What's the longest you have owned a LED bulb without replacing it?
- Thread starter Ice Tea
- Start date
Caporegime
Funny this thread popped up. I was looking into this recently. Apparently the average life of a cold LED is 25,000 hours, and some "long life" ones last for 50,000 hours.
The LED's in my computer have been on for 67,000 hours and heres a before/after...
The LED's in my computer have been on for 67,000 hours and heres a before/after...
Soldato
Still got some Hue lights that I bought not long after launch which Google tells me was October 2012, still going strong. So nearly 8 years.
Caporegime
How many hours a day/week are they on?
Should be able to last at least 8 hours a day for 8 years, but probably no more than 14 - 16 hours a day for 8 years.
Soldato
How many hours a day/week are they on?
Should be able to last at least 8 hours a day for 8 years, but probably no more than 14 - 16 hours a day for 8 years.
of the two old white uns, in the hallway, I'd say probably a bit less than that as they are on auto dusk/dawn triggers.
Associate
Cheapo 2W candle bulb from eBay or something. Been going 5 years in my porch light on from dusk till dawn all year round.
Quite annoying that most seem to fail so premature. I hope they start clamping down on the claimed hours and environmental cost of them failing too soon. I think I've had 3 lots of GU10 bulbs go in my kitchen in the same amount of time. Currently trying ones from Costco, they seem high quality for a reasonable price.
Quite annoying that most seem to fail so premature. I hope they start clamping down on the claimed hours and environmental cost of them failing too soon. I think I've had 3 lots of GU10 bulbs go in my kitchen in the same amount of time. Currently trying ones from Costco, they seem high quality for a reasonable price.
Caporegime
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- 21 Jun 2006
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I replaced every light in my home with leds from screwfix and the cheapest ones they had 4 years ago.
None of them have failed.
I also have 2 smart Lifx bulbs and 2 phillips bulbs off ebay.
Not had a single one fail and I have several gu10's in kitchen, en suite and upstairs main bathroom.
Buying no name cheap Chinese crap off eBay is your issue.
Caporegime
Sorry I think I got the wrong end of the stick. I thought we were talking about the lifetime of an LED, not the whole unit which apparently likes to fail prematurely!
Soldato
My first gen LEDs just as they switched from dome style to smd5050 are still running strong. First used in a bedroom/office on for 6 hours a day down to the dining room where they suffered similar abuse, now serving the hallway where the abuse continues as the hall light is always on in an evening. Must be over 12 years old. They got changed between rooms as the CRI isn't great and a change in taste for white balance in those rooms. I've not had a gu50 fail yet.
Chinese lightstrips however, lucky to get a couple of years especially on coated strips.
Chinese lightstrips however, lucky to get a couple of years especially on coated strips.
Associate
The cheapo Chinese one is going strong. I think it was Wickes own that failed, and before that it was the previous owners bulbs of various brands.
Soldato
My hue bulbs are still all working, earliest ones in July 2016 apparently.
Soldato
All my first gen led bulbs did not last, all bought from reputable uk suppliers.. I’ve had far better experience with home bargains and ikea cheap o bulbs, I’ve had 1 gu10 fail out of 12 after 5 years, but the gu10s are now 9 years old and going well... used very frequently.
Normal bulbs our hallway small globe bulb went after 4 years as did the bathroom, but everywhere else is still going, we get our bulbs mainly from home bargains and IKEA.
Normal bulbs our hallway small globe bulb went after 4 years as did the bathroom, but everywhere else is still going, we get our bulbs mainly from home bargains and IKEA.
Associate
Much like others I had every bulb in the house replaced with LED's not long after moving in. I'm coming up to 6 years now and the only ones I've had to replace are the ones in the bathroom. I don't think it's the bulbs themselves, I think its the relatively cheap fittings not keeping 100% of the steam out causing them to fail early. Other than that not a single one has failed.
Soldato
The cheap ones seem to fail due to overheating of the diode or driver circuit. The more expensive, branded units tend to have thicker aluminium PCBs and/or heatsinks.
I've had some middle of the road Homebase or B&Q (I forget) GU10 spots for about 5 years now. Don't really like the light from these or thew halogen ones either so they aren't really used much.
This thread surprises me. I moved over to LED GU10 bulbs from the old halogen ones probably 5 or 6 years ago. I think I've had one fail since then - compared to when I had all halogen ones and I probably replaced one a month of average.
I didn't realise that LEDs failing constantly was an issue, as I say, I've found the exact opposite.
PS. If I get a sudden batch of failures now, I'm definitely blaming this thread.
I didn't realise that LEDs failing constantly was an issue, as I say, I've found the exact opposite.
PS. If I get a sudden batch of failures now, I'm definitely blaming this thread.
Soldato
Almost 6 years so far. In fact, none of mine have gone. That's 29 LED bulbs that are still good almost 6 years later. Mostly LAP from Screwfix for spots and some Diall (B&Q) traditional style in lamps.
Can't tell you how long they've been used, but some rarely and some a lot... lol.
Can't tell you how long they've been used, but some rarely and some a lot... lol.
Soldato
Have some daylight GU10s in the kitchen bought from LED Hut in June 2015 (not sure on the branding of those ones, possibly "Lumilife"?) Must get at least 5-6 hours use/day and all 3 are still going strong (of course now I've posted this, they'll all fail at once tonight).
Unfortunately, several of the other bulbs from the same order (dimmable e14 golf balls) have failed, as have their replacements - all the same issue, start off flickering and then after a day or so just die completely.
It may be something to do with the dimming, as we've changed the dimmer fitting* to a normal switch, and no more seem to have gone since.
* Yes we had one of the proper (very expensive!!) Varilight LED dimmers
Unfortunately, several of the other bulbs from the same order (dimmable e14 golf balls) have failed, as have their replacements - all the same issue, start off flickering and then after a day or so just die completely.
It may be something to do with the dimming, as we've changed the dimmer fitting* to a normal switch, and no more seem to have gone since.
* Yes we had one of the proper (very expensive!!) Varilight LED dimmers
8 and a half years or so I think. I got some Philips SES LED bulbs for £1 each on clearance from the retail job I had at the time, which was a bargain because they were about £10 full price. They've all been used regularly, but I had one start flickering the other day. Sad to see it go, compared to newer ones it's quite a heavy, solidly made thing!