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

How long will your LED grow light last and when do you need to replace your grow light? I have tested four lights for PAR output, run them for 6,000 hours and then tested them again in the same setup and with the same equipment. to determine the PAR output drop over 1 year running.
The result is an average of about 5% drop per year and about 20% drop to the end of year 4. I would recommend replacing your LED grow light after a running time of about 25,000 hours.

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[muehahahaha]

We so easily forgot how much work, energy and time goes into creating some of these videos.
Thank you so much Shane, your a great help for the community

[internationalgrowersconsor]

I just want to take a minute to tell you thank you for everything you do for the LED lighting community!you're testing and evaluation has really helped me and several of my friends to determine what is the best possible result we can attain for our hard-earned dollars you make great videos you provide great information brother I just want to say thank you for all your hard work man!

[MrTommytide]

Thank you again Shane! Your videos are by far the most informative videos on horticulture lighting that exist on the internet. What makes them so enjoyable is your genuine personality.

[kgu]

Great test Shane. Probably likely that the QB deteriorated more than it would have without heat trapping shield that almost no one uses.

[lcpgrowers]

Thanks for the video. Interesting results. This is why I run a fan above my LED to keep the driver and the light cool. Hoping this will maximize the life of my light.

[TerpPtarmigan]

I have been doing a long term test on a few cods. The great info you provide has help me a great deal. I have noticed that my Vero 18's has lost about %15 percent over the last 5 years when ran at 700ma, at 1050ma its over %20. If your up for it, I can strip one down and send ya a cob to test 👍. Have a awesome day man.👊✌💚💨
I forget to add that Samsung rates the life at 50, 000 hrs. As for losses including spectrum, they at rated for 6000 to 8000 hrs depending on diode.👍

[circle]

Wow, great test. Thanks for taking the time to do this, Shane.

[Hepkat]

Just had to replace some diy c.o.b. lights I built ~4 years ago. And they were used extensively. Good video.

[alien]

So the HLG still needs thick plastic to cover its diodes, but the ChilLed puck doesn't? Did you notice the reflection of the HLG's diodes on the top surface of the plastic? That's photons not going where I'd want them to go. How about losing the plastic cover on the HLG once and for all, so that you can more realistically test it the way most people would use it? (Yeah, I've seen the test with and without the cover that you did in the past. That one was flawed too.)

[taytay]

Would be great to see another update on how these LEDS run after a 2nd year. These LEDS should theoretically run 50k hours before depreciating 70% so I feel like the light loss/output isn't exactly linier.

[MIGROLIGHT]

Please let me know of any other Grow light output comparison tests carried out over time and available to the public, I would love to have a cross reference, thanks, Shane

[Leota]

Shane you are awesome!!
Thank you so much for all the test, and experiments you do, it is such help to everyone.

[alarsen]

Great test, thanks for running it Shane. I never really thought about the reduction of efficiency over time. I suppose that's another possible advantage for a DIY setup where you can just change out the COBs every few years. But that brings up the question, is it the LED's, the driver, or both that is causing the reduction?

[smokeygingerman]

Excellent test and information as always Shane. I love your impartial views, and you are running your own products alongside in these tests with no bias. This is the best channel I've found in years! Good luck to you, I'm keeping an eye on your products for future purchases.

[richardowens]

Thanks, for the video! Very interesting results. I would mention, though, that you really have no reason to believe that the degradation in output of the LEDs is going to be linear. They could accelerate their degradation - or, plateau at some point and provide relatively consistent output for the remainder of their lifespan. It certainly calls for more data over a longer period of time.

[poops]

What was the purpose or reason for the plastic layer under the HLG fixture ?.. this would trap heat to some extent and affect the performance and light output readings.. was this removed prior to the sensor readings ? HLG does not provide or use their boards this way, please clarify. thanks.

[TheUnholyPosole]

I have a $200 dollar led fixture with 5w diodes, I got off eBay, been running it for 4-5 years now, everything still works great, and the harvests look the same.

[MitchellHickok]

Wow, a full year of growing?! That's some invaluable data. Thanks for sharing.

[miroslawszymanek]

Shane, thank you . It gives quite sufficient better undrrstanding for continous user.

[cjhification]

Interesting that the two in the middle, that would be exposed to slightly higher heat Island effects were the two best performing, which would run counter to intuition.