How long will your LED grow light last? When do you need to replace your LED grow light?

Nice find, not seen this. Hopefully he continues his test for another year so we can see if the drop is linear.

Good Question. We spend so much with hopes of 5-8 yrs before seeing 25% losses we are told. But 1/2 that is quite a bit more.
Still have par-mapping on my SE-450 After 3 yrs use but not in the very beginning. Wonder how it fairs now.
Lol! Getting bigger yeilds now then i was then but doubt its related. Lol!

I'm interested in how the spectrum changes, not par. It might be beneficial if it shifts to the deep red range, which would explain the decrease in par. It might not actually lose intensity either. Why is he not measuring par vs spectrum vs intensity? A little disappointed.

4ftRoots said:

I'm interested in how the spectrum changes, not par. It might be beneficial if it shifts to the deep red range, which would explain the decrease in par. It might not actually lose intensity either. Why is he not measuring par vs spectrum vs intensity? A little disappointed.

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Prob cuz their's not enough "Scientific Data" to get past the Limited-Full spectrum of today's white leds.

People today... He could create the data we desperately need. I don't know his background, but if he can afford it he should acquire better data. Not saying he can of course. Lets get Apogee to test his lights.

I'd be interested in the results of a test done with emitters running at nominal current levels.

seems like heat is a big factor in life expectacy.a cheap muffin fan to cool those heatsinks this may be why LED bulbs sold at the hardware store only last 10000 hours. a cheap muffin fan to cool those heat sinks may improve life expectancy for a very small investment

With longevity being a huge selling point for LED's they should really inform the buyers that cooling and/or not running at full power will increase the life of the light. I personally have so many other factors that fuck up my grow that I would never know if it was the light that was decreasing my overall yield.

it would be interesting to see this test run with mono's. is the diode losing output or is this the result of te phosphor breaking down? commercial T5s show a 5% lumen depreciation after 20,000 hours P@A bulbs use a different phosphor and only last about a year.I have considered using red led T5 for bloom bulbs instead of P@A bulbs but this video has got me rethinking the ideal. in researching LEDs I came across this article which was also troubling.https://www.hydroexperts.com.au/buying/resource-library/grow-lights/epistar-vs-cree-led/.

Norml56 said:

With longevity being a huge selling point for LED's they should really inform the buyers that cooling and/or not running at full power will increase the life of the light. I personally have so many other factors that fuck up my grow that I would never know if it was the light that was decreasing my overall yield.

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Or maybe just build them that way to begin with.?
Hot diodes come from the build design in most cases.
Deffinetly right though & a step we could all take to help ourselves.

I do 2 grows a year which puts 2,700 hrs on my 2 lights, which I purchased in 2016. I won't live to see their half life unless they let me grow in the assisted living facility. Expected output after 50,000hrs- >90%. Organic soil Auto grower, 18/6.