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Seems some vehicles with LED headlights have trouble with snow and ice not melting off the headlights. Traditional headlights generate enough heat to melt the snow and ice but some LED headlights don’t generate enough heat for this. Some companies are including heat strips like with rear window defogger and some are using a washer fluid sprayer for the headlights.
Seems some vehicles with LED headlights have trouble with snow and ice not melting off the headlights. Traditional headlights generate enough heat to melt the snow and ice but some LED headlights don’t generate enough heat for this. Some companies are including heat strips like with rear window defogger and some are using a washer fluid sprayer for the headlights.
The added weight of wires, fuses, button, heat strips, and the electric load of the heat strips will take out any mpg savings over the long run from less load on the alternator.
I live in Minnesota where it can get pretty cold and snowy at times. I've never owned a vehicle with LED headlights, but I'm guessing this is mostly a non-issue. I have heard the same "doom and gloom" about stoplights getting changed over to LED, which almost all have by now. People were worried that snow wouldn't melt from the lenses like it used to, and then we'd have problems. Every once-in-a-while this might indeed be an issue, but it is rare. 99.9% of the time, the stop lights continue to work just fine no matter how hard it's snowing.
Around here, I'd say salt is more of an issue with headlights. They use lots of salt in the winter. Every once in a while you need to use the gas station squeegee to clean them off, otherwise a white crusty coating will build up and severely limit your light output. A byproduct of this salt though, obviously, is that it will keep snow and/or ice from sticking to the light. Even without the help of road salt, a process called "sublimation" would likely come into play, which basically means that the cold wind from driving will help to "evaporate" and clear any snow or ice that might build up.
Like I said though, I've never actually owned a vehicle with LED headlights. Is there anyone here who drives a vehicle with LED lights where it gets cold and snowy who can say if snow buildup on the lights is actually ever an issue?
Like I said though, I've never actually owned a vehicle with LED headlights. Is there anyone here who drives a vehicle with LED lights where it gets cold and snowy who can say if snow buildup on the lights is actually ever an issue?
Being a snowmobiler, I've got plenty of miles under my belt driving in heavy snow conditions to go riding. My last truck, which I sold in 2019, had horrible lighting (and my night vision is bad) so I added an LED light bar to it. I can confirm, in the right conditions, snow and ice did build up on it.
Now on my new truck that has LED headlights, I've just been lucky enough that I haven't been in inclement conditions to see if the same thing happens.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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This is why I keep a spray bottle of de-icer handy. I leave for work at 5:30am and even this morning had frost on them, so gave them a spray before leaving. In a heavy snow storm I would prefer not to drive at all, especially in the dark, since I might have to get out and scrape/spray again a few times. Fortunately I work hybrid so if it snows I just work from home an extra day or two.
I am thinking of getting LEDs. I looked up these ideas:
Spray De-Icer on the headlights. This will keep ice and snow from sticking to the LED headlights for at least a day. Keep a rag and spray bottle filled with de-icer in the car just in case you need to apply another coat before hitting the road.
Wax your headlights before a snow storm. Any paste wax will do, and should help keep off any ice and snow build up for a few hours.
Spray a coating of DuPont Dry-Film Lubricant onto the headlight lenses. While this product is not intended to keep snow or ice off of headlights, many vehicle owners have used it with great results.
Spray a thin coating of PAM cooking spray onto a rag and wipe the headlight lenses with it. This cooking spray will create a thin oily film on top the lenses, keeping snow and ice from sticking.
cooking spray onto a rag and wipe the headlight lenses with it. This cooking spray will create a thin oily film on top the lenses, keeping snow and ice from sticking.
I live in Minnesota where it can get pretty cold and snowy at times. I've never owned a vehicle with LED headlights, but I'm guessing this is mostly a non-issue. I have heard the same "doom and gloom" about stoplights getting changed over to LED, which almost all have by now. People were worried that snow wouldn't melt from the lenses like it used to, and then we'd have problems. Every once-in-a-while this might indeed be an issue, but it is rare. 99.9% of the time, the stop lights continue to work just fine no matter how hard it's snowing.
Around here, I'd say salt is more of an issue with headlights. They use lots of salt in the winter. Every once in a while you need to use the gas station squeegee to clean them off, otherwise a white crusty coating will build up and severely limit your light output. A byproduct of this salt though, obviously, is that it will keep snow and/or ice from sticking to the light. Even without the help of road salt, a process called "sublimation" would likely come into play, which basically means that the cold wind from driving will help to "evaporate" and clear any snow or ice that might build up.
Like I said though, I've never actually owned a vehicle with LED headlights. Is there anyone here who drives a vehicle with LED lights where it gets cold and snowy who can say if snow buildup on the lights is actually ever an issue?
Since I park my vehicles outdoors, I have to spend more time scraping snow and ice from the headlights, but I don't have LED headlights on the vehicles. The average headlamps dissipate enough heat to melt, or at least soften ice and snow that has accumulated on the headlight's lenses when the vehicle is parked and the engine is idling. But since LED lamps run cooler, one has to find ways to soften the ice and snow accumulating on the headlights. This is very normal where I live at.
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