Integrated LED or Replaceable Bulb? What Happens When the Light Dies

Two lights on the same shelf look identical. One takes a bulb you can unscrew. The other has the LED soldered to a board inside the housing and no bulb at all. Nobody at the shop will mention the difference, and it decides what happens in year eight.

What integrated actually means

An integrated LED fitting has the diodes built permanently into the fixture, alongside a driver, the small power supply that converts mains voltage into what the LEDs need. There is no socket. You cannot change the light source without changing the light.

This is not laziness on the manufacturer's part. Removing the socket is what allows the very slim profiles, the continuous unbroken bands of light, the sealed bathroom and outdoor fittings, and the complete absence of a visible bulb in a diffuser. Many of the shapes people want simply cannot be built around a removable bulb.

What the numbers mean and what they hide

Integrated fittings quote a lifespan, usually 25,000 to 50,000 hours. At three hours a day, 25,000 hours is around 23 years. That sounds like the argument is over.

Two things complicate it.

The rating is usually L70. That is the point at which the LED has dimmed to 70 percent of its original brightness, not the point at which it stops. Light output declines gradually, and a fitting at 70 percent in a room where the others are new is noticeably dimmer.

The driver usually fails first. The diodes genuinely do last decades. The electronics that feed them are rated closer to 30,000 to 50,000 hours, and they are far more sensitive to heat. In a sealed fitting, in a warm room, under a shade that traps air, the driver is the part that goes, and when it does the fitting goes dark even though the LEDs are fine.

In practice, a well made integrated fitting in a well ventilated position lasts a very long time. A cheap one in a hot enclosed spot can fail in three years.

The honest comparison

Integrated wins on: form, because the shapes are impossible otherwise; sealed environments, where a socket is a water entry point; efficiency, because the optics are designed around a known source; and consistency, because every unit in a row is the same colour and brightness, where replaceable bulbs drift apart over time as you replace them one by one.

Replaceable wins on: repairability, because a failed bulb costs a few euros; flexibility, because you can change colour temperature, brightness or dimmability later without changing the fitting; availability, because a bulb is in every shop; and longevity of the object, because the fitting outlives its light source rather than being defined by it.

Neither is simply better. The right question is where the fitting is going.

A rule of thumb by room

• Bathrooms, showers, outdoors: integrated is usually right. A sealed fitting has no socket to let water in, and the IP rating is easier to trust. The trade off for a lower failure risk is worth it.
• Anywhere high or hard to reach: integrated, provided it is good quality. Changing a bulb on a stairwell ceiling once a year is worse than replacing a fitting once a decade.
• Bedside, desk, dining table, anywhere you might change your mind: replaceable. These are the places where you will want to adjust brightness or warmth once you live with it, and a bulb is the cheapest way to do that.
• Anything decorative where the bulb is visible: replaceable, necessarily. A visible filament bulb is part of the design.
• Rentals: replaceable, because the fitting may need to come with you and a spare bulb is easier to carry than a spare light.

What to check before buying an integrated fitting

• The warranty. This is the single most useful signal. A manufacturer confident in the driver offers five years. A two year warranty on a fitting claiming 50,000 hours is telling you something.
• Whether the driver is replaceable. Some better integrated fittings use a separate driver in the canopy or on a short lead. If it fails, an electrician swaps a ten euro part rather than the whole light. Worth asking.
• Dimmability, decided now. An integrated non dimmable fitting can never be dimmed. With a replaceable bulb you simply buy a different bulb later.
• Colour temperature, also decided now. You are choosing 2700K or 3000K once, for the life of the fitting. Choose carefully, and see warm white or cool white if you are unsure.
• Ventilation. Heat is what kills drivers. A fitting with some airflow around it will outlast the same fitting boxed into a tight recess.

Fittings like the Strata LED Wall Light and the Basalt Travertine LED Sconce are integrated because the form requires it. Anything with an open shade and a visible bulb, by contrast, is replaceable by design, and the base it takes is covered in our guide to bulb fittings.

If an integrated fitting does fail

It is usually not the end. In order of what to try:

Check the obvious first: the switch, the fuse, the dimmer. A non dimmable integrated fitting on a dimmer circuit can fail early or behave strangely, and that is a wiring fault rather than a dead light.

Then check the warranty, because this is exactly what it is for and integrated failures are disproportionately early failures rather than end of life ones.

Then ask whether the driver is separate. On many wall and ceiling fittings it sits in the canopy and an electrician can replace it in minutes.

Only after that is the fitting genuinely finished.

Frequently asked questions

Can you replace the bulb in an integrated LED light?

No. The LEDs are soldered in and there is no socket. On some fittings the driver, the part most likely to fail, can be replaced separately.

How long do integrated LED lights last?

Typically 25,000 to 50,000 hours, which is 20 years or more at normal use. That figure is the point at which brightness drops to 70 percent, and the driver often fails before the LEDs do.

Is integrated LED better than a replaceable bulb?

Neither is better in general. Integrated suits sealed, slim and hard to reach fittings. Replaceable suits anywhere you may want to change brightness or warmth later, and anywhere the bulb is visible.

What happens when an integrated LED fails?

Check the switch, fuse and dimmer first, then the warranty, then whether the driver is a separate replaceable part. Only after all three is the fitting beyond repair.

What warranty should an integrated fitting have?

Five years is a good sign. Two years on a fitting claiming a 50,000 hour life is worth questioning.

Browse wall lights and ceiling and pendant lights, where each listing states whether the light source is integrated or takes a bulb.