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I am working on a project where I need to ensure that LEDs will work for at least 5 years (powered 24 hours/day). I need LEDs to be addressable like COM-12986. Would this be a good choice (the LEDs don't need to be RGB they can be red (620nm in wave length))? What is the average lifespan of COM-12986 LEDs?

I've read on Electronics Weekly that in average an LED can last for up to 50,000 hours, is this correct?

Could I increase the lifespan of an LED by using PWM at 50% duty cycle?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Tell us what the data sheet says to save us all having to research it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Transistor
    Commented Jan 27, 2016 at 19:53
  • \$\begingroup\$ The only data sheet I could find on COM-12986 is already included in the question. \$\endgroup\$
    – erikvimz
    Commented Jan 27, 2016 at 19:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thats not a datasheet, that is a joke... "RGB lamp", yeah... \$\endgroup\$
    – PlasmaHH
    Commented Jan 27, 2016 at 19:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ I know its a joke, I just can't find anything else... :( \$\endgroup\$
    – erikvimz
    Commented Jan 27, 2016 at 19:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ Best lifetime for a given brightness would probably be obtained by using a voltage which yields the desired brightness at 100% duty cycle. Using a higher voltage and reduced duty cycle will increase heating. Not as much as it would if the duty cycle were held at 100%, but if brightness is constant, higher voltages will be more heat. \$\endgroup\$
    – supercat
    Commented Jan 27, 2016 at 23:50

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If you want to find the lifetime of an LED ask the manufacturer if its not listed in the datasheet. In the past I've also looked for LED's with simmilar specs to get a ball park estimate. These are usually MTBF ratings. that means some will fail early and some will last a lot longer. Usually part degradation is due to heating so any way to minimize heating will help (either by reducing the power or some other means.) I think 100k hours is what we used for the lifetime on our LEDS in our products so we turned them off when we wern't using them. But have you ever had a VCR or other product with a burned out LED, I never have noticed any, but most of them are low power.

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