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Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

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  • LED and CFL Bulb Reliability: Another Data Point

    Spotted in a soon-to-be-rebuilt rest area on I-87 north of Kingston NY, a chandelier stuffed with old-school CFL bulbs of various vintages:

    NYS I-87 Rest Area - CFL chandelier
    NYS I-87 Rest Area – CFL chandelier

    The yellowish dome on the far right might still house an incandescent bulb, but I can’t tell from here.

    Judging from the high color temperature and even illumination, the chandelier next to it has 16 newish LED bulbs:

    NYS I-87 Rest Area - LED chandelier
    NYS I-87 Rest Area – LED chandelier

    What’s of interest: both chandeliers have two dead bulbs and, perhaps, the center floodlight of the LED fixture had died, too. We don’t know how long they’ve been in place, other than that the LEDs are certainly more recent, but a 6% failure rate is nothing to brag about.

    From what I’ve seen, the reliability of both CFL and LED bulbs is greatly overstated and certainly do not justify preemptive replacement of a working bulb of any vintage.