Since LED light has become popular, many users have questioned whether LED light can drain the battery of your car. In this article, I will explain in detail and share with you my research I find out regarding the LED light and batteries.
So can led lights drain your battery? The answers are LED headlights themselves are not draining your battery when your car is off neither separately nor a built-in resistor. There could be several reasons, but they all have nothing to do with the installed led headlight.
Several types of research I have come across suggest that LED lights cannot drain your battery because certain factors like the watts that LED lights to use are fewer than other lights like halogen lights. To learn more about the factors that cause LED light to drain please keep reading this article.
Can Upgrading LED Lights Drain Your Battery?
Many car owners love to upgrade their headlights with LED because of their performance and quality.
Are you worried that upgrading your new LED light, will drain your car battery if the car is not used and turned off for a few days?
Well with LED light there is nothing to worry about because it’s hardly consumed much power while on, on average it consumes 20 watts per headlight bulb.
Therefore, even if you turn your LED light on, it will not drain your battery like other lights. The stock LED headlights will not drain your battery, even during the upgrading.
LED The reasons your vehicle’s engine will not start if you leave it on for days can only be due to a poor installation process, especially when it comes to wiring.
To test if your wiring is the problem: remove the fuse from the circuit of your headlight and then turn it back on, they should not turn on since you have removed the fuse, when they turn on mean the LED light is receiving power from another wire and circuit in the car and that could be a source of the problem.
To find a solution, you need to figure out which circuit has a problem by trial and error.
Pull the fuses from various wires leading to the headlights, and if the LED light is no longer illuminates, you have found the circuit With the problem.
What Can Drain Your Car Battery?
Now we know that LED light itself cannot cause your battery to discharge, but in other circumstances around it can cause your battery to be discharged. Let us look at the reasons that can drain your battery:
Living any light in your car overnight can drain your battery, this could be your headlights, leaving the trunk on, or leaving any interior lights on.
1. Parasitic Discharge
Parasitic discharge is one of the main causes of battery discharge when it occurs over a long period of time. If there are any components that are installed incorrectly, or circuits have faulty fuses, then the battery will slowly drain and go bad very quickly than it should.
2. Fluctuation In Outside Temperature
If the temperature is extremely hot above 37C and extremely cold below 12C, the battery may discharge and not charge properly while the car is running.
Please make sure to change your battery every 3-4 years to prevent the car battery from surprisingly discharging and stopping your car on the road.
3. Switch Off Your Car For A Long Time
Leaving your car off for a long time can cause your battery to discharge. Therefore, it is advisable to turn on your car’s engine from time to time to allow electricity to circulate in all the car’s systems and recharge the battery every time.
Therefore, it is not only LEDs that can cause battery drainage, but also if you leave the car off for a long period of time, it can drain the battery.
4. Poor Quality Of LED Light Can Drain Your Battery
The normal LED light cannot drain the battery, but if you bought fake LED lights, it could drain your battery because the fake LED lights do not control the heat, so the temperature might increase to the extent that it affects the battery.
So, it is advisable to be careful when you are buying the LED light, you should check the brand and the places where you buy them to avoid buying the fake LED lights that can drain your battery.
5. Leave The Light On For A Long Time.
If you always forget to turn on the interior and exterior lights of the car, it can cause the battery to be discharged, although the percentage chance of your battery being discharged is very low, about 1 to 2 percent.
Can An Unrepaired LED Light Resistor Cause The drain of Your Car Battery To Discharge?
If you forget to repair the LED light resistor, there is a chance that LED lights will drain your battery because LED lights without a resistor cannot regulate heat and the temperature can rise, causing the battery to use more power to run LED lights, especially at night. It is very important that you do not forget to include a resistor when you buy LED lights.
Leaving Your Car Door Open For A Long Time Can Drain The Battery
The car door is usually connected to your LED lights, which means sometimes could have a light on the dashboard, if you forget to close a car door, then the light will keep on and the dashboard will keep on, if this is kept for a long time can drain your battery for about 1 to 2 percent.
A car’s interior lights have a small percentage of lighting compared to exterior lights, the interior lights could be the same as the exterior but are not likely that you can turn it on every time like exterior lights, these interior lights also have lower wattage than exterior lights it needs to light up outdoors.
So, for a freshly charged battery outdoor lights are likely to drain battery more than indoor lights because of how it works, so even if you turn on the LED lights for more than an hour it may be able to start the car.
Therefore, a car with the interior lights on will cause the battery to survive for about 7 to 10 hours even though the battery charge is full and in good condition.
How To Prevent Led Lights From Draining Your Car Battery
As we know, LED lights cannot cause the battery to drain, but there is a small percentage of LED lights to drain the car battery.
Below are the tips you should follow to prevent your battery from getting discharged
1. Close Your Car Door
As a driver, you should be very careful when you get out of your car. Make sure that the doors are closed because if you forget to do so, the lights will stay on, and this can drain your battery.
2. Service Your Car Frequently
If you get your car serviced regularly, it will be easy to spot the problem in your car because sometimes the LED lights can have a problem that will cause the battery to drain.
3. Using A Waterproof Wiring Connector
The use of the waterproof plug will help your battery from draining. If your wiring is not waterproof, can collect water during the rain and cause your wiring to get lust, and the lust can directly extend to your battery and cause your battery to lose power for lighting and eventually drain your battery easily.
Therefore, it is very important to use a waterproof cable connector when installing your LED light to prevent the wires from getting soaked during the rainy season and draining your battery.
Conclusion
It is important to keep your battery in good condition to avoid discharging it. The most important thing is that you buy good quality LED lights and avoid buying a fake product. Make sure that you service your battery from time to time to avoid being stranded with a discharged battery. Or you can upgrade to LED light to avoid draining your battery.