LED Life Question

TipsyMcStagger

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Mar 7, 2010
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Dumb question but will a dimming LED's extend their life? I have some landscape LED's on a timer, so they illuminate every night for several hours.

The manufacture sells an adjustable dimming module. Would dimming the LED prolong their useful life? The LED strips themselves are not easily replaceable.

Tipsy
 

iamlucky13

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Possibly, although their life should be very good already, to the point many light fixtures are intended simply to be thrown out if the LED's die. The main thing you can do is make sure they don't get too hot - nothing special to do there. Just make sure you don't restrict the airflow in a way they weren't designed for. Fully enclosed fixtures can be a problem for many lights.

The main benefit of dimming is simply saving energy and getting the brightness level you prefer.
 

DIWdiver

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Yes, dimming can greatly extend the life of the LED chips. All else being equal, a dimmed LED will run cooler, resulting in increased lumen maintenance and longer MTBF. I believe there are also processes occurring at the atomic level that mean higher current (giving greater brightness) translates to more rapid degradation of the die, but don't quote me on that.

However, this may not have any impact on the life of the lamps, as there are many other things that can fail. One strike with a lawn mower, snowblower, or even a foot can tragically shorten what could otherwise have been a long life. The LEDs could easily outlast the plastic bodies, wiring, power supply (including dimmer), or the landscape design. Insects, rodents, and corrosion can also result in a premature demise to your outdoor system.
 

Knema.com

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Dumb question but will a dimming LED's extend their life? I have some landscape LED's on a timer, so they illuminate every night for several hours.

The manufacture sells an adjustable dimming module. Would dimming the LED prolong their useful life? The LED strips themselves are not easily replaceable.

Tipsy

Yes, it should help to extend the life of the LEDs as long as your power source and dimming controller doesn't cause and voltage spikes or anything like that. :)
 
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Lynx_Arc

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Actually it really depends on the LED and what power is supplied to it. If the LED is decent quality and is already being underdriven by the power source dimming it further may not help it last usefully longer. LEDs driven properly probably last longer than the device/fixture that they are put in. Typically LEDs can be replaced and by the time they need to be the options end up making it a lot more efficient than the LED it replaced such that dimming it then may be needed as it may go from being under driven to over driven because the new LED is lower operating voltage range.
 
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