Let's talk LED bulb and LED smart bulb longevity.

plasmahal

plasmahal

plasmahal

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I have been working from home since 2017 and have desk space in one corner of our dining room.

Due to the extension on the house, this room does not have much in the way of natural light, so having a light on to work is essential.

Been using low energy bulbs for a long time now and in past couple of years been using LED bulbs.

I try not to buy the cheapest bulbs but in reality what I have used have always not lasted the predicted lifespan.

I know the main reason seems to be heat. Despite the lamp shade being large and open with vents in the top, prolonged daily usage sees these bulbs get very hot and heat damage would i suspect be the reason for early failure.

The smart bulb I use now was fitted in June 2021 hand has started to fail as it switches itself off when too hot and then comes back on when cooled down. Previous LED bulbs just failed completely.

This current bulbs is rated for 50,000 hrs but has probably done around, 2,000 hours.

Was wondering what other peoples experiences and mileage they get from LED bulbs, especially long daily usage.
 
I replaced every bulb in the house with LEDs, even as far as things like the cooker hood bulbs etc.

I've literally had 2 fail out of all of them, and I've had them for years and years.
 
I have a suspicion the LEDs themselves are indeed rated for comedy long life.

But what actually kills the bulb is a toasted driver circuit which converts mains into a format suitable for the LED chips. You pull the LED board out and it's highly likely they will still light up if you apply suitable power from elsewhere.
 
plasmahal said:
Would any of them get 'especially long daily usage'?
Click to expand...

Not really.

They were all generic eBay bulbs I couldn't tell you any of the brand's.

One of the ones that failed was on a light on an external wall a maybe got cold/damp? The other was a higher wattage one indoors didn't turn back on. Thinking about it that one got very occasional use so maybe they don't like that.
 
BUDFORCE said:
I replaced every bulb in the house with LEDs, even as far as things like the cooker hood bulbs etc.

I've literally had 2 fail out of all of them, and I've had them for years and years.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty close to this. I had 52 LED downlights fitted when I moved in 6 years ago. In that time I've replaced 2. Both directly over the bath/shower and I suspect its the relatively cheap light fittings not being as water resistant as they claim that killed them. Beyond that I've not had a single one fail.

I then also have a range of other LED / Smart led bulbs in various lamps etc around the house. Some cheap ebay specials in the hob and a dining room lamp, then several hive smart bulbs in various locations. These vary in age with some of the oldest being close to 5 years old, others being 2. The lamps go on / off multiple times a day and are in cheap ebay / ikea lamps with nothing special to protect them. I've ended up wih a few spares as as my needs have changed I've swapped the odd standard led bulb for a smart bulb (when I started hive didn't do E14 bulbs so I used a smart plug instead, now they do and the smart plug is doing other needs). But as above in a house with 60+ led bulbs I've only had 2 fail in 6 years.
 
I've had most of the house covered in Hue lights for several years now. The hallway and landing lights are on all night long every night, not even close to slowing any signs of failure yet.

I don't think I have ever had an LED bulb fail yet apart from some of the very early ones from ebay.
 
At my parents place I use mostly Philips GU10 generic things which are some shoddy purple box affairs from the rainforest. They barely last a year when used in kitchen and bathroom locations. In my old room at that house - it is decked out with a Philips Hue B22 Bulb and Lightstrips that are about 7yrs old now and still running just fine.

My new place has some 20 odd Philips Hue GU10's that have so far lasted for over a year without fail. I've never had a Hue bulb/strip or any related item fail on me yet.
 
Depends on the enclosure and wattage of the bulbs - samsung gu10's with 500 odd lumens in bathroom/kitchen enclosed fittings where heat not dissipated 3 years (got refunds)
philips hue just 350 lumens fine, I suspect - but not really bright enough for bathroom/kitchen
 
I have around 50 LED lights in my house being a mix of Phillips standard LEDs and Phillips smart Hues. In 7 years of heavy use none of them have ever stopped working.
 
It also depends upon the number of LEDs and how hard they’re driven.

If you’ve got 4 LEDs producing 400lm vs 6 producing 400lm, assuming same circuitry, the bulb with 6 LEDs will last longer, on average, because each LED isn’t being driven as hard.


Dubai worked with Philips to make LED bulbs which contain more LEDs so that they last longer and use less power for the same lm


https://youtu.be/klaJqofCsu4
 
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MrRockliffe said:
Dubai worked with Philips to make LED bulbs which contain more LEDs so that they last longer and use less power for the same lm
Click to expand...
interesting video - Dubais are only 3watts though, and marginal CRI

from the overdrive/heat-failure perspective - I suppose I should prioritize lumens per Watt on the next purchase
post mortem on the last gu10 failure showed the middle smd led burned out, helped by its adjacent friends.

checking 4k Samsung gu10s 7w/480lm 0.014
hyperikon b22 9w/840lm 0.011
hue gu10 5.2W/350lm 0.014
 
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