LED lifespan

I got some pretty good 1 watt LED lights 5 years ago, HGL brand. I have been using them for at least 1 grow a year and up to 3 grows. 50,000 hours is the listed life with a 15% drop in par or lumens or something. I am sure I am not at 50,000 hours yet but feel they may be lacking.

My current plants are less than spectacular looking though 1 strain is nutrient locked out I am sure. Any guesses as to when you change out your lights? I have another new Area 51 LED light but was saving it for a sativa run since they need intense light.

I checked my records and I have done 15 grows including the current one, so I am close to the 50,000 hour limit and I do not trust that limit in the first place. My question is more for others than me as I can switch out at any time and do not need great light for indicas which is what I grow more than anything.

Try the Area 51 LED for a week and see if that helps... If there isn't any improvement - go back to what you were doing until you change over for good.

Lumen maintenance depends on how hot the LEDs are being run (junction temp), so if there is an air space between the LED board and the heatsink that is not packed with thermal paste, they could be running very hot because the aluminum boards are warped and so are the heatsink surfaces. Also, commercial lamps tend to use insufficient heatsinking in the first place. And finally the lower efficiency the emitter is, the more heat is created in the junction.

That said, a quality LED that is properly cooled will experience virtually no lumen depreciation for a decade or more, so it really depends on the quality of the design and implementation.