If you’re wondering whether LED bulbs last longer than HID, this is the article you were looking for. The short answer is HID bulbs have lifetimes between 6000 and 24,000 hours while LED bulbs have a life span of around 50,000 hours. LED bulbs can last for more than 2x the lifespan of HID bulbs.
What is an HID bulb?
HID or high intensity discharge is a blanket term for gas-discharge lights. This is the oldest forms of electrical light. Among them you have mercury vapor, xenon, metal halide, and high pressure sodium lamps. HID bulbs make light by sending an arc (electric charge) between a couple of tungsten electrodes (electrical conductors) and through plasma (ionized gas) that is inside of the lamp. Once the electrical arc is lit it starts to evaporate the metal salts that are inside of the bulb, increasing the light output of the bulb while also improving the light’s efficiency. HID lights need to warm up because the intensity of the light changes and depends on the inner material turning into (evaporating into) plasma.
Also, when the light heats up it needs extra voltage to work. The voltage necessities of the HID bulb is balanced via a device that limits the electrical current to that needed for the lamp to operate (a ballast). As the HID lamp grows older, it needs more and more voltage to produce the same amount of light until the voltage needed eventually exceeds the resistance (fixed resistance) the ballast provides and the lamp fails. HID lights grow to be less and less efficient over time (entropy) because they require more and more voltage to have the same or an equivalent amount of lumen output as the light breaks down.
Benefits of HID lights
- HID lamps are capable of producing more visible light per energy unit than fluorescent and incandescent lamps due to the smaller proportion of energy that is emitted in the infrared spectrum.
- They produce a high quality light and are efficient
Cons of HID lights
- HID lumen output goes down as the bulb grows older: HID bulbs tend to produce less than 70 percent of the original lumen amount after 10,000 hours
- HID lighting (most of them) emit large amounts of UV radiation: HID lamps tend to need UV filters to prevent dyed items from fading because of light exposure. Not having a filter can also result in degradation of lamp fixture parts, or injury such as arc eye or sunburn to animals or humans.
- HID lights are omnidirectional: Omnidirectional lights are capable of producing light in 360 degrees. This is inefficient because half of the light has to be redirected or reflected to the area that needs to be illuminated. The need for redirection or reflection of light means the light output is less efficient for omnidirectional lights because of losses than it would be for a light that is directional by nature.
- 30 percent of the energy that HID lights emit is infrared: Even though this number is higher for older bulbs and lower for the newer HID bulbs, it’s still inefficient.
HID bulbs are commonly used in gyms or stadiums, large public areas, warehouses, for roads, and in parking lots.
What is an LED light (light emitting diode)?
The term LED stands for light emitting diode. Diodes are electrical devices/components with a couple of electrodes (cathode and anode) where electricity flows – usually in a single direction. Diodes are usually made from selenium or silicon – solid state substances that act as electrical conductors in certain circumstances (at certain light intensities, voltages, or current levels). When a current passes through the semiconductor material the device is capable of emitting visible light – the opposite of a photovoltaic cell, which is a device that turns light into electrical current. `
LED light bulbs have a lifespan of around 50,000 hours but can last for up to 100,000.
What are the benefits of LED lights?
- Energy efficiency: LED lights tend to be highly energy efficient compared to other commercially accessible lights. The reasons for this include: they waste very little energy in the way of infrared radiation and emit light directionally.
- Light quality
- Maintenance costs: Low maintenance costs
- Accessories: LED lights require less accessory lamp parts
- Directional: LEDs are naturally directional meaning that they emit light in 180 degrees automatically
- Warm-up time ‘Size: LEDs have a faster switching (meaning they have no cool-down or warm-up time)
- Color: LEDs are designed to produce the whole spectrum of visible light without having to add the color filters that traditional lighting solutions need.
What are the cons of LED lights
- LED lights tend to be expensive: The costs of LED lights are usually higher than the alternatives
LED lights are usually used in circuit board computers. However, their use has gradually been expanded to be used in traffic lights, indoor and outdoor lighting, and for signs. As with HID lights, the newer LED lights are great for large public areas, gyms, warehouses, road lights, and parking lots.