LED light fixture question

[lrrifleman]

Greetings!

I'm afraid that the close to 30 year old light fixtures (designed for incandescent light bulbs) in my kitchen are on their last leg. I'm getting a lot of frequent flickering, which suggests that the light bulbs (LED) are about to fail. My ex (a very long story in itself) is convinced that it's more the wiring than the light bulb or the fixtures. The house and wiring is almost 30 years old, and I severely doubt it's the wiring.

Trying to be frugal, I picked up a set of LED fixtures for $20 and $30 a piece, as opposed to almost $100 a piece. According to the literature, these fixtures are supposed to last 50,000 hours, based on 4 hours usage a day, and came with a 10 year warranty. She's insisting that these fixtures will have to remain on 24/7. Honestly, making my life miserable, just what I needed after being discharged a day or two ago.

My question is, for those with experience with LED light fixtures, do they have to be kept on 24/7, or can they be turned off without Ill effect on the fixtures?

As always, thanks in advance for your help!

 

[DWalt]

No reason that I know of why LED fixtures must stay on 24/7. I have many of then in my house and garage which I installed over 5 years ago, and I turn them on and off just like incandescants. I had several previous experiences with flickering incandescent fixtures that seemed to be caused by old circuit breakers. When I replaced the circuit breakers the flickering stopped. My house was built in the early 1970s, so the circuit breakers are that old.

 

[Faulkner]

Unlike incandescent or even florescent fixtures, with LED there is nothing to "wear out" by being turned on and off. Most emergency vehicle light bars are LED and have been for years and I've never had one wear out even though they turn on and off at a fast rate for long periods of time.

 

[46er]

Most of our lights have been LEDs for several years, they are turned on when we need them and off when we don't.
I am a little confused by your use of the term 'fixtures'. All of our fixtures/sockets are 50 years old, Incandescent to Fluorescent to LED no change needed.

 

[Rustyt1953]

We have LEDs here and the boys don't turn them off. Apparently that's my job.

 

[LVSteve]

I've had recessed light fittings fail after 25 years. I just replaced this piece.

Access Denied

 

[DWalt]

At least in my house I have converted all of my fluorescent fixtures to the LED tubes by bypassing the ballasts. And there is no fixture modification involved for bulb-type fixtures. Just unscrew the filament bulbs and screw in LED bulbs.

 

[Bekeart]

Replace the bulb (LED)

I'm afraid that the close to 30 year old light fixtures (designed for incandescent light bulbs) in my kitchen are on their last leg.

Replace the bulb (LED) would have been my first diagnosis,

Cheaper and easier than buying and replacing a fixture.

Bekeart

 

[jeffrefrig]

Just my experience here, but I found that when the LED bulbs start to go bad, which is pretty rare, they will flick off & on every once in a while. One lamp in the living room was giving me fits and the last thing I changed before running a new wire to the receptacle was the stupid LED lamp. Two other lights did the same thing so I changed the bulbs and problem went away. Regular bulbs die in a blaze of glory; the LEDs die a slow death, having mini heart failures every time you turn them on.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Replace the bulbs!
Usually when fixtures go out they go Out!
Switches can also go out.
And as mentioned, breakers can go to squirrel city.
Heavy amp usage breakers like Bath and Kitchen often go bad first.

 

[mtgianni]

I wired my house in 2018 when we built it. I used almost all LED fixtures with bulbs only in the ceiling fans. From all I have read there is no energy savings to leaving the light on if you're re-entering the room in 30 seconds. The start up energy equals the energy savings in the first 3 seconds.

 

[sophie]

There is no reason to leave LED bulbs on 24/7 unless you're afraid of the dark. They're designed to be switched on and off as usual. Flickering occasionally is usually a bulb failure. I replaced a LED bulb the other day that was said to last 13 years on the box and lasted 1 year.

 

[SMSgt]

Most of our lights have been LEDs for several years, they are turned on when we need them and off when we don't.
I am a little confused by your use of the term 'fixtures'. All of our fixtures/sockets are 50 years old, Incandescent to Fluorescent to LED no change needed.

Some fixtures have the LED lights built in, not separate bulbs. If they fail, the fixture must be replaced.

I have both styles, converting from incandescent to LED over the years, and turn them off/on as needed. I haven't changed an LED light yet. In fact, I have four Edison bulbs in the second bathroom that have been there since 1993.

 

[DWalt]

When I first converted my fluorescent fixtures to LED, I had three or four bad LED tubes which started flickering fairly quickly after installation. Very irritating when that happens, and they need to be replaced quickly. But most of the LED tubes were OK. In total, I replaced around 25 fluorescent tubes over a period of several months. 12 were in one room.

 

[twodog max]

I have little knowledge of electrical matter but our house is less than 10 years old. In the room I am in now is a ceiling fan/light fixture. I switched to LED bulbs as the OEM incandescent quit. The LED flickered constantly. I removed them put incandescent bulbs back in and the flickering stopped.
Anyone able to explain that?

 

[John_M52]

Never had an issue with removing ballasts and replacing florescent tubes with LED (sometimes have to change sockets).

LED on dimmers can be problematic even when they are dimmer compatible (my wife can hear them, I can't) or they flicker when not full on.

12 VAC landscape LED lights can create radio frequency interference and cause issues with your garage door opener (ask me how I know).

In general they don't wear out but there are early failures just like anything else.

 

[GaryS]

I bought a four bulb ceiling fixture to solve a years long lighting problem in our kitchen. Instead of incandescent bulbs I used LEDs. The light was beautiful, but after a few months one of the LEDs started to intermittently flicker. Only when my back was turned, of course.

It took months for me to identify the bad one and replace it. It probably would have been better for my sanity to just replace all four.

While overall LEDs last longer, some small number will fail prematurely.

 

[LVSteve]

I have little knowledge of electrical matter but our house is less than 10 years old. In the room I am in now is a ceiling fan/light fixture. I switched to LED bulbs as the OEM incandescent quit. The LED flickered constantly. I removed them put incandescent bulbs back in and the flickering stopped.
Anyone able to explain that?

I'm going to guess that the control for the fan also lets you dim the lights and control the fan speed. A ten year old dimmer will not be compatible with LEDs. It's all about how the dimming is done and leakage current when the thing is supposed to be off. One trick is to leave one incandescent in one position with LEDs in the others. Yes, I can hear the OCD types screaming already.

 

[twodog max]

I'm going to guess that the control for the fan also lets you dim the lights and control the fan speed. A ten year old dimmer will not be compatible with LEDs. It's all about how the dimming is done and leakage current when the thing is supposed to be off. One trick is to leave one incandescent in one position with LEDs in the others. Yes, I can hear the OCD types screaming already.

That may be possible. The switch is not a dimmable switch but the fixture itself may have that feature. Ten years out be darned if I remember.

 

[Narragansett]

Greetings!

I'm afraid that the close to 30 year old light fixtures (designed for incandescent light bulbs) in my kitchen are on their last leg. I'm getting a lot of frequent flickering, which suggests that the light bulbs (LED) are about to fail. My ex (a very long story in itself) is convinced that it's more the wiring than the light bulb or the fixtures. The house and wiring is almost 30 years old, and I severely doubt it's the wiring.

Trying to be frugal, I picked up a set of LED fixtures for $20 and $30 a piece, as opposed to almost $100 a piece. According to the literature, these fixtures are supposed to last 50,000 hours, based on 4 hours usage a day, and came with a 10 year warranty. She's insisting that these fixtures will have to remain on 24/7. Honestly, making my life miserable, just what I needed after being discharged a day or two ago.

My question is, for those with experience with LED light fixtures, do they have to be kept on 24/7, or can they be turned off without Ill effect on the fixtures?

As always, thanks in advance for your help!

30 YO wiring is just fine, if done properly, and that goes for all wiring.

Turn LED's on and off as desired

It appears you have an EX problem, and not one that is electrical in nature