Are Your LED Lights Dying Soon? We Find Out What Happens

If you’ve been looking for new lights, maybe consider it LEDs light upwhich promise greater energy savings and a longer life than older incandescents. All of that is true — LED bulbs can actually save moneyand many include smart controls to adjust their color, temperature and schedules.

But we have had some disappointing experiences with LED lights premature burnout, which can make those claims of years of energy savings seem dubious. That’s why I decided to talk to the producers and other experts. It turns out that LED lights burn out, but there are some reasons why it happens — and ways to prevent it. Here’s what I learned.

1. LED life ratings are a general estimate, not a promise

The numbers you see on the box don’t always apply in real life. LED lights last longer, but those claims of about five to 10 years are estimates based on internal testing — and companies are always looking for ways to present their lights in the best possible light.

So if the package says the bulb lasts seven years, that means that testing has shown an average of seven years, and you don’t always know the math used to get that result. Thomas Grable, from the LEDvance product technical team, said that if the LED bulb averages fall within a normal distribution chart, about 95% of the values ​​fall within two standard deviations of the mean. That still means some LED lights will have a shorter lifespan — and as Grable points out, we’re more likely to recall lights that flicker and die faster than ones that shine.

Also, companies can use unreasonable language, such as “up to seven years,” which means that they probably make a critical weight on the highest performers in their bulb tests, making it very easy that you will see the bulbs fail.

And don’t forget to check the specifications of the LED lamp how the manufacturer defines one day of use in these annual figures (if it says). Some companies use a loyalty of six to eight hours in one day. Others may use as little as two or three hours to significantly increase their lifespan.

All that said, Grable reports that the incandescent bulbs have an average life of about 800 hours, much shorter than the average of most LED bulbs, so you should still be getting your money’s worth unless something goes wrong. This is where other features come into play.

2. LED drivers overheat and fail

The LED, or light-emitting diode, itself is very unlikely to fail, and if it does, it wears out slowly over the years. Instead, some electrical components in the LED bulbs fail and disconnect the lamp. LED lights use DC power, requiring a converter and drivers to switch from standard AC power in homes.

That means that inside every LED bulb there are small circuit components — and soldered contacts — that are more vulnerable than the diode itself. The Lighting Research Center of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reports that research shows that commercial soft points are more likely to fail under extreme conditions.

Heat, in particular, can cause these components to break down quickly, so installing an LED bulb in a hot corner of your home or in a deep set socket with poor ventilation can cause the lights to go out much faster than expected.

You can help prevent these problems by looking for aluminum LEDs with heavy duty heat sinks, but ultimately, LEDs won’t perform the same in high temperature conditions.

3. Household electricity may not be clean

In terms of electrical grid, clean power is stable and reliable, with very accurate alternating current and few unexpected spikes in amps. But not all electricity is like that. Depending on the electrical infrastructure near your home, your power may be on the dirty side, with small power spikes and other problems.

LED bulb converters need to handle all those small differences, which can wear them out quickly and cause them to overheat. If you seem to frequently lose light bulbs at home for no good reason, you may have dirty energy.

4. The sockets may be old or the installation may be bad

Even if your electricity is clean, bad installation can produce the same results as dirty energy. Old, dirty sockets will not conduct electricity smoothly, causing burnout problems. And crimping the LED bulb too loosely or too tightly can also cause problems. Aim for a firm but gentle insertion process on a clean socket for best results.

5. Your home may have high humidity

Moisture and heat tend to destroy LED electronic components very quickly. If you live in a humid environment with high humidity in your indoor air, LED bulbs are less likely to last their lifetime. Fortunately, CNET has several dehumidifier recommendations to help dry out your home.

6. LEDs and old dimmers are incompatible

Many LEDs it can be dim, but that doesn’t mean they play nice with old home dimmer switches. As the LED installer Torchlight says, the old dimmers were made to work with high wattage incandescents. They don’t really know what to do with the less waterproof LEDs, which leads to burnout problems.

You can install an LED dimmer switch or — my preferred option — opt for a smart LED bulb with self-dimming features that you can control via an app rather than relying on old-fashioned dimmers.

7. Quality control issues can be a factor

Finally, the manufacturing quality of LED bulbs will affect all the problems I discussed above. Many manufacturers have usable diodes, but try to save money on cheap drivers and converters (and sloppy assembly methods), which are the main cause of early failure.

When choosing an LED lamp, it is better to stick to well-known, reliable brands, even if you have to pay a little. For smart bulbs, our testers got some great results from Philips, Wiz, Govee, Nanoleaf and Cree.