Longevity of an LED

[Steve S]

So I'm doing a test of longevity of an LED. So far I've had the porchlight on 24/7 for a yr and it's still working great!
I really want to see how many hrs these bulbs will last.

[HappyCamperMN]

Most LEDs are rated at 20,000 hours or more. From what I recall, that is an average lifespan so your mileage may vary and be more or less than that, but given a large enough sample size you should achieve an average lifespan near what the manufacturer is advertising.

24 hours * 365 days = 8760 hours per year

IMHO, you should get ~3 years out of them.

[JRTJH]

If you consider the advertised life expectancy of 50,000 hours, that would be about 5 years 8 months and a few days. Even if it only lasts half that time, you're going to be reporting that it burned out sometime in late 2017 to mid 2018 that you ordered a new LED for the porch light....

That is unless you forget that you were "testing it"

[Steve S]

So every 3 to 5 yrs I'll have to sink more money into the trailer?
Does the expense ever end

[wahoonc]

CFL's were supposed to outlast incandescent bulbs by a good margin, didn't happen at my house. I do have a couple that beat the odds. Slowly switching the house over to LED, prefer them over the CFL.

Steve... it never ends.

Aaron

[Steve S]

I guess $4.00 every few years won't kill me, the cost of replacing all the lights has been very well worth it.
I'm still amazed how hot the other bulbs would get and they would actually melt the plastic.

[GaryWT]

The led will last 20 years if they are not left on 24/7 so lights in the camper should last awhile. That said, if an led is made cheaply, it can over heat and burn it out early. I work in energy efficiency and we only pay for tested and approved lights as they are not worth the money if they do not last the 20,000 to 50,000 hours. In general the hours are determine by turning on 10 lights and when 50% of them are out that is the average hours. With LEDs they were not able to do this as well since they lasted so long. Unlike cfl, LEDs like the cold and will last longer in the cold.

[theeyres]

Originally Posted by Steve S

So every 3 to 5 yrs I'll have to sink more money into the trailer?
Does the expense ever end

Only if you plan to leave all those LED's on 24/7 for those 3 to 5 years. Otherwise they will probably outlast you!!!

[michael_h]

so if you sell the trailer before it burns out, how will we ever know?

[jkohler70]

For your home CFL's, you have to "condition" them. When you first install them, turn the light on and leave it for at least 15 minutes. I am slowly switching to LED, but I have left mine on for an hour after installing them. Only one has burned out in the last 5 years.

[Steve S]

Originally Posted by michael_h

so if you sell the trailer before it burns out, how will we ever know?

I hope that I never sell it as I'm very happy with it
If I ever trade up I would want 2 extra feet in the bedroom

[jsmith948]

Originally Posted by Steve S

I hope that I never sell it as I'm very happy with it
If I ever trade up I would want 2 extra feet in the bedroom

Steve - Whose feet? and would your DW approve?

[Steve S]

Originally Posted by jsmith948

Steve - Whose feet? and would your DW approve?

I'm pretty sure she would aprove as it's just not 2 feet it'll be an extra 4 feet as we rescued another little dog