Does 100,000 hours on a luxeon vs. 50,000 hours on cree really matter?

[LED Flashlights.]

I know a cree out performs a luxeon, but the luxeon has double the life of a cree.

How does that work out?

 

[1996alnl]

100,000 hrs is 11.4 years.
I don't believe for one second someone left a luxeon on for that long.
I think they just pick numbers out of their head,truth is i don't think these Cree's and Luxeon's burn out.,but the manufacturers has to rate the life expectency.
That's what i think,i could be completly wrong though.

 

[Double_A]

Nope.

Not unless you have this overwhelming need to pass on a flashlight to your great grand kids.

Although it might be cool for them if they show up with your light on Antiques Roadshow 2076.

 

[effulgentOne]

Several things:

LED lifetime is highly dependent on how hard they are driven, and how well they are heatsinked, so the life of any LED is highly variable.

LEDs (unless abused) don't typically "burn out," they just get less and less efficient as they age, so the tests usually measure the time it takes to reach 70% or 50% of original brightness - they'll still be on at the end, just dimmer.

All of this doesn't matter anyway, because no one will ever, ever use their flashlight that long.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Actually, from what I remember, it's:
10,000 hours for a Luxeon I,
20,000 hours for a Luxeon III,
50,000 hours for a Cree XR-E,
60,000 hours for a Luxeon K2,
and 100,000 hours for 5mm l.e.d.s (and usually only the colored ones last that long. The white ones suffer from phosphor degradation and don't last much longer than 10,000 hours, especially if overdriven or with poor heatsinking).

The stated lifetime for some of these l.e.d.s isn't until they totally die but when they loose a certain level of brightness and efficiency (lumen maintenance). For the Cree XR-E, it still produces 70% lumen maintenance at 50,000 hours (only a loss of 30% of the brightness and efficiency).
For flashlights, if you have a well built light, it doesn't matter if it lasts 50,000 hours or 100,000 hours. Other parts of the light will likely fail before the l.e.d. does (the switch, the regulator circuit, the user interface, battery contacts wearing out, etc.). It will also probably be replaced by a more efficient light long before it stops functioning as well.

 

[BigD64]

I know a cree out performs a luxeon, but the luxeon has double the life of a cree.

How does that work out?

It matters if you are using the light that 50,001st hour.

 

[Timothybil]

It matters if you are using the light that 50,001st hour.

You stole my line! Now I don't have anything to say! :cool:

 

[MrGman]

The phosphor coatings that give off the white light burnt out over time with a fairly well established curve. the higher power LED's whether Luxeon or Cree burn out the phophor based on energy exposure to them, the LED itself doesn't fade away. These are ratings I believe to the 50% output levels. It is very well established what phosphors due at various radiant energy exposure levels.