LED lights: how long do LED strip lights last, and can you prolong the LED lifetime?

In the era of social media, and when everyone can become a filmmaker using only their phone, more and more special effects tools are gaining popularity even among non-media people. For example, a light lamp, with its light output, gives the impression of professional shooting and good picture quality.

More and more popularity, especially due to the development of the social network TikTok, wandered LED light strip. You could see this tape in a video where people sing along to the music, while the light they have is not natural, but most often blue or red, but there may be other colors, even with different feed rhythms.

Furthermore, many of us use LED Christmas lights as decorations for a room or Christmas tree on New Year’s Eve.

And because LED lights are quite a new product in such wide use, in this article, we will understand how long LED light strips remain activated, what causes incandescent bulbs can burn out and how to extend the life of your LED lights.

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What is a LED strip light?

LED strip lights are a light source that works by light-emitting diodes.

LED light bulbs can burn in different colors and even shades of colors, even white, which is commonly used in Christmas decorations.

Also, usually along with the LED strip there will be a remote control on which you can turn the lamp on and off, select a color, or even create a rhythm for the appearance of colors, for example, chaotically fast or slow with a smooth transition.

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What is the L70 rule?

In contrast to the breakdown of incandescent bulbs, LED strips do not lose the light itself or start blinking, it is the light output or color transfer that most often suffers. It becomes dimmer and to determine at what point the lamp needs to be replaced or repaired, they came up with a 70 percent rule, which is a feature of the LED strip color transfer.

How is it calculated?

Let’s start with the fact that you cannot calculate the l70 of your LED light strips on your own. The calculation of this rule is carried out in special laboratories, which takes about 14 months, however, by using the LED strip yourself, you will be able to notice that the light becomes dimmer, even just comparing the video when you just go with the tape and after some time.

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Do LED lights burn out?

One might think that the only problem that the user of the LED strip is dullness and poor color reproduction, however, LED light strips last not long and in conclusion burn out, which may bring even such consequences as the breakdown of the full electrical system in your apartments.

You must understand that this is the same light source and with misuse, constant voltage, and other oversights, such a terrible situation can occur that your LED strips will simply, at best, simply stop turning on.

Why do LED strips burn out?

Below you can find the most common reasons why LED strip lifetime is shortened and burnout, as well as the information that will help you understand how to avoid burnout even with other electronic devices.

Extreme heat

The normal temperature to make the LED light strips last the desired amount of time, which is guaranteed by manufacturers, is 65-80 degrees.

When heated and too much excess heat, the elements inside the LED lights heat up in the same way, from which you can first dim the light, and then completely burn out. To do this, you should use the LED strip in a more or less cold area and no case hang it next to the battery, since you will not get anything other than broken light.

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Usage

You must understand that if you constantly use and leave LED lights activated, even when you are going to sleep, there is a huge chance of the tape overheating, and you will need to buy a new one.

You need to responsibly approach the use of ice tape and understand at what time it should be turned on or off. Of course, LED light strips do last a lot longer than regular lamps, but that doesn’t mean you can use the strips unlimited if you want them to stay in working order for as long as possible.

Electric current

A high electric current will force your LED light strips to use all the energy from the power supply.

Because of this, there will be overheating again, which you can even notice in the reproduction of colors since they will glow too brightly and eventually the ice tape will simply burn out.

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Absence of heat sinks

When choosing and buying a LED strip, make sure you have a heat sink.

Since the heat sink is a cooling component for LED light and nobility to it, LED light strips last for a long time without burnout.

You will need to read the design of the tape for density before ordering, as it will be much easier to use with this component.

Installation process

You should immediately understand the location of your LED strip and be sober about connecting to the power supply.

That is, at best, you must follow all the connection instructions, usually, a wire is connected to the ice tape itself, which you connect to the power supply. It is important to make sure that all connections between the wires are secure and that there are no obstacles to them.

Also, you should be very careful, since most often the connection between the tape and the wire is made through four small sticks, which can be broken if careless.

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Reputable LED strip supplier

Make sure you order your ribbon from a good source and a reputable brand, such as KOWA.

Firstly, you get a guarantee and in any case, you can change the LED strip. Secondly, the quality of lead lighting directly depends on the manufacturer, and if you decide to save money, then do not be surprised that then your ice tape may fade too quickly or even burn out, although you were extremely careful.

Power supply quality

Check that the adhesive and power supply for your LED strip, are high quality and that you have already used it and understand if it is in working condition.

Even if you buy a good LED strip, but, for example, the socket is broken, it can cause a breakdown first in the power supply, which can still be fixed by simply buying a new one, but then it can come with problems with the wire and ultimately burnout of the LED light itself.

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Tips that will help you to prolong the life of LED light strips

Below, you can familiarize yourself with the habits, following which the LED strip lifetime will be much longer, and you can save on a light fixture or buy a new one:

Dust

Your LED lights may stop working because too much dust has accumulated at the connection points or the LED bulb.

In this case, you need to use special materials that suck up dirt, like a vacuum cleaner, as they are guaranteed to completely remove the dust, while a rag can only remove the visible layer.

Temperatures

Your LED strip has a feature such as overheating and to prevent this, place the strip ice in places with a cold temperature.

For example, the ceiling above the window or under the air conditioner can become such a place, be sure to keep the ice lights firmly; otherwise, they can simply be torn off along with the airflow.

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Avoid connection in series

Make sure you only have one LED strip connected to one power supply.

It is better to buy a long ice tape than to connect many short ones because then you should be prepared that they do not share energy, but take it, as if they were connected on their own and this can overheat faster.

Timing

It is best to set the timing for the use of LED strips. This will help you not to constantly think about turning the lamp off and on.

Moreover, it will be good for the system because the less you have direct contact with the ice tape, the more the system itself will remain new.

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Avoid bending

There is a circuit inside LED strips, which are very fragile. Because of this, crush any bending.

First, you can damage the connection system. And secondly, you can even hurt yourself. So, it is best to place the ice tape in the most distant and not disturbing place.

Get rid of direct contact

Also, when using or connecting wires to the ice strips, use gloves.

First, you must understand that LED light materials can damage your skin, in the same way, you can bring some unnecessary dirt from your hands into small porters for connection.

Do LED strip lights need to be replaced?

In case your light output has dimmed or there is a breakdown in the LED indoor lights themselves and the LED lifetime is over, and not in the connection, then it really would be wiser to just buy identical LED lights, perhaps from the same company, the main thing is to make sure that the connection and control system is the same.

However, if the failure is in the wires themselves, then it is worth buying a new system, preferably from a different manufacturer, which will help you understand if the problem was in the LED products or your power suppliers.

Why did my LED strip lights suddenly stop working?

It may happen that your LED strips did not just fade or burn out due to overheating of the incandescent light bulbs, but when the ice strip simply turned off.

This can either be due to the power supply to which the LED strip was connected, or the failure could be in the connections. In any case, first try using a different outlet, for example, or disconnect and connect all the wires again.

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Conclusion

To sum up, we can say that LED lights are in many ways ahead of conventional light sources, moreover, just with the help of a LED light strip you can completely change the atmosphere in your room, but this does not mean that the ice strip does not need to be looked after or that now you can use it irresponsibly, expecting it to work as much as possible.

We hope that after reading this article, you were able to understand why your LED strip may simply stop working, such as LED light strips burn, how to deal with it and how you can extend the LED lifetime.

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