brighter compared to an amber light with the same power output.

Amber and white lights are different simply in their color temperature, which is how the perceived color of light is measures. The most common way color temperature is measured is in terms of degrees Kelvin (K). The way the Kelvin scale works is, temperatures with a lower value of around 2500-4000K appear more yellow/amber (warm) and higher values of 4000-7000K begin to appear white and even into the blue/violet range at the upper end (cool). Higher color temperatures have shorter wavelengths, resulting in light bouncing off/reflecting off particles in the air causing poorer visibility in dust, fog, rain, or snow.

For the most balanced lighting set-up, a combination of amber lights and white lights is best – or at least having the option to turn your white light into an amber light with a clip-on transparent cover etc. 

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