The industry standard for LED is around 50000hrs. As all things do they will degrade initially up to 10% over the first 1000hrs of operation followed by a slower rate of decline to 30% loss after 50000hrs. Commercially available LEDs are generally blue LEDs with a fluorescence applied to them and its the fluorescence that degrades not the chip/diode itself. It also depends if the LEDs are being "driven" hard or voltage is variable. The types of commercial dome-typeLEDs available these days are called "static sensitive" and can be badly affected by variations in voltage and current - that's why they're OK on batteries (if not run too low) but sensitive to other forms of power like 240vAC/12vAC transformers.

LEDs are light emitting diodes - in layman's terms they're like electrical one-way only valves that glow instead of getting hot when a lot of pressure is put through them. They simply put out light (glowing photons) instead of heat like a normal diode on a PCB board. These diodes are also then sealed in resin to make them shockproof and waterproof. This is very different to the traditional filament bulbs that rely on a very thin piece of wire strung between two poles that burn very brightly when a current is passed through it. The wire burns continuously whilst giving off quite a deal of wasted heat. Glass filament bulbs are thin and also fragile which keeps an industry alive replacing light bulbs. Advances from VHS to DVD get a lot more attention these days than cheaper, better lighting although the outdoor enthusiasts have recognize the incredible potential of LED lighting particularly in the form of headlamps and torches. The difference at night time is incredible -you will see colors truly represented as they are seen during daytime - spiders and other insects eyes glowing back at you !

Yes! You can easily cut the LED strips. Use a sharp utility knife. The LEDs are wired in groups of 3, so you should cut between sets of 3 LEDs. Note: Some of the shorter lengths can't be cut because of a critical power wire inside. Before you cut, just make sure you won't be cutting a power wire, otherwise your LED strip could be damaged.

LED is an acronym for Light Emitting Diode. It is a device that emits light using semiconductor material instead of a filament or neon gas. Being semiconductor based they use safe and efficient low voltage power sources or even batteries so are ideal for emergency lighting situations. The rated life span of an LED can be up to 100,000 hours,(over 11 years of continuous operation) and they are extremely durable being resistant to heat, cold, shock and vibration which all adds up to greatly reduced maintenance costs or LED Lighting systems.