A smart bulb is an essential item in your smart home setup. Smart bulbs are a bit more expensive than normal LED bulbs. So people wonder about the durability of smart bulbs.
Well, how long does a smart bulb last? If you are planning to install new smart bulbs at your home and have questions about their life span, this is the article for you.
In this article, you will find how long average smart bulbs last, which is the best brand for durability, and how often you would need to get smart bulbs replaced.
How Long Do Smart Bulbs Last? (Smart Bulb Lifespan)
On average, most smart bulbs last for about 25,000 hours. On an 8 hour usage daily, a smart bulb should easily last anywhere between 7 to 9 years. But the lifespan of a bulb also depends on the brand and build quality.
Smart bulbs from reputed brands like Phillips last for 25,000 hours.
On the other hand, there are smart bulbs with only a promised lifespan of 15,000 or below.
Below is a list of smart bulbs from popular brands and their lifespan.
| Smart Bulb Brand | Lifespan (in hours) | Usage Per Day (in hours) | Lifespan (in years) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phillips Hue | 25,000 | 5 | 13.6 |
| Feit | 25,000 | 5 | 13.6 |
| Sengled | 25,000 | 5 | 13.6 |
| TP-Link Kasa | 25,000 | 5 | 13.6 |
| Sylvania | 15,000 | 5 | 08.2 |
| Cree | 25,000 | 5 | 13.6 |
| Wyze | 25,000 | 5 | 13.6 |
As you can see, most popular smart bulb brands, except Sylvania, offers 25,000 hours of average working time, which roughly translates to around 13.6 years on average use of five hours per day.
The number of years a smart bulb last depends on your usage. If you only use the smart bulb for an hour or two, it will last much longer than if you use it for eight hours or even 24 hours a day.
I suggest getting a smart bulb from a reputable company like Philips Hue with the maximum warranty coverage.
Smart Bulb Warranty
The warranty of the smart bulb is yet another aspect you should consider before buying one.
Some brands offer a five-year warranty, and some only a year.
| Smart Bulb Brand | Warranty (in years) |
|---|---|
| Phillips Hue | 2 |
| Feit | 3 |
| Sengled | 5 |
| TP-Link Kasa | 1 |
| Sylvania | 3 |
| Cree | 1 |
| Wyze | 2 |
The above table shows that most smart bulb manufacturers offer a warranty anywhere between a year to five years. Only Cree offers a 5-year warranty. All other brands provide 1, 2, or 3 years of warranty coverage from the date of purchase.
Best Smart Bulbs That Last Longer
If you are on the lookout for smart bulbs that lasts longer and gives you better value for money, then below are some of them you should consider.
Philips Hue range of smart bulbs is easily the best regarding quality and compatibility with smart home setups. Compared with others, it may be a bit pricy, but the quality is top-notch.
If you want a bit cheaper but reasonably well-built smart bulb, then look at Wyze Smart Bulbs.
Before buying any smart bulb, you need to check certain things like:
- The promised lifespan
- Warranty Duration
- Compatibility with Alexa and other smart home automation setup
- How easy is it to claim thre warranty and get the bulb replaced or serviced
Do Smart Bulbs Burn Out?
A doubt that many people have is whether smart bulbs burn out?
Unlike regular incandescent and standard lightbulbs, LED smart bulbs do not burn out. But they get dimmer over time.
For starters, an LED light contains several LED units that emit light. When multiple such LED fails, the light bulb’s brightness decreases and gets dimmer.
After a couple of years, the bulb will reach a point where the majority of the LEDs have got faulty, and the bulb is no longer bright enough to be usable.
Since most smart bulb and LED bulb manufacturers offer a multiple-year warranty, you can claim the warranty and get your bulb replaced if it’s still under warranty.
How Smart Bulbs Get Faulty?
There are more things inside a smart bulb than a standard bulb. For the same reason a smart bulb may fail for several reasons.
First, let’s look at the different components inside a smart bulb.
- LEDs
- Power Supply
- Circuit Board
- Heat Sink
- ECM
There are several things that can go wrong with smart bulbs.
Firstly, the durability of a smart bulb depends on the quality of the LEDs used to make the smart bulb.
Many smart bulb manufacturers use low-quality and cheap LED units to drastically reduce the price of the smart bulb. This will, in turn, cause the smart bulb to fail faster than higher-quality ones.
You should always buy smart bulbs from reputed companies like Philips to get the maximum quality for the price.
The second thing is the power supply. The power supply unit in a smart bulb is the component that converts AC into DC, which is used by LEDs to light up. If the power supply module fails, the entire bulb will fail. Mostly, the capacitor on the power supply module or ECM fails, and the entire bulb won’t work.
For Philips bulbs, it may not work correctly if the Hue bridge is unable to connect.
How To Make Smart Bulb Last Longer?
For various reasons, smart bulbs may die before their promised lifespan. In many cases, smart bulbs get faulty within their warranty period.
If you take care of certain things, you can drastically improve your smart bulb lifespan. Below are some of them.
Lightbulbs are known for becoming hot when used for prolonged hours. If you continuously use your smart bulb for many hours without a break, it tends to get hotter, reducing its lifespan. So, it is advised that you turn off the smart bulb when it gets very hot.
Ensure the bulb is placed somewhere with a lot of air ventilation, as it will help to cool down the bulb and avoid overheating.
Avoiding overheat is one of the best ways to improve the lifespan of a smart bulb.
Since it is a smart bulb, you may set up a timer or schedule on which the bulb should light up and turn off. This way, you can improve the lifespan of a smart bulb.
What’s Next?
Smart bulbs are your first step into home automation. When coupled with a smart home automation setup, you can set timers, schedule, adjust the color, intensity, and much more based on different conditions.
Since Alexa does not cost you much, I recommend buying a smart bulb compatible with Alexa to automate many tasks.
Last but not least, only buy smart bulbs from reputable brands like Philips with good promised life and warranty.