I see you're from FL as well. I was facing the same situation with my 220. Was set to get a Hamilton fixture with Radium bulbs. Add in my choice of T5 bulbs and I was looking at ~$1500 out the door. Plus, a chiller would have pretty much been mandatory here.
Instead, I'm going with Kessil AP700's. Two of them. I got one from DrF&S for 25% off before they stopped allowing coupons :dance: Should have bought both. In any case, I'll either pick up the 2nd used or just bite the bullet and buy it new. For both that puts me at ~$1600 out the door. No chiller but that's a wash as I do plan on adding 4 T5 bulbs as the corals start to grow in. However, I won't have the ongoing heat issues that MH would have presented.
In the end, start up costs are negligibly different. Operating costs are a little less for the LED's over time. Add in heat savings though and it start to make a difference. I would have planned on changing MH bulbs ever year so that's $240/year. With electrical savings, both direct from the light and indirect from the heat, I'll probably save about $500/year.
One of my concerns is the longevity of MH's. The choices seem to get thinner year by year and I didn't want to make essentially the same investment as LED's but be left hanging in 4 or 5 years. Not a sure thing by any means, but something to consider if starting up a new system.
