They do seem to last longer, but there is a wide distribution in lifetimes. I get bad batches that last only months but some bulbs that last years or over a decade of use.
In my experience it’s down to the race to the bottom. Cheap power supplies, poor heat sinking, over driving the LEDs so they can use less of them but keep the same lumens. People don’t seem to mind too much when replacements cost a couple of bucks.
Better quality bulbs tend to last much longer, personally I’m waiting for the “Dubai Lamps” to become available here and I’ll prob slowly switch over to those (shame they are not dimmable). Although I have to admit the supermarket own brand LED bulbs that I currently have in use have put up a much better fight then I initially gave them credit for.
It's interesting that the Dubai Lamps only use a relatively simple capacitive dropper with a linear post-regulator --- so it's probably actually cheaper to produce than some of the other LED bulbs with complex switchmode power supplies.
The cheapest LED bulbs use a capacitive dropper too, but they drive the LEDs very hard; bigclivedotcom (same person who did the video featured in hackaday there) has a few other videos showing how they can be modified for lower power consumption and thus correspondingly long life.
> so it's probably actually cheaper to produce than some of the other LED bulbs with complex switchmode power supplies.
Nothing wrong with capacitive droppers for things like LED bulbs, my point was more about the quality of the components used in the capacitive dropper.
It’s my own antidotal evidence but I think I’ve had one LED bulb where the LEDs have failed and the rest have been a bad power supply (well not even “bad” more “aged out”). Because of their construction fixing the bulb is often more hassle then it’s worth except for the learning experience.
If you are making such products and you are completing in the in the low price point market, shaving cents off the cost of your caps soon adds up. However once you are no longer counting pennies you don’t mind splashing out on better quality caps.
