1. While the initial cost per bulb is still high, the total lifetime cost of an LED light bulb is actually much lower than that of equivalent incandescent and CFL bulbs. Taking into consideration energy costs as well as time and resources required to replace shorter-lived incandescent and CFL bulbs, an LED bulb that lasts 80,000 hours has a much lower lifetime cost.
2. LEDs are diverse, and many types are useless for general lighting applications from Trade Show Lighting. The finest LED chips emit light with a Color Rendering Index of 85%. LED light bulbs that use top-quality LEDs will last much longer than the novelty bulbs that many are selling and 60% longer than many competing bulbs that use inferior LEDs.
3. LEDs do generate heat, and this heat is the biggest problem that manufacturers face developing LED lighting applications. Manufacturers can now produce individual LED chips that are as bright as a 100-watt incandescent bulb, but these LEDs are practically useless for general lighting because installing them in a fixture creates ventilation problems that have not yet been solved. LEDs installed in fixtures and bulbs must be ventilated properly, and the better the chip, the more difficult it is to properly cool. There are many LED light bulbs on the The Lighting Show that do not take this into consideration and either use cheap chips so they don’t have to ventilate them, or do not ventilate their chips properly, significantly reducing its lifespan. While the typical LED light bulb is barely warm to the touch, if the chip is not properly ventilated, it can fail prematurely.
4. The life-span of an LED light bulb should be its “half-life.” LED light bulbs do not burn out; rather, they gradually fade out. When a vendor from LED Lighting Show says an LED bulb will last 80,000 hours, they mean that at that point, the chips will have reached 50% efficiency, and the bulb ought to be replaced. So, the bulb might last 100,000 hours or more, but its efficiency will have degraded greatly by that point. Using this 100,000-hour life as a selling point is therefore misleading. While LEDs don’t last forever, they will last 50-75 times longer than a comparable incandescent and 6-8 times longer than a CFL.