The Lifecycle of LED Strip Lights

You might have been drawn to LEDs because of their long average lifespan-after all, who wouldn't want something that long? Having a lighting solution like that will reduce the need to buy and install replacements, freeing up time and money for things you truly enjoy. But how long do LED strip lights last? How is their average lifetime calculated?

While fluorescent lamps flicker and incandescent bulbs burn out over time, LEDs age differently, reducing light output gradually rather than completely. With all the sudden failures from mechanical damage and power surges, you can expect your LEDs to last until they are too dim to use.

The question of how dim is too dim may come to mind, but there are many different answers to it, and you can use the L70 metric or your own preferences. If you find it on your likes and dislikes, you'll likely get rid of your LEDs before they reach the recommended disposal rate or after the recommended changeover.

Nonetheless, 30% of lumens loss or 70% of light remaining should be the end of the line if you base it on the L70 measure. The amount of hours it would take for an LED to reduce to just 70% of its initial light output is known as the L70 measure.

The lifespan of LEDs is influenced by a number of factors, including material, durability, and quality, but generally speaking, higher drive currents and temperatures would result in a faster decline in light output. Because the selection of materials varies so widely among different LED types and manufacturers, LM-80 advises testing sample specimens at a designated temperature and current drive, with light output change measurement at 1000-hour intervals at 10,000 hours.

All reliable manufacturers will have their LEDs put through the LM-80 test, which is usually conducted by a third-party laboratory to ensure accuracy and fairness. The results are published in a report format, and a legitimate LED supplier should have no trouble providing them to you, particularly if you're purchasing in bulk!

The challenge with the lifespan test of LEDs is that it takes a very long time. Even if the LED is lit 24/7, you'll need around 14 months to complete the 10,000 hours test! This is forever in a fast-paced industry like LED lighting. Testing a fitting to the whole 50,000 hours claim needs 6 years of continuous testing.

An exploration algorithm called TM-21 was developed because the LM-80 test was not yielding results as quickly. The algorithm uses the data from the LM-80 samples over the first several thousand hours to generate an estimated lifetime number, which is the number you see on warranties and specifications sheets.

Both the LM-80 test and TM-21 technique includes various criteria and circumstances for longevity rates. If your LED provider does not comply with these recommendations, their lifetime claim could not be correct.

To ensure that hasty conclusions are not drawn from incomplete information, you can only declare up to six times the number of hours that were actually tested. For example, even if the LED being tested operated flawlessly, the most prolonged lifetime claim can only be 30,000 hours based on the data gathered if the LM-80 test result is only up to 5,000 hours.

As previously mentioned, temperature and drive current are the two factors that affect an LED's lifespan; if your LED strip can tolerate a higher drive current and temperature, the actual use situations may exceed those of the LM-80 test, causing the initial lifespan prediction to be overestimated. Therefore, the case temperature and drive current must be higher for the LM-80 test than the one used on the LED strip.

The LM-80 and TM-21 tests are not perfect; manufacturers may use high-quality materials for test samples and lower-quality materials for production; there are also guidelines regarding the materials that can be substituted in an LED's design while applying the same LM-80 test report; and other factors, such as humidity and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for waterproof strip lights, are not included in the test procedure.

It's difficult to find any documentation of the acceptable shift level for your personal use and the industry as a whole. In addition to brightness degradation, some LED strips change color over time. The LM-80 test report will show this color shift, but the technical specifications won't.

The LM-80 test report or the "delta u'v" will be necessary if you are really picky about color stability, since anything above 0.003 is regarded as perceptible to the human eye.

For many indoor applications, a delta u'v of less than 0.006 is generally considered acceptable for the LED strip's lifespan. However, for more specialized installations, such as lighting artworks in museums, it is essential to use a fixture with superior color stability.

Even though LED chips are essential to the longevity of an LED strip light, other factors can compromise its longevity: the power supply and the adhesive backing can shorten the lifespan of an LED strip; if your strips lack a sturdy backing, they may fall off the surface to which you have attached them repeatedly, causing damage to the LEDs.

When it comes to the power supply, if that fails, don't anticipate your strips to dim over time; it'll go black instantly! So, you need to ensure that your strip lights are not the only ones that are durable and high-performance. You also need the power supply to be top-quality to them operate!

Don't buy LED strips from just any store because some do take shortcuts; instead, look for reliable manufacturers and suppliers who back up their claims, like Simple Lighting! All of our LED fixtures, accessories, and products can last up to their typical lifespan, so check out our website first!