LED light bulbs not lasting

[Anonymous]

I feel like I'm losing my mind. We have spent hundreds of dollars to change every single light bulb in our house to LED over the past few years, and one of the promises of LED was that even though they were more expensive, they would last for years. But now they are starting to burn out, years before the packaging indicated. And we aren't burning them 24/7 - we are pretty diligent about turning lights off when we leave the room.

Is our experience unusual? For example, we have a GE Relax bulb that estimates 13 years based on 3 hours of burning per day (1095 hours/year, total lifespan est 14,235 hours). In one room, we probably have it on for 40 hours a week. That should give us almost 7 years of use but it just died after 1.5 years. I haven't done the math on the others but it's been such a process to find the right bulb hue for each room that I was not planning on having to replace everything for at least another 5 years.

[Anonymous]

I don't know why Trump brought back plastic straws but can't bring back incandescent light bulbs.

[Anonymous]

I don't know what the answer is. We have a candelabra fixture with incandescent lights, we dim it and don't use it often. Well, one burned out last year and we put in a LED and now it's burned out while the incandescent are still fine.

[Anonymous]

An issue in our house too. DH writes the replacement date on the bulb when it goes in.

It’s like 8 months, if that.

[Anonymous]

Bad quality control. LEDs are like semiconductors that have intricate manufacturing processes. There is usually a large percent that are defective.

Also, how are you using them? Some LEDs are rated for enclosed fixtures but most are not. If they are in a recessed can or enclosed, while they generate less heat than incandescents, they still have to dissipate that heat or it degrades the LED quickly.

[Anonymous]

Same here...no where near what the box says.

[Anonymous]

20 years ha!

[Anonymous]

Dimmers are a common issue. Many LED bulbs age prematurely if there is a dimmer anywhere in the circuit for that bulb. One needs to buy special LED bulbs marked as dimmer-capable for those places.

We work from home and have had our LED GE Reveal and GE Refresh bulbs for more than 7 years now, with no burn outs yet. Very happy with both GE and Philips LED bulbs.

We did have some short-lived "Great Value" bulbs from Walmart, so we stopped buying those.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I’ve never had to replace an LED bulb. It’s been at least five years for all of them. I have a bunch of different brands (because I have can converter thingies and regular bulbs of different sizes, and some are ikea smart bulbs).

I did switch all our switches to LED-compatible ones, maybe that helps?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why Trump brought back plastic straws but can't bring back incandescent light bulbs.

He probably will. LED's are an abomination, especially on taillights/headlights as they cause tracing and even epileptic fits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know what the answer is. We have a candelabra fixture with incandescent lights, we dim it and don't use it often. Well, one burned out last year and we put in a LED and now it's burned out while the incandescent are still fine.

Many non-China made incandescents will last decades. Even the modern ones made in China will last a couple years with normal use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bad quality control. LEDs are like semiconductors that have intricate manufacturing processes. There is usually a large percent that are defective.

Also, how are you using them? Some LEDs are rated for enclosed fixtures but most are not. If they are in a recessed can or enclosed, while they generate less heat than incandescents, they still have to dissipate that heat or it degrades the LED quickly.

I got into regular lightbulb shape LEDs when they were getting somewhat reasonable (maybe $5 a bulb?). I bought Cree LEDs that were sold as a premium brand at Home Depot and that had circular vents in the top of the bulb. The Cree bulbs specifically said they were okay for enclosed fixtures (most of the light bulbs in my house). Many of these burned out within 1-3 years. I got warranty replacements on the earliest to fail. After that first batch of replacements, no more aid from Cree. They ignored my warranty requests.

I redid all of the conventional light fixtures in my house and so far I've replaced many two times.

I seem to have equal luck with Home Depot's store brand and no brand freebies.

I have GE LED spotlights in the kitchen that cost about $9 each and have lasted about 10 years or so.

I have two areas that I haven't converted...my living room spotlights and dining room chandelier. I'm getting by with an almost run out incandescent stockpile. I can't find an exact color temperature and brightness match. I have tried multiple times with the living room spotlights.

Overall, only exceptional bulbs have lasted. And there's no pattern on what has lasted. It's not location or brand-related at my house.

[Anonymous]

LEDs last forever. LED control electronics are garbage that overheated and burn out. It's a massive fraud.

Also, since they are computers, not just light bulbs, they are sensitive to your bad electrical wiring in a way that incandescent "dumb bulbs" are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LEDs last forever. LED control electronics are garbage that overheated and burn out. It's a massive fraud.

Also, since they are computers, not just light bulbs, they are sensitive to your bad electrical wiring in a way that incandescent "dumb bulbs" are not.

Some of the new ones have microphones and wireless capability. Great spying devices.

[Anonymous]

The cheaper brands are pretty bad. My 2017 Sengled LED smartbulbs have been incredibly durable. No replacements yet but if you aren't doing smarthome things, it would be a waste to buy them. Just pointing out that they CAN make a bulb that lasts years.