Do you use LED bulbs in your home and complain that they break down early? Or did old type bulbs last longer? Many consumers share the same experience with you. Let’s take a closer look at the reason.
Old-style bulbs, known as incandescent lamps, have a service life of approximately 1,000 hours. Under laboratory conditions, the lifespan of LEDs (LED only) is 50 or 100 times longer than that of old-style light bulbs. In other words, the LED can work on its own for 50,000 – 100,000 hours without malfunction.
An incandescent bulb basically has only one component called the filament. The mains voltage is applied directly to this filament. This causes it to heat up and shine. LED bulbs are more complex than incandescent bulbs. In LED bulbs, a separate electronic circuit (constant current LED driver) is used to power the LEDs, which act as light sources, under suitable conditions.
Since many LED bulbs basically overheat, they fail in a shorter time than the estimated lifetime of the LED. While this is sometimes a problem caused by product design, it can also be caused by the way it is used.
Keeping the driving current on the LEDs high and the lack of heatsink design are two common design problems. In both cases, the LEDs reach temperatures above the limits set by the manufacturer, and as a result, the probability of failure increases.
When the LED bulb is installed in a narrow space without air circulation or in a closed body, an overheating problem may occur. This heating also increases the probability of malfunction.
Another reason, other than LED, for LED bulbs to fail in a short time is the weak driver circuit design. In order to meet the low price expectation, manufacturers sometimes use cheap components that last a short time in their products. Of course, 100,000 hours LED powered by a 10,000 hour circuit cannot meet the expected lifespan. Even if the LEDs do not malfunction, the driver circuit may cut the current and cause the lamp to not work.
The life expectancy of the whole product has been calculated for LED bulbs from well-known and reliable manufacturers in the market, and this value is on the box. This life is generally between 15,000 and 25,000 hours.
LED bulbs, in which yellow wires (actually a small LED array) are seen, known as LED filaments, generally have a shorter lifetime
