LED lights, would think they should last much longer

[infinkc]

Anyone else have issues with LED lights not lasting long?

Our home was new construction, so all the bulbs were installed the same time.

2 of our bathroom fixtures have bad bulbs in them, one fixture gets used probably 2 times a day, the other maybe 2 times a week.

Our pantry has had 2 out of 3 LED can lights go out so far within this time frame.

In our kitchen 2 LED can lights are now out.

Any reason that LED lights would go out so soon? Would think they should last much longer.

 

[BillK]

Just like anything else there are good led's and there are cheap led's. I figure the builder probably used the cheapest thing he could find.

I have been buying GE's and I dont think one has failed yet. The oldest is in the post lamp in front of the house and its probably going on 5 years old ? Its on a photocell so if its dark the light is on.

 

[vwpieces]

I am sure the builder bought the cheapest bulbs he could for the build.
But with that said I have had great luck with Dollar Tree, Sunbeam brand LED bulbs. Also a lot of Feit brand bulbs I scored at the dollar store in 3 packs, yeah $0.33 Each.
Its generally not the LED in the bulb that goes bad. It is the capacitor on the driver board to power the LEDs. Heat is a killer of capacitors. Perhaps the majority of the bulbs you have were made at same time with a bad batch of caps.

 

[n8n]

Just like anything else there are good led's and there are cheap led's. I figure the builder probably used the cheapest thing he could find.

I have been Buying GE's and I dont think one has failed yet. The oldest is in the post lam in front of the house and its probably going on 5 years old ? Its on a photocell so if its dark the light is on.

This. I made a fixture to hold three Philips L-Prize bulbs when they were available, it was in a torchiere that was the main light in my bedroom for years. (three, because at the time, the brightest LED bulb was a "60W equivalent" so this mimicked a 60/120/180W 3-way) the google tells me that this must have been late 2011 or early 2012, and they and the one in the matching nightstand lamp were still going strong when my ex appropriated them 2 years ago. Unfortunately at the time they were rather expensive, the only reason I had them was the state of MD subsidized them heavily. That said, I've had good luck both with name brand bulbs purchased since and also with the Feit Electric "Enhance" el cheapos from Costco which actually really impress me. Caveat on the latter; the 100W equivalent ones of a couple years ago were garbage and failed in literally days. I'm still using some of the 60W equivalent ones however. They dim quieter and dimmer than Cree brand bulbs and are rated 90+ CRI which is important to me.

 

[Nutria]

Anyone else have issues with LED lights not lasting long?

Our home was new construction, so all the bulbs were installed the same time.

I don't think that you said when the home was built.

 

[infinkc]

I don't think that you said when the home was built.

Sorry 4 years ago.

The bathroom bulbs are Bulbrite brand, which are fairly expensive/
The recess ones are Sunco brand.

 

[Nutria]

I've had a similar experience with cheaper LEDs in a new build-- we lost one shop light and one LED strip at ~4 years. Both failures were non-bulb related.

 

[billconner]

These sound like retrofit led bulbs in fixtures designed for incandescent or flouresent. They've never been as solid as led fixtures.

Cree and Feit seem to perform well for me.

 

[jkeyser14]

I am 6 years in on all the LEDs in my new construction house. Not a single failure.

 

[Mr_fixit]

Many failures for me. maybe 25. All would be the oldest led lights, when they first came out. If I listen to the manufacturers data, they should have lasted another 10 years. I call Boll$hit. Some fall apart, some flicker, some go out completely. Basically the same thing that happened when compact fl lights first came out.

Newer ones seem to last longer.

 

[southalabama]

Matthias Wandel took one apart. Wasn’t soldered.

 

[Metal-Marc]

No failures over ten years of LED use. Mostly Philips lights.

 

[billconner]

LED replacement lamps in cans, globes, and other closed spaces will generally fail sooner than lamps in free air. It's the heat and the driver.

 

[Grant F]

I have had many many led bulbs fail in the less than 1 year to 2 year time frame. Many in areas with low use. Various brands including better brands. Most are the BR style bulbs in recessed cans. So I guess heat could be an issue. But if they are making bulbs shaped for cans, they should factor in the heat factor. Have had BR style florescent that lasted 8 to 10 years in high use areas.

 

[nadogail]

I had a specialty contractor replace my incandescent can lights with LED modules back in ‘16. He used Home Depot’s Commercial Electric modules; one of about 50 failed and Home Depot exchanged it with out a problem.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I bought the Costco $20 specials about 5 years ago. They don't like below freezing temps. Lots of blinking and partial dark areas. Now that it is warm, they are flawless !

 

[frankd]

I've definitely had that experience with cheaper LED bulbs. Not so much with the higher end brands but even those will sometimes flicker and fail. Everything in the house has been converted to LED (since 2016). Thankfully the ceiling fixtures with built in LED's have not failed but I've had several bulbs fail on me. Mostly the cheap commercial electric ones from HD. But have also had some Phillips and sylvania fail as well