LED technology is advancing at rapid rates. LED's that were "state of the art" in both power use and light production (lumens) just a couple of years ago are currently "old, wasteful and dim". All of the LED's that I bought 6 years ago, many of which are still in use in my Cougar, are being replaced as new technology LED's come on the market. They are 12 volt (back then, 12/24 volt LED's weren't even available).
LED sizing is typically used to refer to the LED. In other words, a 3528 LED is 3.5mm x 2.8mm and a 5050 LED is 5.0x5.0 mm in size. It goes with reason that the larger an LED the more light it will produce, so 5050 LED's are brighter than 3528 LED's. With the advancements in technology, even that is being "outdated by evolution of LED's"......
As for the availability of LED's, the market follows what is called "Haitz' Law" which essentially states that the technology will outdate itself every 36 months and today's best technology will be available as "base technologoy" in 18 months.
http://www.electronicdesign.com/comp...y-and-practice
So, those LED's you bought 4 or 5 years ago may not be "getting dim" rather they may be "outclassed" by the new one you installed in the bedroom.
As for the "voltage regulated" LED's, (the ones listed as 12/24 VDC) they have a very complex, miniaturized circuit (IC) on the chip that is a voltage regulator/voltage limiter circuit. It converts the changing input voltage to a constant output voltage. This protects the actual LED chip making it much more reliable. (along with the advancement, that voltage regulator brings with it the possibility to cause TV reception interference) so not every advancement is without added problems. This is about where the current technology for RV's is positioned.
Be assured that even though LED"s are advertised to last 20,000 hours, the technology will outdate that LED assembly in the next 18-36 months, making it obsolete and even "antiquated"... Sort of like many of us who are in the retirement age group......
