Why do LED lights get dimmer with use?

The LED lights you just bought are always very bright, but after a period of time many lights will become darker and darker. Why do your LED lamps go through such a process? Xiaolei will take you to find out today!

Understand why your home’s LED lights are getting dimmer

We must first understand a professional term

LED light decay

LED light attenuation means that after the LED is lit for a period of time, its light intensity will decrease compared to the initial light intensity and cannot be restored. That is, the reduced part is called the light attenuation of the LED.

Although LED lamps have improved light attenuation compared to incandescent lamps and fluorescent lamps, they cannot completely overcome the problem of light attenuation. There are two main factors causing light decay in LED lights.

(1) Quality issues of LED products themselves

There are defects in the production process, and the LED chip temperature is too high, which intensifies chip attenuation.

(2) Heat dissipation performance of LED lamps

The better the heat dissipation performance, the lower the LED operating temperature, the smaller the light attenuation, and the longer the LED life.

Drive damaged

LED lamp beads are required to work at DC low voltage (below 20V), but our usual mains power is AC high voltage (AC 220V). To convert the mains power into the electricity required for lamp beads, a device is needed, called an "LED constant current drive power supply".

Theoretically speaking, as long as the parameters of the driver match the lamp bead board, it can continue to supply power and be used normally. The inside of the driver is relatively complex. Failure of any device (such as capacitor, rectifier, etc.) may cause the output voltage to change, which in turn causes the lamp to dim.

Driver damage is the most common fault in LED lamps, and it can usually be solved by replacing the driver.

LED burned out

The LED itself is composed of lamp beads one by one. If one or part of them does not light up, it will inevitably make the entire lamp dim. Lamp beads are usually connected in series first and then in parallel - so if a certain lamp bead burns out, a batch of lamp beads may not light up.

There are obvious black spots on the surface of the burnt lamp bead. Find it, connect a wire to the back of it, short-circuit it, or replace it with a new lamp bead, which can solve the problem.

Occasionally an LED burns out, maybe by chance. If it burns out frequently, you need to consider the driver problem - another manifestation of driver failure is burned out lamp beads.

Knowing the causes of light failure, it will be easier to extend the life of LED lamps. Although the light attenuation is certain, we can control the magnitude of the light attenuation. To extend the life of LED lamps and minimize light attenuation, the following should be done:

Choose good quality LED lamps

First of all, we should try to choose LED lamps with better quality and heat dissipation performance. During use, the workload of the lamp should also be reduced as much as possible to slow down the light decay and extend the life of the lamp.

Install correctly

Correct installation of indoor lighting is a prerequisite for extending the service life of the lighting

If installed incorrectly, the lamp can easily break, sometimes even burst, short-circuit and catch fire, which is very dangerous. For example: bathroom lights must be installed with moisture-proof lamps, and kitchen lights should pay special attention to prevent oil smoke and water vapor.

Avoid turning lights on and off frequently

When using indoor lamps in the home, be careful not to turn them on and off frequently, because when the lamp is frequently started, the current through the light source is greater than the current during normal operation, causing the filament temperature to rise sharply and accelerate sublimation, which will greatly reduce its service life.

Periodic inspection

Regularly inspect indoor lighting fixtures, especially chandeliers. On the one hand, check whether the circuit is aging, and on the other hand, check whether the hanging of the chandelier is safe. Chandeliers are hung in important positions or places with a lot of people coming and going, and their safety and stability should be the first priority.

The final key suggestion: Lamps are related to the safety of household electricity, and you should not choose inferior products for the sake of convenience. Our choice is those with quality assurance, complete after-sales service, and professional lighting installation guidance.