MH vs LED POWER CONSUMPTION
- Thread starter Misenplace101
- Start date
125G Reefer
New member
Last edited:
125G Reefer
New member
you need to do a bit more homework bro. Amps are driving the system, not your watts. And he's saying its equivalent to 154watts dude.
James77
Team RC
They have to be adding heat to the water, just not enough to raise the temp of the tank. Im sue the heater is on less when the halides are on.
When I was running 2x250 up until a couple weeks ago, the tank temp would raise from 78.5- 80.5 by the end of the photoperiod.
Running the 2x175s now, the tank temp does not raise at all. However, looking at my Apex, the heater is on much less when those halides are on.
reefergeorge
New member
What leds are you running? cree XPGs have a max forward voltage of 3.3. Your at 39.6v if that is what you are running. That driver is stated at 1.1a at 48v.. You shouldn't be pulling 1.4a.
I have 5 meanwell 700s, and 4 48Ds. My 48Ds pulls 60 watts with 12 cree XPGs at 900ma. I havn't checked the 700s.
James77
Team RC
But the output of the driver is 48vand it is 700ma, or .7
Id be curious as to what his killa watt says in watts, because we are charged by kilowatt hours. Im sorry, but people would not be realizing almost any power savings if 12 3-watt LEDs were pulling 154 watts from the wall.
jwoyshnar
Active member
Agree with you 100%. I got my bulbs from 1000bulbs.com. $11 each. This is the happiest ive been with bulbs since ive been reefing. I just took out ushios when i changed bulbs and wont be going back. I plan on buying a bunch at this price som im good for years.
reefergeorge
New member
Doesn't always work like that with electronics. You would have to know the PF.
tangstank
Obsessed Reefer
Oh dude you are not only ignorant in Engineering, but common sense as well as reading ability. Kindly please read my post completely, work with your smart calculator & then work on criticizing. Seriously now, you seem like a teen who knows everything.
1.4 Amps * 110 Volts = 154 Watts. This is the power drawn by the driver to step down & regulate 48 V DC @ 750mA to operate 12 LED's.
I do understand you can get an efficient driver, but the reality of LED practically is as stated above.
Seriously now, you have over 1400 posts, don't spoil your reputation with ignorant comments.
jwoyshnar
Active member
True but the entire circuit is pulling 1.4 amps at 110 volts. You have to go by what is being pulled from the wall. Thats what the electric company cares about.
The heat is blown out the side of the fixture. I can put my hand directly under the bulb, outside of the fixture, and it's just slightly warm
reefergeorge
New member
The driver adjusts the voltage to keep the current at 700ma. It will only output what the leds need to "break open".
tangstank
Obsessed Reefer
I will get some pics of my Kill-o-watt reading, but never the less why is it so hard to comprehend
48V DC * 0.75 Amps = 36 Watts = 12 X 3 Watt LED's.
For the Driver to step down 110V AC to 48 V DC, the transformer & regulator used in most LED kits today consume 110V AC * 1.1 Amps (as stated) = 121 Watts.
According to my reading using Amp meter it read 1.4 Amps => 154 Watts.
tangstank
Obsessed Reefer
Since we have a transformer & regulator, the PF is slightly less then 1. This will still not change the power drawn by the driver at any given point of time. If you want to get into PF discussion I feel it is irrelevant, but if you feel other wise we can take it offline via PM's or a different thread since it involves quite a bit of calculations.
I'm just trying real hard to explain Ohm's law here.
James77
Team RC
Then why is the person with the following tests showing 186 watts? According to what you say, with his multiple drivers, he should be seeing many more watts on the killawatt, right?
The Heatsink is a 24” x 8.46” from HeatsinkUSA. The LED strips are 6 XR-E Royal Blue/White and 4 XRE Royal Blue. The drivers are MeanWell 60-48D. The four Royal Blue strips are driven at full power (at 9 volts appx 580mA) in 2 parallel series of 12 LEDs. The other Royal Blue/White Strips are driven by a single MeanWell 60-48D adjusted to 750mA at 9Vdc
The drivers were adjusted and the input voltage was provided by a Radio Shack Enercell. Par was measured 24” above the fixture center mass and 24” centered but 12 “ to the side. The meter was an Quantum Flux Apogee meter MQ-200. Watts were measured with the common KillaWatt meter.
No Optics
Driver Input........PAR@24”..........PAR@24”..........Watts
Volts DC.........Center Mass........Center + 12”
9......................214....................142.................186
7.5....................180...................128..................162
6.......................152...................100.................124
4.5....................104....................82....................84
3.......................78.....................58....................49
1.5.....................32.....................22...................21
Bill
tangstank
Obsessed Reefer
Bingo! Good luck explaining this further. But thanks for making my point simple.
tangstank
Obsessed Reefer
Jim, Jim, Jim, I know Bill very well. He lives by my place, I will talk to him as well tomorrow. In the mean time I will get the picture of my Kill-o-Watt & show you the power drawn by driver for 12 LED's.
Either case please understand AC input to the driver to DC output to drive the LED's.
Either case please understand AC input to the driver to DC output to drive the LED's.
James77
Team RC
This is where my problem/confusion lies. That it consumes that much power doing the stepping down. That driver must be hot as anything, right?
aufo8mycat
New member
My power cost 0.2264 $/kw
i was wrong in my original statement i forgot to change value of hours in excell spread sheet. so is closer to $100 per month for power add to this 350 a year for new arcadia globes MH only
$200 for arcadia T5 80watt very hard to get in australia for some unknown reason)
so savings of $550 globes provide i dont blow any mh globes prematurity (happend twice last year)
$50 per month on power (generous estimation)
is saving me 1150 a year just on globes and lighting power,
add chiller savings, plus aircon.
there is also the aesthetic reasons i now have the sun rising in the west and setting in the east with moonlight chasing the sun, i can match the weather to that outside eg cloudy, stormy etc
although i am sure it is all not savings as i am aware in winter my haildes did do there part in keeping the tank warm so i guess in stead of using a chiller making a hot room hotter i will be using a heater to make a cold tank warmer, personal comfort i would rather cooler surrounds for both my fish and myself.
yes my vertex is 400 watt but at no time is it ever pulling that, even in the middle of the peak usage it is only ramped up to 80% power and thats only 1 of the 3 colors
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