Track the lifespan of your LED lightbulbs with a Sharpie
I moved into a house that was built just three years ago and every light in the house is LED, but they're all generic with no brand names on the bulbs. LED bulbs typically last several years, but about every 3-4 months one of our lights go out, especially the outdoor ones. Each time they do, I head out to the garage to grab a replacement from a big box of LED BR30 bulbs we bought at Costco, which are also quite generic.
The problem is, when one goes out, have I replaced it before? Or was it one of the older ones? I realized I have no way to track this, especially when my outdoor lighting looks like this on a walkway with a dozen pot lights illuminating a path. The other day a bulb burned out with water inside it and I really want to know if there's a roof leak somewhere, or if it was an indoor bulb being used outside that failed.
So I came up with a solution. Grab a sharpie, and put the date I replaced the light right on the light. Next time I pull out a dead bulb, I'll know how long it lasted and whether or not it was one of the existing 3 year old bulbs or a replacement I put in a few months ago.
Yeah, it's stupid easy, but will help track future problems that might arise.
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