What kind of light bulbs do you use in your house? If the answer is LED, now we are going to explain a little about its characteristics, as well as the duration of LED bulbs. Of course, you will have to take into account some aspects so that its useful life is as long as possible. However, We can already warn you that the duration of LED bulbs has nothing to do with the old models.
There are different models on the market that use LED technology. What's more, they have been displacing the different technologies that were on the market such as incandescent light bulbs -the traditional ones-, fluorescent light bulbs or low consumption ones. Also, as you well know, In the automotive world it has already been decided to include this type of lighting in their modelsSince the illumination is greater, visibility improves and their duration is much longer. But let's see some aspects of this type of bulbs in the following sections.
Is it worth getting LED bulbs?
Everything you may have heard about LED bulbs is false advertising, we can tell you that it is not true. An LED bulb is much more efficient than any other type of bulb on the market. According to the manufacturers, energy savings in a home can reach 80 percent. And at the end of the month you will notice it on the electricity bill.
In addition, with the passage of time the designs have been improving and now you can find LED bulbs with all kinds of shapes. Likewise, the duration of LED bulbs - we will talk about this later - is much longer than other technologies.
To give you an example of savings: having 10 bulbs in the home with a consumption of 30W each, when all of them are turned on at the same time we would be having an energy cost of 300W. On the other hand, having LED bulbs with a consumption of only 6W each, turning all of them on at the same time, we would achieve a total consumption of 60W. That is to say, 300W compared to 60W, a consumption 5 times higher.
Lifetime of LED bulbs
The duration of the LED bulbs is marked by hours of lighting. Although everything will depend on the different models on the market. Normally, the manufacturers of this type of bulbs usually indicate it on their packaging. Similarly, Typically, this type of technology lasts between 15.000 and 35.000 hours..
Likewise, another of the data that appears on the packaging is on/off cycles. This is important depending on where we are going to place the LED bulbs in the home. It will not be the same in the lamp of a bedside table, that in a bathroom. In the second of the things the on/off are more frequent.
The fact that they have less Watts (W) does not mean that they illuminate less
In the past, the Watts (W) that marked the incandescent bulbs, marked two things: their consumption and their light power. That is, a 60W bulb did illuminate more than a 40W one. Now, consumption was also higher. On the other hand, with the advent of LED bulbs, this data only refers to their energy consumption, which, by the way, almost all the models on the market are categorized into energy classes A, A+ and A++. That is, the most efficient classes.
However, manufacturers also usually make a comparison on their packaging with the old forms of measurement so that the user does not have any problem. To give you an example, an LED bulb with a consumption of 6W can be equivalent to a traditional bulb of between 40-50W.
Instead, you will currently see other types of information on the packaging. It's about the lumens, the luminous flux emitted by that bulb and the more lumens appear on the packaging, the brighter that model will illuminate. In addition, since 2010, this data must appear –by law– in the labels.
Can LED lamps fail and have a shorter life?
The answer to the above question is: yes. You should pay special attention to the cases that we are going to discuss below and remedy as many of these problems as possible.. What you should know is that LED bulbs work instantly, as soon as they receive electricity, but for optimal use, this voltage must arrive evenly and constantly and avoid voltage spikes. But let's look at more possible problems:
- When we don't have the whole home with LED bulbs and technologies are mixed: This means that other types of technologies, such as fluorescent bulbs, need a high intensity to start their lighting -the opposite of LED bulbs-, so mixing technologies can shorten the useful life of the latter. Try that all the bulbs they use are LED. In addition, you will achieve maximum energy savings
- The wiring of our installation is not in optimal conditions: It is something that we do not usually look at so regularly, but having a state-of-the-art installation, with new wiring and separating everything into phases, is essential for a proper functioning of our energy consumption. If it is not in optimal conditions, it can also cause voltage spikes and directly affect the useful life of the LED bulb.
- Not all LED bulbs are created to illuminate the same spaces: There are different types of LED bulbs on the market, some for domestic use and others for commercial use, with greater lighting and greater resistance to being on all day. For this reason, it is important not to mix these uses and to inquire well in the specialized establishment before acquiring one model or another.
- High temperatures are not good companions for LED bulbs: having poor ventilation or confusing the exterior bulbs with the interior bulb, will possibly cause the model we acquire to fail prematurely. The high temperatures and poor ventilation of the space where we place the bulbs will also be decisive when it comes to extending the useful life of our LED bulb models to the maximum. Remember that in the market you have models that range from 15.000 to 35.000 hours of use
- Capacitors for LED bulbs: LED bulbs are made up of several components and one of them is capacitors. If this component fails - it is usually more fragile than the LED itself - it will also limit the bulb's lifespan. And it is that this condenser avoid flickering and residual lights