Understanding LED Lifespans

When you imagine a lifespan, you envision a definite beginning and end. In the lighting industry, the determination of lifespan is a bit more gray. The lifespan of a light can be determined by when it breaks or simply burns out, an image we are all familiar with. More often than not in lighting, a bulb’s lifespan ends when the light it produces is no longer useful. Plus, there are many ways to determine what is and isn’t useful light depending on factors such as type of bulb, wattage, lumens and more.

Today, we are going to explore the lifespan of LEDs, and how they are determined in comparison to other traditional bulbs.

LED Lifespan Basics: Lumens vs Wattage

The most important aspect to understand when looking at LED lifespans is the difference between lumens and wattage. All light bulbs come in a variety of wattages, and these wattages simply state the amount of energy needed to power the light. For instance, a lower watt bulb takes less energy than a high watt bulb to power. Part of the allure of LED lighting is that they can replace higher watt incandescent or fluorescent lighting with a lower watt bulb. This means less energy usage, which equals less money spent powering your lights!

While wattage is important to energy savings, lumens come into play to make sure you are getting the most bang for your buck. Lumens are the measurement of light output from a bulb. The higher the lumen count, the more light the bulb produces. LEDs in general offer more lumen output per watt than traditional bulbs like CFLs and incandescent and fluorescent lights. Broken down, this means you get brighter light with less wattage when you install LED lighting.

LED Lifespans and Lumen Depreciation

The LED lifespan is determined by lumen depreciation. All light bulbs lose light over time and their lifespan is determined when the light is no longer adequate or useful. The question is, how much light loss is too much?

According to the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), an LED lifespan ends when lumens depreciate by 30 percent. Yet, wiggle room can be found within this margin. If the LED is still giving off enough light for its current application, the lifespan has not ended. In this way, a LED lifespan becomes subjective according to the environment and use of light.

While LEDs lose light like other light sources, they do so at a significantly slower rate. Studies show LED lifespans last 10 times longer than traditional lighting, with the average rated hours of life ranging between 50,000-10,000 hours!

Make the Switch to LEDs with Sitler’s!

Find LED lighting with lifespans ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 hours at Sitler’s LED Supplies. With shorter days, there is no better time to upgrade your lighting than while you use it most. Give us a call today at (319)-519-0039 or setup a free walkthrough and evaluation here.

Posted in LED Lighting Basics

Tagged blog, LED lifespan, LED lifespans, LED rated hours, lumen, lumen depreciation, watt, wattage