What happened to the LED bulbs that lasted 100,000 hours?
A great article in Hackaday discusses the lifespan of LED bulbs. It also deals with the lifespan of LEDs. The article focuses on the lifespan of LED bulbs, including their electronic components and housings. The article also discusses the issue of color change and lumen depreciation.
When considering long-term space applications, these issues are important.
The lifetime rating on LED boxes can be as high as 100,000 hours or even 50,000 hours for early adopters. On a recent visit to a hardware store, the longest advertised lifespan I found was only 25,000 hours. Some claimed 7,500 hours or even 15,000. These are Cree and GE brand bulbs.
What happened to the 100,000-hour LED bulbs for residential use? Was the initial estimate just too optimistic? Was it just marketing hype? Did we not have enough information about LEDs to be able to accurately predict their useful life?
These questions were put to the test. After the break, I will give you some background information on the light-bulb cartel that ruled the incandescent bulb era (not a hoax, the cartel controlled your bulbs’ life) and then destroy some LED bulbs to show why their lifetimes are much lower than those of the original LED replacements.
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