On 1/25/2013 10:24 AM, Joe Mastroianni wrote:
In another thread, it was mentioned that CFLs and LEDs
last longer than incandescent bulbs.

We all know incandescent bulbs fail due to the filaments
being made so thin that they oxidize and burn up, over time.

But, what causes CFL bulbs to fail?

And, what causes LED bulbs to fail?


Failure of incandescents is complex but mostly due to sublimation and
thinning of the tungsten filament with time. When I bought my house
over 35 years ago we had bulbs filled with krypton rather than the usual
argon which slows sublimation and several of these bulbs are still in use.

As others point out there is a lot or circuitry in these new bulbs that
can fail before the actual light source itself.