are DE bulbs stronger than SE??

[murphreef]

just wondering besides the bulb itself is there any advantage or disadvantages between the 2?

thanks!

 

[DMK]

i THINK a DE bulb is brighter than a SE, but not positive. i know when i look at my DE 250W bulb i cannot see for a few seconds after, whereas when i look at a SE bulb i'm better. stupid i know.

 

[drake66]

haha, yea de's are brighter and more concentrated light.

 

[Ti]

depends on the reflector really.

 

[jcorso]

I don't think the bulbs themselves are magically brighter. It's the HQI ballast that they need that makes them that way since an HQI ballast will also burn SE bulbs brighter.

You also have to factor in that an DE bulb needs to be sheilded and light will be lost there.

I think for the most part it's a wash.

 

[murphreef]

thanks everyone

i was told they were stronger and i have 2-250W DE's over my 100gallon now ran by a PFO HQI ballast and they seem pretty bright compared to some other 250SE's ive seen...

they seem to produce alot of heat

any other benefits of having them,?

 

[manderx]

any other benefits of having them,?

they're small and compact which makes it easier to cram supplemental lighting in with it.

 

[RichConley]

The bulbs themselves ARE brighter, even on E-ballasts, but I think you lose that extra brightness when you have to use a piece of glass to cut out UV.

 

[JB NY]

Just the lamp itself, SE is normally brighter. The DE reflectors or more efficient so they are able to concentrate the light in a smaller area making the DE fixtures more bright than their SE counterparts.

 

[RichConley]

JB, maybe thats it, I just remember Sanjays tests saying that DEs with no UV shields were brighter than the SEs, but the SEs were marginally brighter than the DEs with UV shields, so I think its a wash either way.

 

[Jpharr]

Not trying to be a saftey nut, but I would make sure I don't look at DE bulbs very much. They emit a considerable larger amount of UVA and UVB than SE bulbs because they do not have an external covering. Your eyes are obviously telling you to be careful. Rememer, the DE bulbs also have a cover on them, so I believe the HQIs are a little brighter IMO

 

[SunnyX]

Are we talking about PAR values or how it looks to the eye?
If you take a common bulb like the XM 10K the SE version, 250W on an HQI ballast has 182 PAR while the DE XM 10K without shield has 137 PAR. Nobody runs the bulbs unshielded so you cant really consider that number.If you shield the DE it goes down to 109 PAR.

Bulb to bulb winner is the SE.
Iwasaki 6500K is #1 , followed closely by XM10K, both of which are SE.
It gets much more complicated once you include reflectors and the sort.

As JBNY stated, the DE bulb will be brighter in a more concentrated area.

Either path, DE or SE, you cant go wrong.

 

[murphreef]

thanks for the info everyone i had always wondered why i was recommended DE bulbs and i couldnt recall

they seem to work great they do get very hot though