Just curious how long led lights last. I’m not having any issues or anything but my light has basically been running non stop for 3 years and nothing lasts forever.(knocking on wood)
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Most LEDs themselves are rated for either 50,000 or 100,000 hours. I don’t recall exactly. The other components (circuits and so on) will be rated for something less. Quality drivers have a mean time between failure of ~300,000 hours.
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I wonder the same…manufacturers do state a life in hours most times…mine are 2 and 3 years old and I use DLI to set things and I am still getting the same results at each phase of the grow … that makes me feel good but wish I had a light spectrum analyzer to see the spectrum of light
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At 50,000 hours if you ran it 18 hrs a day it would take 7.5 years to reach that. And the only thing that happens then is a decrease in efficient output of light. They will still work. More than likely the light will suffer a mechanical failure before the LEDs fail. Most of us will probably replace old lights before they reach the end of life. Even then I would likely use it for herbs or some other plants.
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Diodes are made to last for decades, my ship had diodes in place when commissioned in 1982, 99% those would still be working today.
Its the quality of the light driver that depends on its life cycle.
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I like to use older ones for veg. Replaced a bspec after a few years. Throw micro greens under it now.
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I would just monitor the output via the photone app and if it keeps hetting the same ppfd then your good right? Just bc it still works does not mean the output is the same. I have yet to see a change in mine.
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Heat is the driving force in electronics, i would ensure that the light i buy has great “heatsink” qualities.
The few things a owner can do to help in efficiency is to keep your dust of the top of the light, the dust is like insulation trapping heat.
Air flow on the light to dispatch the heat if possible.
New to growing with LEDs, lovem.
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