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Uniformat D5020

Exterior LED light

An exterior LED light lasts about 15 years, the median of 2 published sources, which state 10–25 years.

Also listed as Exterior and site lighting, LED, wall pack, pole light, parking lot light

  • Confidence C
  • Version 0.4.0 (permanent link)
  • Reviewed 2026-10-22

Service life

15 yearsmedian of the stated lives · sources say 10–25 years
0510152025301025

Years in service. The band runs from the shortest to the longest life the sources state, so it shows how much they disagree, not how long 80% of units last. The line is the median of the stated lives.

Work out when yours is due for replacement

Basis

  • 25 years · CNA e-Tool Estimated Useful Life Table, p3 · HUD CNA 3.2.8.2.7 “Pole mounted lights” — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (planning life)
    Same life for family and elderly properties. US multifamily housing. HUD gives pole-mounted site lights 25 years and building-mounted lights 10, without naming the lamp technology.
  • 10 years · CNA e-Tool Estimated Useful Life Table, p3 · HUD CNA 3.2.8.2.9 “Building Mounted Lighting” — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (planning life)
    Same life for family and elderly properties. US multifamily housing.
  • 15 years · Purchasing Energy-Efficient Exterior Lighting (web page, modified 2026-03-05) · Table 2 assumptions “"Lifetime Energy Cost: Calculated as the sum of the discounted value of the annual energy cost and assumed product life of 15 years."” — U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Energy Management Program (planning life)
    Outdoor LED wall-mounted luminaires (wall packs), the example in Table 2; the guidance also covers pole/arm-mounted area and roadway, decorative, canopy, bollard, parking garage and flood luminaires, but the 15-year assumption is stated for the wall-mounted example only.

How sources are chosen and recorded: sourcing policy.

Municipal lives for electrical (D50)

39 municipalities in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta state a life for electrical as a whole, in 30 distinct tables: 10–50 years, median 20. 47 rows come from capital asset policies (accounting lives, used for amortization) and 7 from asset management plans (planning lives, used to forecast replacement). They describe the system rather than this component, and none is a measured life.

Median 20 yearsKingston: Electrical, 10 yearsGrey Highlands: Electrical, 15 yearsMeaford: Electrical, 15 yearsThe Blue Mountains: Electrical, 15 yearsLloydminster: Electrical, 20 yearsLloydminster: Electrical, 20 yearsComox Valley: Plumbing, HVAC, Electrical, 20 yearsCranbrook: Plumbing, HVAC, Electrical, 20 yearsParksville: Electrical, 20 yearsTelkwa: Plumbing, Fire protection, Electrical, 20 yearsAmherstburg: HVAC, Electrical, 20 yearsGrey Highlands: Electrical, 20 yearsGrey Highlands: Electrical, 20 yearsHuron: Electrical, 20 yearsHuron: Electrical, 20 yearsHuron: Electrical, 20 yearsHuron: Electrical, 20 yearsKenora: Electrical, 20 yearsLondon: Plumbing, HVAC, Electrical, 20 yearsMeaford: Electrical, 20 yearsMeaford: Electrical, 20 yearsMeaford: Emergency lighting unit, 20 yearsThe Blue Mountains: Electrical, 20 yearsThe Blue Mountains: Electrical, 20 yearsWelland: HVAC, Electrical, 20 yearsDuncan and North Cowichan: HVAC, Electrical, 25 yearsLantzville: Plumbing, HVAC, Electrical, 25 yearsTofino: HVAC, Electrical, 25 yearsBrantford: Electrical, 25 yearsBrantford: Electrical, 25 yearsGreater Napanee: HVAC, Electrical, 25 yearsKirkland Lake: HVAC, Electrical, 25 yearsRainy River: Plumbing, Electrical, 25 yearsRainy River: Plumbing, Electrical, 25 yearsThe Blue Mountains: Electrical, 25 yearsBrockton: HVAC, Electrical, 40 yearsGreater Madawaska and Quinte West: Electrical, 40 yearsSimcoe: Electrical, 40 yearsTrent Lakes: Electrical, 40 yearsMeaford: Electrical, 50 yearsFort St. James, Revelstoke and 3 more: Plumbing, Fire protection, Electrical, 15–20 yearsOkanagan-Similkameen: Plumbing, Fire protection, Electrical, 15–20 yearsSalmo: Plumbing, Fire protection, Electrical, 15–20 yearsVulcan County: HVAC, Electrical, 20–30 yearsBancroft, Centre Hastings and 2 more: Plumbing, Electrical, 25–30 years0102030405060

Years. Each dot is one stated life and each bar a stated range; equal values stack. Hollow marks are planning lives from asset management plans; filled marks are accounting lives from policies. The dashed line is the median. Policies that copy the same table count once.

All 45 stated lives
MunicipalityCoversYearsKindSource
KingstonElectrical10accountingp15 · 2016
Grey HighlandsElectrical15accountingp11 · 2026
MeafordElectrical15accountingp17 · 2020
The Blue MountainsElectrical15accountingp11 · 2019
Fort St. James, Revelstoke, Rossland, Sicamous, Tumbler Ridge · same tablePlumbing, Fire protection, Electrical15–20accountingp5, p9, p7, p9, p5 · 2010
Okanagan-SimilkameenPlumbing, Fire protection, Electrical15–20accountingp11 · 2023
SalmoPlumbing, Fire protection, Electrical15–20accountingp6 · 2016
LloydminsterElectrical20accountingp11 · 2023
LloydminsterElectrical20accountingp11 · 2023
Comox ValleyPlumbing, HVAC, Electrical20accountingp6 · 2010
CranbrookPlumbing, HVAC, Electrical20accountingp9 · 2010
ParksvilleElectrical20accountingp9 · 2023
TelkwaPlumbing, Fire protection, Electrical20accountingp8
AmherstburgHVAC, Electrical20accountingp8 · 2026
Grey HighlandsElectrical20accountingp11 · 2026
Grey HighlandsElectrical20accountingp11 · 2026
HuronElectrical20planningp42 · 2025
HuronElectrical20planningp57 · 2025
HuronElectrical20planningp68 · 2025
HuronElectrical20planningp77 · 2025
KenoraElectrical20accountingp15 · 2026
LondonPlumbing, HVAC, Electrical20accountingp2 · 2023
MeafordElectrical20accountingp17 · 2020
MeafordElectrical20accountingp17 · 2020
MeafordEmergency lighting unit20accountingp17 · 2020
The Blue MountainsElectrical20accountingp11 · 2019
The Blue MountainsElectrical20accountingp11 · 2019
WellandHVAC, Electrical20accountingp8 · 2021
Vulcan CountyHVAC, Electrical20–30accountingp5 · 2024
Duncan, North Cowichan · same tableHVAC, Electrical25accountingp17, p9 · 2011
LantzvillePlumbing, HVAC, Electrical25accountingp11 · 2019
TofinoHVAC, Electrical25accountingp12 · 2009
BrantfordElectrical25planningp10 · 2025
BrantfordElectrical25planningp10 · 2025
Greater NapaneeHVAC, Electrical25accountingp16 · 2012
Kirkland LakeHVAC, Electrical25accountingp10 · 2020
Rainy RiverPlumbing, Electrical25accountingp11 · 2010
Rainy RiverPlumbing, Electrical25planningp17 · 2026
The Blue MountainsElectrical25accountingp11 · 2019
Bancroft, Centre Hastings, Hastings Highlands, Wollaston · same tablePlumbing, Electrical25–30accountingp5, p4, p6, p5
BrocktonHVAC, Electrical40accountingp2 · 2009
Greater Madawaska, Quinte West · same tableElectrical40accountingp17, p38 · 2025
SimcoeElectrical40accountingp19 · 2025
Trent LakesElectrical40accountingp10 · 2009
MeafordElectrical50accountingp17 · 2020

Of 54 rows, 2 were compared with an image of their page; 52 were matched to their page automatically (the label and number appear in the page text). Follow the page link before relying on an automatically matched row. About the policies · All approved rows as JSON

Preventive maintenance

No maintenance tasks are sourced for this component yet.

Open questions

  • Every source here is a published planning, design or accounting life. None is observed replacement data.
  • No preventive maintenance tasks are sourced yet.

Know the answer? Send it with a source to [email protected].

Cite this

Citation

unfinished.one (2026). Exterior and site lighting, LED, v0.4.0. https://unfinished.one/c/lighting-exterior-led/v/0.4.0

BibTeX

@misc{unfinished_lighting_exterior_led_0_4_0,
  title = {Exterior and site lighting, LED},
  author = {{unfinished.one}},
  year = {2026},
  version = {0.4.0},
  url = {https://unfinished.one/c/lighting-exterior-led/v/0.4.0},
  note = {CC BY 4.0}
}

Licence CC BY 4.0 · How to cite · JSON · Versions: 0.4.0, 0.3.0, 0.2.0, 0.1.0