Extensive life testing of the Ceravision lamp system shows expected operating lifetimes of ~25,000 hours for the quartz bulb version and ~50,000 hours for the ceramic bulb version. This will extend typical lighting lifetimes by a factor of x2 to x5 compared with incumbent light technologies.

Electrodes cause two major problems in conventional lamps. Electro-chemistry within the bulb causes conventional bulbs to dim and modify the colour of the lamp emission over time (as exemplified by the blackening at the ends of old fluorescent tubes). Additionally the mechanical stresses on hot electrodes can cause them to fail such as in incandescent lamps at home or projector bulbs at work. By eliminating the need for internal electrodes, this failure mode is removed resulting in Ceravision lamps exhibiting much longer usable operating lifetimes compared with conventional electroded bulbs.

In addition to the inherent reliability of the bulb, the microwave power source is designed using high-reliability solid-state microwave transistors. This results in a high-efficiency, robust, rugged product that has greatly extended operating lifetimes compared with its commercial competitors. Ceravision has qualified multiple microwave transistor technologies including Gallium Arsenide, Gallium Nitride and LD-MoS Silicon as well as standard magnetron sources. The predicted operating lifetime of the standard design microwave power source is in excess of 50,000 hours.