Comment by SoftTalker

14 days ago

I have not found that LED bulbs last noticably longer than incandescents. I'm still replacing bulbs, and though I don't keep records it feels about the same.

LEDs are just terrible in every way except electrical consumption.

My first hue led is from around 2015 and is still working perfectly fine.

Every other low quality led I bought around that time or even later is long dead by now. I disagree

  • Even off-brand ones now are lasting longer than the ones 10 years ago. It used to be a problem, now I rarely change any bulbs.

Good LEDs in the right circumstances will last almost forever - unfortunately many LEDs on the shelf are trash. They often have small print about not using them in enclosed fixtures or sconces since their thermal management is atrocious and they will self-immolate if not in open air.

If you buy cheap off-brands on Amazon that's what happens. The cheap ones have poor thermal management around the LED drivers, and the heat dissipated will eventually burn the drivers out, much sooner than is reasonable.

Hooray shitty capitalist incentives.

The non-cheap LED bulbs I've bought have all lasted years and years. I do have some cheap ones that are starting to fail, after just a year or so. (Problem with those is that it was really hard to find the correct bulb size and connector type, so my options were limited.)