How Long do LED Lights Last?

How Long do LED Lights Last? Earlier in the year, a report was published by the department of energy on LED failure. This with among other stuff found an inaccuracy in lifetime claims of various LED products. Why there isn’t much reliable information available out there?

Are the light manufacturers just making up claims or are there other puzzle pieces as well?

Claimed LED Lifespan

Well, we have frequently stressed the importance of vetting manufacturers along with reputation. Even the cheapest LED lights make claims of a lifespan of more than 10 years working life.

However, it is vital to know that this has actually been based on pretty modest assumptions. When you read the fine print, a 10-year lifespan has been based on having only the bulb for around three hours of usage in a day on daily basis.

While in a few houses there isn’t much energy consumption, but this is not the case with most households.

According to 10 year working life, it would mean that the bulb lasts for around 11,000 hours. So if the bulb works for around eight hours daily, it would mean it only lasts for around three and a half years.

Comparing this to an incandescent bulb with an average of 1,000 hours of lifespan, 11,000 seems much better. However, this claim shouldn’t be seriously considered as there are many other things that must be kept in mind.

LED Bulb Circuit Issue

While looking at the circuitry of incandescent bulbs, you’ll notice it to be quite simple: There are around two contact wires linked by a filament. Power is available through any contact wires, and it lights up filament while exiting out of other wires of contact. Sounds quite simple?

After all, technology has been there since the 1800s. However, when considering LED bulbs, you must know that these are a lot more complex. The design has a handful of capacitors, resistors, inductors on top of various LEDs actually providing light.

LEDs (light-emitting diode) last for a long, but circuitry within the LED bulb is complex compared to everything that you see in light bulbs. This is especially the case with dimmable LEDs requiring more circuitry.

Also with more circuits, you get the likelihood of something that can fail. In another way: circuitry is the weakest link, not the LEDs. So upon noticing that LED bulbs are getting burned up prior to the 10,000-hour mark, it is more likely that the bulb isn’t nearing its end.

This can happen because of the circuit’s complexity getting itself in many ways.

Stress from Heat

While LEDs operate in a cool manner compared to the competitors, they can still produce little heat amount within the diode. Also, excessive heat reduces LED lifespan and makes it important to be aware of the effect of LED lights through hot temperatures.

Capacitors and semiconductors in LED are prone to failure under heat stress and it makes it vital to consider LEDs operating range while you’re shopping for LED lights.

There are a few practical suggestions for extending LED bulb lifespan:

• When you’re installing LED bulbs, select adequate-sized luminaires while ensuring that LED bulbs have been ventilated for letting the heat escape.
  
• While you bought LED you can have a look at the LED heatsink and enclosure. Well-designed LED bulbs come with an efficient heatsink having gaps between fins for letting dissipation of heat into the air.

So how long do actually LED lights last?

Unfortunately, we don’t yet a specific answer to this query. LED lights have a lifespan that depends on different key factors, but typically this is in the range of around 10000 to 50,000 hours.

This is a large range, but it would mean that the LED bulb lasts around 10 years and it depends on the extensive usage along with the conditions in which it functions. While there is no definitive range for the life of LED bulbs, they obviously last much longer compared to their conventional counterparts.

The average life of LED bulbs is around 50000 hours or more while other conventional light sources have a functioning life of anywhere around 15000 to 24000 hours.

How Long do LED Lights Last? – Conclusion

For maximizing the lifespan of installed LED bulbs, you need to make sure to install LED bulbs in appropriate environments available with good ventilation for cooling. Ensure avoiding installation near any heat source.

LED bulbs must be available with fine component selections and should be installed with adequate power supplies. When the LED lights are short-lived, you can check light fittings for voltage variations. LED bulbs are complex technology pieces, so investing in high-quality products from renowned manufacturers makes sense.