New Lightbulb, Hopefully Coming Soon

[Rick83]

I just saw this news story on slashdot.org and they had a link to a video that looked promising:

http://news.zdnet.com/2422-13568_22-192842.html

They say it makes a lot more light with a lot less heat. the 250W bulb looked twice as bright as the 400W halide they had next to it. I guess its running in the 6000K area and is about the size of a tic tac.

Move over LED's

 

[SW75MAN]

That is awesome! But of course it will probably be years before it is available to the aquarium trade.

Very promising.

 

[serpentman]

Wow, that is pretty impressive. Its probably going to be a while until a version is adapted to higher color temps. But still sounds more promising than even LED's.

 

[CleveYank]

Looks like a stock to keep tabs of.
I wonder if they are public?

 

[serpentman]

Good call. I imagine "Green" / energy efficient devices are going to be the dot com stocks of the next couple of years.

 

[serpentman]

Looks like they are a private company backed by venture capital. Still worth keeping an eye out. My guess is we'll see a large company like GE gobble them up or license the technology.

www.luxim.com

 

[CleveYank]

I called them and LMCB with their head of Product Development

 

[Rick83]

According to their website it looks like they are going to debut the bulbs at some lighting show in Vegas in 2 months and already have similar technology in panasonic projection televisions.

To be able to have one 250W bulb instead of 2 and eliminate the chiller would let me spend a lot more at the fish store instead of the electric company.

And how much could it really cost to make a bulb the size of a tic tac, cant be too much in materials and argon gas is dirt cheap since they fill vinyl windows with the stuff.

 

[serpentman]

If I were a gambling man, I would bet that any adaptations to the aquarium/plant hobby would be about double the cost of a MH initially to cover R&D and maximize profit before having to compete with offshore knock offs. However, over time, I could see them come down considerably.

 

[sohal1025]

I am sold......

 

[cowboycaddy]

Idig it.

 

[Murphs205]

pretty cool ..... so much for LED's being the "future of aquarium lighting" before they got down to a decent price . they need to crank that thing up into the 13000-15000k color range. say make it the size of 2 tic tacks , it will lower the cost of LED in the future as well. so the common folk can afford them too , hope to see it in action soon ,, you can count on theses new bulbs making it to our hobby in a few years if not sooner , just get ready for sticker shock up front, they will be very costly.

That company will hit up The Shedd , Baltimore and all other big Aquariums , those cats change bulbs like we do our socks, think of the cost savings in bulbs and the electric to these places , could be a good thing brewing here , time will tell

 

[anaelitz]

I just preordered a couple...ha haaaa

 

[crazyseany]

Bring it on... 6000 K would be great for a freshwater planted tank.
I emailed them and they are going to send me 20 of em to try out....

 

[funkyman]

20? What are you going to do, light up the street?

 

[serpentman]

Did they give you an idea of what the cost is?

 

[funkyman]

I'd like to get one to light my sump with.

 

[sohal1025]

One would be good to just light a fish room well let alone for the reef and sump.......

 

[crazyseany]

since they dont put off much heat I am going to put them all ove my 75 gallon.

They were going to charge me for shipping but told them I would let them know if I liked them or not so they paid for that for me....

Normal cost is $1.50 per bulb

 

[funkyman]

I may have missed something, but is there a fixture to put them in?