A few cents' worth from the other side of the 'pond&
Greetings, all.... Long time, no posts... :-O
Low pressure Sodium lamps were pretty much universal here in the UK for road/highway use up until about the mid '80s (IIRC)... They were then gradually replaced by high pressure Sodium (more output according to a light meter, I suppose, and slightly better colour rendering, but optically worse, especially in fog) until recent years, when LED lighting is becoming commonplace. My own biggest objection to the new 'white' LED street lighting is that, when approaching a junction, it is almost impossible to tell at a glance whether the light pool on the road surface is from the street lighting, or from an approaching car.
I used a few CFL type lamps at home, very few of which had a service life approaching anywhere near the 'officially forecast' expectancy, which was a disappointment. Incidentally, all the ones I installed were 'subsidised'... The 'market' price being prohibitive against the savings in running costs.
I have now installed and used several LED lamps at home. As with CFL types, their life seems to be limited by the number of switching cycles they are subjected to. The longest lasting one (so far!) is in a timer light which runs 3-8 hrs per evening (depending on season), and has lasted 10 years in daily use.
I can't say that I have noticed any loss of output over the years, and none of my indoor lamps produce any noticeable strobe effect (unlike many 'high efficiency' outdoor fittings, which produce a seriously irritating effect).
For anyone interested..... In my (limited) experience, the actual LED chips don't fail.. It is always the 'ballast', so 'dead' LED domestic lamps can provide a good light source for various low-voltage 'projects', if you are willing to dismantle and re-use .. ;-)
I think that's probably enough from me!!
All best
Dave T