I was just thinking about the general rated lifespan of LED's (100,000 hours?), and then that of the Luxeon Portable V's (1000 hours?), and now of these Luxeon III's (50,000 hours at 700mA, and 20,000 hours at 1 amp?). And the L3's lifespan is only until it reaches its half-life, or the point at which it produces 50% of its initial lumen output. In other words it will still work, and may not even look any dimmer to the eye until you stick a brand new Luxeon in there.
And then I was recalling in my mind the usual (or is it casual?) use of flashlights, and how long I really have them turned on.
So not counting what I do for a living (and thus not counting my duty light), my average daily flashlight use is maybe a half-hour total, consisting of intermittent on-off patterns. But to offset those days where I need to search long and hard for something in the darkness, change a flat tire by the roadside, take a night walk (dogs are all paper-trained to go inside the house, so these walks are not that often), etc., let's say one full hour of flashlight use.
And let's say I use the light every single day, no days off, no vacations, no nothing -- in other words, come hayull or ha-wodder, ah'm-a usin' thet thar flayushlot one full oar ever' day.
So what's the REAL life of a Luxeon flashlight, as expressed in everyday real-life usage?
With a Lux3 at 20,000 hours, that's 20,000 days. Divide 20,000 by 365 and you get = 54+ years...
Now SURELY there will be new and better LEDs developed by then, don't ya think? And this is if I'm using just one light, meaning I would have to give the rest of them, still brand-new, to my great-grandkids!
In fact I personally don't even plan on being around in 54 years (hey, I'm already 51!). I'll be in a place that needs no lighting -- either illuminated by the sun streaming between the clouds in heaven, or the orange flickers from the fires of hayull!
And then I was recalling in my mind the usual (or is it casual?) use of flashlights, and how long I really have them turned on.
So not counting what I do for a living (and thus not counting my duty light), my average daily flashlight use is maybe a half-hour total, consisting of intermittent on-off patterns. But to offset those days where I need to search long and hard for something in the darkness, change a flat tire by the roadside, take a night walk (dogs are all paper-trained to go inside the house, so these walks are not that often), etc., let's say one full hour of flashlight use.
And let's say I use the light every single day, no days off, no vacations, no nothing -- in other words, come hayull or ha-wodder, ah'm-a usin' thet thar flayushlot one full oar ever' day.
So what's the REAL life of a Luxeon flashlight, as expressed in everyday real-life usage?
With a Lux3 at 20,000 hours, that's 20,000 days. Divide 20,000 by 365 and you get = 54+ years...
Now SURELY there will be new and better LEDs developed by then, don't ya think? And this is if I'm using just one light, meaning I would have to give the rest of them, still brand-new, to my great-grandkids!
In fact I personally don't even plan on being around in 54 years (hey, I'm already 51!). I'll be in a place that needs no lighting -- either illuminated by the sun streaming between the clouds in heaven, or the orange flickers from the fires of hayull!
