[ekidd]

Has there been a similar shortening of the lifetime of commonly-advertised LED bulbs?

We bought a bunch of Philips Hue bulbs around 2015 or 2016. They were expensive bulbs, but every single one is still running fine. The downside for Philips is that once I replaced all my bulbs, I stopped needing to buy lightbulbs.

The Hue bulbs are still available, but a lot of the newer LED bulbs I see claim much shorter lifetimes.

[RetroTechie]

A LED bulb = LED(s) + electronics.

It's usually the electronics that dies (specifically: electrolytic capacitors, if included).

Life of the LEDs themselves depends a lot on operating temperature. Running hot (like in the cramped innards of a bulb), their output gradually decreases or they burn out @ some point. This is the fate of many cheap bulbs with poor thermal design.

Separate electronics (read: and their waste heat) from the LEDs, cool them well (and/or run at reduced power), and the LEDs can last practically infinite. Just like standby LEDs on appliances don't burn out. And -potentially- failed LEDs or driver electronics can be replaced independently.

But this does require a purpose designed fixture. Chip-on-Board (CoB) LED is the keyword here.

[mleo]

I am there with you, but with regular Philips LED bulbs from 2012. When I moved in 2013, I took those bulbs with me and they have been going strong 10 years now. All other LED bulbs in the house have been replaced a couple of times.

[sgerenser]

I imagine this is at least partly due to being more realistic. LED bulbs from the past few years were rated for around 25,000 hours but anecdotal reports seem to say they rarely reached that lifetime.