How long can LED lights be used?
The theoretical service life of a single light-emitting diode (LED) lamp can reach 100,000 hours. However, since other electronic components also have a service life, once an LED bulb is assembled, its service life cannot reach 100,000 hours. Generally speaking, it is approximately 50,000 hours.
LED lights do not have the problem of filament melting, which is precisely the reason for their long service life. LED lights will gradually age over time rather than suddenly stop working. Overall, after continuous use for 50,000 hours, high-quality LED lights can still retain more than 60% of their initial brightness. If an LED light reaches the end of its nominal service life, it may still be emitting light, but the light will be very faint.
Comparison of the service life of LED lights and traditional lamps
Although the initial investment cost of LED lights is relatively high, due to their long service life and greater durability, the need for repeated replacement is reduced. A study compared the situation of replacing traditional high-pressure sodium lamps with LED street lamps and found that the number of traditional lamps that needed to be replaced was 20 times that of LED lamps.
LED lights themselves do not wear out, but they are indeed affected by light attenuation. The light attenuation of LED is manifested as a gradual decrease in its luminous intensity after 4,000 to 10,000 hours of operation, along with a color temperature shift. Good heat dissipation design, the use of constant current power supply and the adoption of aging-resistant packaging materials all help to delay the occurrence of LED light attenuation. According to the L70 standard (i.e., the luminous flux maintenance rate standard), it is generally believed that when the output luminous flux of an LED lamp drops to 70% of its initial value (approximately 50,000 hours), the LED lamp has reached the end of its service life.
