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| Do Dimmable Bulbs Last Longer? |
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| tom66:
On LED lighting in general - I've been using LED lights for over a decade now and have had two fail in my lifetime that I purchased. One was a cheap RGB Wi-Fi smart bulb. The bulb still lit up but it would not 'connect' to anything. It however has become annoying as once it is de-paired you can make it flash for 5 minutes if you cycle the mains a bit too often (putting it into pairing mode). Whomever thought that flashing on and off at 1Hz to indicate "pairing" for 5 minutes was a good idea needs to have their head examined. (I have since removed all Wi-Fi smart bulbs from our home network, we are Zigbee only.) The other one was a bathroom light replacement, a capsule bulb. I bought a cheap one and it died a year later. Every other bulb is going strong. Buy cheap, buy twice. Buy quality bulbs from manufacturers who have a reputation to keep and they'll last a very long time indeed. |
| tooki:
--- Quote from: tom66 on November 24, 2023, 10:18:58 am --- --- Quote from: tooki on November 23, 2023, 09:17:05 pm ---Given the OP’s specification that the question is whether a dimmable bulb will last longer on a circuit without a dimmer, I would hazard a guess that it statistically might fail a bit more, since it requires a much more complex circuit to detect the duty cycle and adjust the power to the LEDs. With that said, I would also be very surprised if the failure rate were meaningfully higher, given that other factors (like how hot the bulb is designed to run, how much ventilation is available, etc) surely have a far larger impact. --- End quote --- Most dimmable bulbs use a very trivial circuit. Essentially they omit the large input capacitor that smooths the mains voltage and the buck converter/linear regulator is set up to regulate the current in proportion to the mains voltage. These controller chips are not complicated at all and will likely outlast the LEDs. --- End quote --- As I said: the added complexity is likely to be overshadowed by other factors. Nonetheless, it does add another, albeit small, theoretical point of failure. |
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