How Long do LED Strip Lights Last
How long do LED strip lights last
LED strip lights are lights that are arranged in the form of strips. They are also called as LED tape or Ribbon light. As the name suggests, these are lights that are in the form of ribbons and come in a variety of colors. They are made with a flexible circuit board with surface-mounted light-emitting diodes or SMD LED.
These types of lights have numerous uses like accent lighting, lighting for decorative purposes, backlighting and task lighting. These types of lights come with an adhesive at its back. They are usually water-resistant, as they are usually used for decorating outdoor spaces for celebrating festivals, ceremonies, birthdays etc.
LED strip lights can run throughout the day without causing much heating of the lights. This is because they only need a very minimal power source and don’t get heated up quickly because of the way they are produced and the materials used to make the strip lights.
Their small size is also a contributing factor for the lights not getting heated up pretty badly. They are also not heat- emitting lights as compared to other sources of lights and are preferred by most people.
Life span of a LED strip light
LED strip lights are one of the longest usable forms of light sources, as they can be used for a period of 50,000 hours which is approximately 6 years. And these 50,000 hours are continuous hours of using the LED strip lights.! However, these 50,000 hours of working are only applicable if the lights are working under perfect conditions.
On an average, these lights last for 35,000 to 40,000 hours under normal conditions. The long life span is a perk of these lights as they don’t get heated up. Thus they won’t get affected by any kind of defects like the other sources of lights do.
Even after they are used and worn off during these 35,0ooo or 50,000 hours, they don’t go fully blank. They have a dimmer emission of light than other varieties, and thus can be further used until they go completely black.
This means they can be used entirely until they are totally used and every node is worn off from using. However, people stop using them once they start to get dim and buy new LED strip lights to replace the ones that are getting dimmer by the day.
Versatility of LED strip lights
The proper the LED light strips are maintained, the longer they last and are useful to the buyers who bought them. The LED strip lights are flexible and can be divided between any two nodes.
This makes the LED strip lights one of the fanciest and most versatile lights that can be used on numerous occasions and in a lot of different ways. Instead of using them as a one single long strand of lights they can be partitioned and hung in different manners to make it look beautiful and artistic at the same time.
Unlike other sources of lights, these come in all shapes, sizes and colors, the most common one being the white light. Then then there are also the red, blue and green ones which are used by many people. There are different kinds of strip lights like the following:
- The ones that have just the white light alone
- The ones that have a white light and a dimmer version of the white light
- Multi-color lights where every single node can change into red, blue or green as and when they are triggered
- The RGB ones, in which each specific node has a specific color (red, green, blue, etc.)
Uses of LED strip lights
LED strip lights are one of the versatile lights available today. They have uses varying from indoor to outdoor lighting. Usually they are used for decorative and aesthetic purposes to make the place look luminous. However, they also have various other purposes other than just being a lighting source.
They are used in manufacturing processes for Ultraviolet inspection. They are used in entertainment sets and costume designing. The last and most productive use of LED strip lights is that they are used for growing plants.
The LED strip lights come with more benefits than the ones that are explained above. They can be dimmed to a certain point and thus can create a great ambiance in the place they are being used.
This dimming of LED strip lights can be done with the help of Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) LED dimming. Thanks to this feature, you can now do a magical transformation to the visual appeal of the place where they are used.
Though the LED strip lights can be used continuously without being turned off, it is better to give them a bit of cooling period to have them working for a very long time than wearing them off completely.
This could also help in ensuring that the LED strip lights have a longer life span than before, without any defects. These are one of the best cost-effective and efficient ways of lighting sources available and are more affordable, when compared to all the other sources of lighting.
The LED strip lights can be used in the place of other lighting sources as they are cost-effective, efficient, environment-friendly, consume way less energy, don’t produce any heat and also have zero -maintenance cost.
All they require is proper wiring and proper placing of the lights for them to continue working without any hindrance. They use way less power when compared to LED light bulbs and are definitely a better choice.
Conclusion
One of the common problems with LED strip lights is that they come with a design issue. They run in a parallel circuit; therefore, they are prone to get affected due to short circuiting.
These issues make the lights produce heat which may affect the solder. In some cases, the solder may even start to melt because of the heat that is produced and the whole LED strip light may stop working.
Except for the above- mentioned flaw, the LED strip light is one of the best and intelligent ways to light up a place uniquely and artistically without burning a deep hole in your pocket.
