LED Lighting vs MH
- Thread starter bromion
- Start date
deepdvnarq
New member
whatis your the dimension of your tank? if you wanted to go with a prebuilt unit, the better LED package is the aqua illumination, but that is very very pricey. if you wanted to DIY, you can and it will be cheaper than the AI units, but still pricey. That's the only downside i see to the LEDs is the upfront cost. after that, if proper care is taken it can last you 10 to 15 years without having to replace anything. and at that point you will still have 70% of the original light and PAR our put.
Skeptic_07
New member
IMO DIY LED are the only ones worth the $$ at the moment. It will cost you about $160 or more a year to replace your halide lamps and roughly $20 a month to run them. (i think that number is relatively accurate) Ok so thats roughly $400 a year to run your halide setup plus the cost of setting it up is probably about $500 for the ballast lamps and reflectors. So $900 the first year and then $400 each year after that. a 60" aquaillumination from reefgeeks will cost you $3,069, however, you could probably DIY one for half of that, maybe even 1/3 of it. Take into account that you will probably never have to replace any lamps AND that if you ever do, the DIY version will be much easier to do that because you built it yourself. I believe if anything goes wrong with the AI setup, you'd have to send it in for service. Also LED's do use some electricity but it will probably be around 1/4 of what your MH setup uses.
mcarroll
Member
Just for the record I know someone who tried replacing a 3 x 250w + PC setup with a 5' PFO (now defunct) fixture.
I believe if all LED's were left at 100% intensity (10K color for all intents) it's claimed ability to match MH's results may have been true, but when tuned toward the 20K end of the spectrum intensity dropped significantly - as judged by the corals.
The colors were nice...but it just didn't deliver results I think the majority of people would expect. That was a "first generation" LED fixture too though....YMMV with newer ones.
-Matt
I believe if all LED's were left at 100% intensity (10K color for all intents) it's claimed ability to match MH's results may have been true, but when tuned toward the 20K end of the spectrum intensity dropped significantly - as judged by the corals.
The colors were nice...but it just didn't deliver results I think the majority of people would expect. That was a "first generation" LED fixture too though....YMMV with newer ones.
-Matt
mcarroll
Member
My prediction is that (duh) there's no such thing as a magic bullet. I suspect converting electricity to light can only be done so efficiently. How you do it isn't going to change much if you do whatever method well enough. The differences will be in the relative pro's and con's of any given system.
E.g. If you build a comparable (in terms of your end results) set of systems, one using T5 the other MH, you'll actually find similar heat generation and power consumption. However, just because cooler running temps and lower power bills are a myth of T5 that doesn't mean there's no good reasons to use them.
LED's will have their good reason to use them someday, but I agree with you: I'm not sure today's the day.
Given that you're happy with the results you're currently getting from your MH system, and the pro's that go with MH technology (established technology, longer lamp duty cycle, you already own it) I say "standing pat" sounds like the way to go.
-Matt
E.g. If you build a comparable (in terms of your end results) set of systems, one using T5 the other MH, you'll actually find similar heat generation and power consumption. However, just because cooler running temps and lower power bills are a myth of T5 that doesn't mean there's no good reasons to use them.
LED's will have their good reason to use them someday, but I agree with you: I'm not sure today's the day.
Given that you're happy with the results you're currently getting from your MH system, and the pro's that go with MH technology (established technology, longer lamp duty cycle, you already own it) I say "standing pat" sounds like the way to go.
-Matt
wrestle1952
Member
I don't think the technology is there yet for LED's. I will probably change from MH when they perfect the technology. That looks like 3 years down the road minimum for SPS type reefers like myself.
Dual 250 watt halide system on HQI ballasts would costs me less than 40 cents per day or 12 dollars per month to run based on a 10 hour lighting period. Thats 144 per year on electric. Less on e-ballasts. Then there are lamp replacement costs. So it depends on how much your energy costs are, ballasts you use and what lamps you use as well as how often you replace them.
LED is more economical energy use wise but the tech is still changing so by the time a fixture comes out it is nearly obsolete as better LED's will be out. That is the major problem I see with the technology, that and the cost. When the technlogy matures further the manufacturers of the fixtures will be able to offer better fixtures with better coverage at lower prices ... obviously. To me, it seems still a good ways off before that happens and the fixtures are truly great and affordable.
At my energy costs, it would take a long time for a ready made fixture to pay for itself and it would be long obsolete by then (relative to the newer LEDS they would be using in the newer fixtures by the time it paid for itself).
Im waiting and it may be a long wait for me because they will have to be reliable and proven before I buy one.
It may be never if AI has a mononopoly on the aquarium market and can keep prices inflated because of it.
jerryz
New member
Getting comparable PAR to 250s at 20K is pretty easy these days. Numbers in excess of that for closer to 14K are really easy. There's a comprehensive thread here that in many ways is a short version of one on another board that can't be named here but it's all about nanos. The DIY deve curve is pretty far along at this point and the LEDs used are vastly superior to the PFO in terms of intensity.
Please Post A Picture of Your Tank
Please Post A Picture of Your Tank
at the following thread if you have a tank with LED lighting.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1639666
James
Please Post A Picture of Your Tank
at the following thread if you have a tank with LED lighting.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1639666
James
Similar threads
