To understand LED lighting lifetime, you must consider a bigger picture

Anyone who’s been in the solid-state lighting (SSL) industry for any length of time knows this number: 50,000 hours. When asked about the expected lifetime of an LED, it’s probably the most common answer. It’s also a number that needs a lot of context. 50,000 is such a large number that it’s helpful to translate it into more familiar terms; 50,000 hours is about five years and nine months. Has someone actually lit the LEDs in question continuously for five years and nine months? Maybe. Probably not. Think about it: The LED industry is changing so quickly that by the time someone tested an LED for almost six years, that type of LED would be obsolete.