LED light manufacturers are often claiming 50,000 hours or more for lighting lifetime. Unfortunately many times those lifetime expectations are not met. Usually the makers of those high those lifetime promises forget to include the lifetime and reliability of all components, and the real-world thermal conditions the LEDs are subjected too.
Just a few years ago, LEDs operated at such low power that they didn’t need any special cooling. But as LEDs have grown brighter and more powerful, thermal management has rapidly becoming a necessity. Designers need to understand that accurate thermal modeling as well as component selection will ensure their lighting designs meet their reliability and lifetime numbers.
