MH obsolete?
- Thread starter Bluesun
- Start date
Steve Atkins
New member
Probably, but don't hold your breath waiting. They are going to be hard to replace for floodlighting the outsides of large buildings, but it will come.
By the time most car headlights are fully LED we will be way past the point of being able to rely on LED lighting for fish tanks. At the moment the few cars that do use them are high end but consider the way LED have been replacing car tail and brake lights on ever more 'average person' cars.
Steve
By the time most car headlights are fully LED we will be way past the point of being able to rely on LED lighting for fish tanks. At the moment the few cars that do use them are high end but consider the way LED have been replacing car tail and brake lights on ever more 'average person' cars.
Steve
theatrus
100-mile-commuter
Many streetlights are getting replaced by LEDs - they usually originally were HPS (high pressure sodium), but the inherent directionality of the LED, the higher CRI, and potential for lower maintenance is appealing.
We'll see how many of the cheap LED panels fail early and make the replacement more expensive of course...
We'll see how many of the cheap LED panels fail early and make the replacement more expensive of course...
Hopefully not in the Aquarium market.
I have used all different types of lighting from MH to LED to PC's from Custom Sealife and nothing I have used has given me the results I get from metal halides.
GroktheCube
New member
Currently obsolete? No. In 10 years? Quite possibly. I like MH better than any other lighting source I've used.
Depends what you mean by 'obsolete'. Without going all English major, if the textbook definition then, no, neither MH nor incandescent are obsolete because they still have useful functions. I'm a long time audiophile/videophile and have had just about every form of physical media. Laserdisc, for example, is obsolete because the machines to play them are no longer made. From a practical perspective, and less enslaved to the textbook, incandescent is obsolete as a firm of reef lighting, and I suspect MH will eventually follow. But it will be a while. Heck, LP's are still around (and ironically, may outlive the CD).
AZRippster
Diver & Reef Aquarium Nut
Although I'm an LED user, and a DIY'er of them as well, I find following this thread interesting:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2203067
The debate goes on and on. I lived on them in the late 80's until I fell out of the hobby for awhile. They are still fantastic at growing coral, but as said, they are incredibly inefficient and HOT. I live in Arizona and very thankful the LEDs have come into age.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2203067
The debate goes on and on. I lived on them in the late 80's until I fell out of the hobby for awhile. They are still fantastic at growing coral, but as said, they are incredibly inefficient and HOT. I live in Arizona and very thankful the LEDs have come into age.
reefwiser
New member
http://www.facilitiesnet.com/lighti...Facilities-Management-Lighting-Feature--12012
http://ceolas.net/Docs/Osram_Sylvania_rules_USA_Ban.pdf
Here is the actual Bill of Congress.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/110/hr6/text
I have worked in the industrial maintenance field for 42 years now and deal with lighting as part of my job. While MH is not going away totally. From a perceptive of use it is in the industrial area LED are moving in as they are more reliable and last longer than MH fixtures. MH fixtures are always being worked on. We have 900 fixtures in just one plant I work at. We are switching to LED for the lower cost in running and the Higher light output that LED affords in coverage of light the fixture puts out. There will be great advances in LED in the coming years as the industrial sector increases the switch to LED from MH fixtures.The hobby really is a very very small sector of MH useage. Long term I think you will see the cost of the blubs and fixtures go up as there use in the overall market goes down. Due to the cost of production spread out over a much small user base.
http://ceolas.net/Docs/Osram_Sylvania_rules_USA_Ban.pdf
Here is the actual Bill of Congress.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/110/hr6/text
I have worked in the industrial maintenance field for 42 years now and deal with lighting as part of my job. While MH is not going away totally. From a perceptive of use it is in the industrial area LED are moving in as they are more reliable and last longer than MH fixtures. MH fixtures are always being worked on. We have 900 fixtures in just one plant I work at. We are switching to LED for the lower cost in running and the Higher light output that LED affords in coverage of light the fixture puts out. There will be great advances in LED in the coming years as the industrial sector increases the switch to LED from MH fixtures.The hobby really is a very very small sector of MH useage. Long term I think you will see the cost of the blubs and fixtures go up as there use in the overall market goes down. Due to the cost of production spread out over a much small user base.
d2mini
Premium Member
Does it really matter? Statistcally, you will no longer be in the hobby by then anyway.
Mishri
Active member
I remember when people were trying to see what could grow under T5 lighting. A lot of people assumed it wouldn't be as good as VHO, thinking it was more like CF... and certainty wouldn't grow SPS..
Now nobody runs VHO, and few run CF.. Either T5, MH or LED. Can the hobby support 3 different types of lighting? I believe so, historically it has. Will LED kill T5 and MH just as T5 killed VHO and CF? I'm doubtful, a lot of people don't like the way LED's look or the light coverage. It isn't a "no brainer" kind of switch like T5 was. (Although CF still exists, mostly for it's lower cost)
Now nobody runs VHO, and few run CF.. Either T5, MH or LED. Can the hobby support 3 different types of lighting? I believe so, historically it has. Will LED kill T5 and MH just as T5 killed VHO and CF? I'm doubtful, a lot of people don't like the way LED's look or the light coverage. It isn't a "no brainer" kind of switch like T5 was. (Although CF still exists, mostly for it's lower cost)
Wazzel
New member
LED will drive Mh and other tech out, but not from in the hobby. Our hobby is such a small section of the lighting industry that it has little impact. Industrial and municipal is what you have to watch. Residential and commercial really does not use the high power fixtures we use, for the most part.
sidewinder2180
New member
It will happen in our time. It already has begun.
sidewinder2180
New member
If a lighting company can't make a profit they won't make the product. As more commercial market moves to led. Profits will drop and they will stop making the product. It's all about profit.
Bpb
New member
It will eventually happen for generic consumer viewing light. Even in my Podunk town the street and parking lot lamps are going led. All of the department stores and mall shops are all using warm white par38 LED lighting. I'm even replacing my spiral cfl bulbs in the house with leds as they burn out. For home lighting, the only savings are in bulb replacement. The LED bulbs and cfl bulbs for lamps and bathroom fixtures are all in the 10-15 watt area for the brightness I like anyway. Reef lighting? Probably eventually. If manufacturers like Hamilton go out of business and stop selling fixtures, and your Ushios and XMs and Radiums all go under, then that'll pretty much signify it.
We metal halide users can offer as much anecdotal and statistical evidence about the growing power we want...but at the end of the day we use them because we like the way they look. Plain and simple. I like the way a metal halide lit tank looks more than an LED lit tank. Not even just for sps. They're only obsolete once they're no longer available. VHO is nearly there. You can still find back stock if you look hard enough. Incandescent is nearly there. You can still find them though in various forms here and there. On paper less are better, but some people still actually like the look of an incandescent light and what it does for a room. Obsolete means something is no longer produced or used. Yes leds are now the hot ticket item in all forms of lighting, but that doesn't mean they're the ONLY form. MH are less popular and slowly being replaced in all sectors, but they're not obsolete. Still the dominant form of light for sports stadiums lol
We metal halide users can offer as much anecdotal and statistical evidence about the growing power we want...but at the end of the day we use them because we like the way they look. Plain and simple. I like the way a metal halide lit tank looks more than an LED lit tank. Not even just for sps. They're only obsolete once they're no longer available. VHO is nearly there. You can still find back stock if you look hard enough. Incandescent is nearly there. You can still find them though in various forms here and there. On paper less are better, but some people still actually like the look of an incandescent light and what it does for a room. Obsolete means something is no longer produced or used. Yes leds are now the hot ticket item in all forms of lighting, but that doesn't mean they're the ONLY form. MH are less popular and slowly being replaced in all sectors, but they're not obsolete. Still the dominant form of light for sports stadiums lol
We share the exact same thoughts. No one even mentioned T12 bulbs. I feel that LED lights are just on the verge of what they can do. More is comming to the hobby, custom configs, computer lighting programs the replacate the exact depth you want to emulate in your tank that will put money back in your pocket. We replacate a enviorment. Echo tech has mastered this with its waterflow programs. So look for lighting configs to go the same way. 12k, 20k, 420-4?? NM of actinic and any imaginanable combination of blue, violet, purple, red via a ap in your phone or tablet. Its happening right now.
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