Going LED might seem like an odd choice to make, but it can save you money in the long run. While an LED light bulb might cost more upfront than your traditional incandescent or fluorescent bulb, it will save you money over time by lasting longer and using less energy. It is also essential to pay attention to the lifespan of your LED lights, though, because if they burn out too quickly, they aren't really worth the initial investment. If you want to know how long your LED lights will last, read on!
So What Is the Average Rated Life?
There is a myth that LED lights have a limited lifespan. Though many people believe that LED bulbs have to be replaced after a certain amount of time, this is not true. One of their major advantages over incandescent, and fluorescent lighting solutions is their longevity. The average rated life of an LED light bulb range from 50,000 to 60,000 hours.
Factors That Influence the Lifespan of LEDs
Below is a list of the factors that will influence the lifespan of LEDs:
LED lights use less power than traditional bulbs and generate significantly less heat. This means that they don't need to be cooled and can even be placed in close proximity to one another, making for a longer lifespan. The brightness of an LED bulb also makes a difference. As you increase its output, it will consume more power. At 100% brightness, LEDs are actually using more energy per lumen than incandescent or fluorescent bulbs.
LEDs have higher efficiency at lower temperatures, so they have a longer lifespan in cooler environments. The temperature coefficient of an LED is around 4 °C/W. In other words, as the ambient temperature rises by 4 °C, LED efficacy falls by 10%.
LEDs usually come with a datasheet that gives you lumen maintenance values for various light intensities. A light source with higher light intensity has more photons hitting an active area on your diode and will therefore shorten its lifespan.
Dark current is a leakage current that LEDs exhibit when there's no input voltage across them. An ideal LED should remain constant over its lifetime, but real ones lose small amounts of brightness each second due to dark currents.
Although LED technology has been around for decades, advancements in both circuit design and capacitor/driver technology have greatly increased their lifespans. In particular, drivers are a critical component of an LED lighting system because they control how current flows through LEDs, which determines how much energy is used and how much heat is produced. Reducing heat output while maximizing light output ensures a long lifespan for LEDs. If you're building your own LED lighting setup from scratch, look for high-quality components that have passed rigorous testing to ensure longevity. Additionally, carefully select where you place each LED within your setup to ensure that none of them are being put under undue stress—this will help keep your system operating well past its predicted lifespan.
The more heat that LEDs generate, the shorter their lifespan is. In addition, it will also affect its brightness levels. However, different kinds of LED bulbs have been designed with cooling systems to keep these from happening.
