The Real World Lifespan of a Low Energy Light Bulb

[Protagoras]

14W LED bulb in my kitchen, not running for long periods, but used most days
Box says
- 15000 hours
- 30000 off / on cycles

My experience of these things is not good. Just had another one fail.
It's not as if it's above the cooker, although I do accept that it can be rather hot in the kitchen.

The economics of these bulbs make sense even if they don't last a year, compared with an equivalent filament lamp, but I find the advertised lifespan, shall I say, "optimistic".

Am I alone in having bad luck with these things?

At least a filament lamp is easy to re-cycle!

[northernladuk]

I had the same. I replaced 80 odd halogens in my house a couple of years back and I've been constantly replacing the odd one here and there. Feels like I'm changing them more than the halogen ones but that said I've never had so many bulbs to look after. Certainly feels no where near the expected lifespan for sure.

Another thing that pisses me off with LED ones is there are so many different types/makes. Colour, beam angle and the bulbs themselves look totally different. They've stopped making the ones I got orginally and am on my last few spares so what do I do when i've none left

The spots in the door lights are different as are the spots over the garage. Everytime one blows I have to buy the whole lot again to keep it looking the same. Gotta say I'm not impressed at all.

[DealorNoDeal]

I've found that the reliability varies a lot from make to make. Especially with the GU10 LED spots, which we were forever replacing.

The last lot of GU10s I bought were Wickes CREE 5W 320lm, and not a single one has failed in over 2 years, which is a miracle!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...+led&_osacat=0

PS. Out of curiosity, I opened up a few of the broken bulbs to see if I could find out why they were failing. In every single case, it was the electronic circuit which had developed a fault not the LED emitter itself.

[d000hg]

It seems a total crapshoot that has little to do with brand or price, in my experience replacing what must be close on 100 bulbs in my house.
I have some I installed 5 years ago still going strong and other expensive ones that die within days or weeks. It does seem like if they get past a month or so, they are likely to last so perhaps it's poor quality control as much as anything.

More annoying are outside LEDs e.g. PIR security lights. These can cost quite a lot and are technically lots of LEDs but the way they tend to fail means the whole thing fails, not a few 'cells'. And then rather than replace a small glass planet-killing bulb, you have to replace the entire unit and chuck it away as they are nearly all integrated.
The same with some LED batten lights which replace old fluorescent tubes - they are cheap and do a great job but having to replace the unit rather than a bulb is a PITA.

[DealorNoDeal]

...perhaps it's poor quality control as much as anything.

With the GU10 spots, I suspect it's either poor design of the electronic circuit, which drives the LED, or inadequately rated components.

[d000hg]

With the GU10 spots, I suspect it's either poor design of the electronic circuit, which drives the LED, or inadequately rated components.

If those are the low-voltage ones I have replaced by drivers with LED-specific ones, replaced 6 bulbs and found from a pack of 6 3 are still going strong, one flickered from the start, 2 failed after a short time.

I've seen people say heat is a problem and it is surprising how hot these units get - and the heat is at the back of the unit where it can't disperse well.

[Protagoras]

So, it seems that I'm not alone!

My other concern with this LED technology is re-cycling.
This makes for quite depressing reading.

https://www.agencyofdesign.co.uk/pro...my-lightbulbs/

[DealorNoDeal]

If those are the low-voltage ones I have replaced by drivers with LED-specific ones, replaced 6 bulbs and found from a pack of 6 3 are still going strong, one flickered from the start, 2 failed after a short time.

I've seen people say heat is a problem and it is surprising how hot these units get - and the heat is at the back of the unit where it can't disperse well.

Sorry, I was referring to the mains LED spotlight bulbs (halogen replacements). There's a small circuit in them which produces the low voltage DC for the LED and, in my experience, it's always this circuit which fails. Heat may well be the cause but then it's down to poor design/engineering.

[d000hg]

Sorry, I was referring to the mains LED spotlight bulbs (halogen replacements). There's a small circuit in them which produces the low voltage DC for the LED and, in my experience, it's always this circuit which fails. Heat may well be the cause but then it's down to poor design/engineering.

Apparently a lot of failures are due to effectively a short circuit... a low-resistance route develops across the LED which is when you get bulbs which are just very dim. But I think you're right about the all-in-one bulbs have shoddy circuits too. Separate drivers would make more sense so the disposable unit is as simple as possible - less cost, less waste but of course most of us are retrofitting bulbs to old sockets.

[DealorNoDeal]

We've only ever had issues with spotlights. The LED GLS bulbs (60W/100W replacements) seem to last fine.