new lighting option, probably better then LED's

[Turf]

I just heard about this and wanted to let you guys know. It's pretty cool and has some great application possibilities.
http://www.news.com/Luxims-tiny-but-powerful-plasma-lightbulb/1606-2_3-6234653.html

 

[Turf]

I was also just reading on their web sight that those bulbs can also be put on a dimmer or sunrise sunset essentially.

 

[jcjstl]

From what i read they are only capable right now of reaching 6000k in color

 

[levon15]

Dont confuse that with their 6000 Kelvin surface of the sun temperature. Thats not light spectrum but its their actual temperature as in touch me and your finger catches on fire temperature.

I dont know why he mentions that in the video.

 

[jcjstl]

levon15 thanks for clarifying that

 

[Turf]

I wonder how hot the edges are though... because if it was even close to that temp on the outside the housing they are using would melt. It did say it was a 'purer' light (more light given off for same energy input) so that would lead me to believe less is being released as excess wasted energy (heat) and more of it being light.

 

[DrBDC]

Correct. Remeber heat is expressed per mass. So if you have .1 grams @6000 degrees, it would give off the same as a 10 gram mass @600 degrees. And it is very tiny. The 2000 degrees of a metal halide has much more mass. In the video that 250 watt version looked extremely brighter than the 400 watt one next to it. I don't remember the lumens per watt of the metal halide though. Those were 140 if I remember.

 

[Turf]

There are several companies currently doing trials on the lights to see how they fair on saltwater tanks and according to Luxim who I just got off the phone with they are showing very promising results so far (a few months in). Luxim will not be producing the fixtures, just providing the lights to the companies making them.

They also have a dimming feature that can reduce the light to 40% of it's power which will be great for morning and evening lighting!

Here are a couple links they gave me... not much else being put out there about them so far.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/reefbuilders/videos/20/

"Well just when you star thinking that Plasma Arc lighting is still years away from anything but prototype use, we stumble upon this awesome macroalgae tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is already using Luximfs latest and greatest. We had a look at the lighting behind this tank before we saw the front but if we hadnft, the color balance and the shimmer was so natural that we would have guessed that this aquarium was using a skylight or a Sola Tube. Now before you go griping that this is a macroalgae tank and not a reef tank, keep in mind that these giant plants often have higher light demands than many of our deeper living corals, expecially the branching coralline algaes which live in extreme shallows and tidepools. At the time this video was shot, the Luxim Plasma Arc light had been in use for a couple months. Enjoy the video of the tank itself and wefll post the video demo of the light running on this tank soon. Big thanks to David Cripe for giving us the tour of both sides of this tank. For the record, this tank is using just one single 250 watt LIFI lamp and still getting lots of brightness at the bottom of the tank, over 36 deep."

http://www.reefbuilders.com/2009/07/...mination-tank/

 

[kentrob11]

Hmmm

 

[Wile E Coyote]

That is too cool...... That would save some serious wattage especially if you could turn it down to 40%

 

[Saltgills]

Amazing. Thanks for sharing this.

 

[breutus]

your second link was no working here was the behind the scenes video on the website

http://www.viddler.com/explore/reefbuilders/videos/19/

and this

http://www.reefbuilders.com/2009/06/24/luxims-plasma-arc-lifi-lighting-demoed-monterey-bay-aquarium/

How far out from consumer production could they be if they already have prototypes!!

I have a friend that works For the city and he showed me some sights where they had plans to use this type of lighting in street lights because it was so efficient And so long lasting! He heard claims that a bulb could last for years before needing replaced... Wonder if it would hold true for our needs