It's LED fixtures that I have a problem with; they're very common since it's easy to make them in various shapes and things, but when a component fails more often than not it's a "replace the whole fixture" situation.

My parents have a ceiling fan that came with an LED light, which broke. It was barely under warranty for the LED part still and the manufacturer sent out a new light module, except they've changed the fan a little over the years and the new module doesn't fit on the old fan... they ended up having to send a whole new fan.

Afaict, this is a case of the primary customer: contractors and builders.

They don't care if bulbs are replaceable, since their lifetime is limited to build -> sell.

Actually with fans specifically it has to do with legislation that requires them to not be able to mount a standard Edison bulb.

What? Why?

I'm not familiar with ceiling fan regulations, but regulations for recessed lighting (can lights) in some jurisdiction mandated connectors other than edison screws in new construction as a way to force out incandescent bulbs.

IMHO, pretty unnecessary, as once the PAR30 dimmable LED bulbs got good, I don't think many people would prefer incandescent. OTOH, I think they were pushing compact fluorescent, which I don't think ever got very good.

For new construction now, the LED fixtures can be mounted without a can, because they put out way less heat, and some of them are very thin, so they may not penetrate beyond the thickness of the ceiling, which is neat. But for retrofitting, putting a screw in bulb is nice and easy.

Heat is the real killer for LEDs. Most LEDs sold for home lighting do not have very good thermal regulation, possibly as a planned obsolesence "feature".

Planned obsolescence only makes business sense, if you can be reasonably sure that the customer will buy from you again.

The home LED market is pretty fractured and there's not all that much brand loyalty. (At least at the lower level where companies churn out lowest cost LEDs. The companies that bet on brand loyalty tend to have somewhat better quality.)

Yes, even expensive Phillips LEDs heat up to 100 C. There is no way they could last the designed 50000h at that temp.

I still have several Cree bulbs that are at least a decade old, I think more like 15 years old. None have failed.

Everyone I know who complains about LED bulbs failing, you ask them and they admit to buying the cheapest ones they could find.

I dropped good money somewhat early on for LEDs that were supposed to last at least that long (some name brand, no idea what at this point), and I don't think I even got a year out of them.

At that point, I decided to just buy the cheap ones because that was easier than dealing with the warranty process anyway.

The trick is figuring out where in the product lifecycle you are. Early on you want to go cheap, because you’ll be able to get way better for cheaper in a year or two anyway. Later on once the technology has matured this is less true.

> Later on once the technology has matured this is less true.

It depends on the cost curve. When the technology has matured, the cheap ones might be good enough, too.

Eg approximately all tooth pastes are equally effective, so you might as well go with the cheapest one that agrees with your taste buds.

I just replaced two OSRAM LED "bulbs" in my bedroom, and paid 15 euros each for them. 30 euros for two lights feels insane, and yet I know I paid something similar for the previous ones about five years ago.

My issue with LED bulbs is that they don't fail per se, instead they get progressively less and less bright over time. It's a slow fade rather than a sudden explosion.

(I've gotten into the habit of writing the installation date of all new bulbs on the stem as I insert/install them. Just because I want to track how long they last.)

I've found generally the more expensive ones last longer, but I just had a Phillips HUE bulb die on me (the LED is fine I think but it flashes rapidly so I'm suspecting the driver is bad)

Rapid flashing is usually an indicator of a LED failure, not the driver. In my experience (and I fixed many LEDs), drivers almost never fail - it’s always the diodes, dying from too much heat.

Rapid flashing could also be a sign of using the wrong kind of dimmer for your LED.

I have an original Philips EnduraLED that still works fine.

I’ve had many expensive Philips or Osram bulbs failing.