Can you use the same type of bulb for dipped and main beam?

[kieranhendy]

Hi,
I currently have Osram nightbreakers installed on my dipped beam but I've been looking to find brighter main beam bulbs for my polo. Could I buy the exact same bulbs for the main beams or would they have a different power rating?
All I know is they are both H7 bulbs but I'm not really sure what that means. Thanks.

[RUM4MO]

Any of the road legal H7 bulbs that you can buy will all be the same power rating.

[Andy Beats]

Any legal H7 bulb will be the same power rating, although you can choose the colour temperature (yellow or white light).
I have legal Philips 5000K bulbs that make the headlights as white as LED.
You can also, if you want, fit more powerful bulbs (100W for example) that are technically for off-road use only and very unlikely to do any harm to the wiring, especially on main beam that isn't used for extended periods.

[fazzy]

Hi,
I currently have Osram nightbreakers installed on my dipped beam but I've been looking to find brighter main beam bulbs for my polo. Could I buy the exact same bulbs for the main beams or would they have a different power rating?
All I know is they are both H7 bulbs but I'm not really sure what that means. Thanks.

Yes, you can use the same type of bulb for dipped and high beam. Both would have the same power rating. I think it was 55 watt.
It's the shape and design of the reflector that makes the difference between the dipped and high beam, not the power rating of the bulb.

You can use higher wattage bulb: 100 watt, 130 watt, although if you intend to keep the car for long I would refrain from doing so.
Not worried about the wiring... you will just burn out the reflecting surface off your reflector with the much higher temperature generated by say a 100 watt bulb. So in time, the lights will slowly fade... and then you will think that 130 watt bulbs will do the trick, and so on...
Then you will have to regenerate your lights or buy new ones.
Not to mention the legality and MOT issues as raised by so many people on this forum

[kieranhendy]

Thanks for all the replies, I ended up going with the same Osram Nightbreakers that I use on my dipped beams. So far they've been working excellently and have a lot more consistent light pattern/spread than the factory ones.