whose excited about these lights!

[Amoore311]

For me, LEDs make sense. Yes, they are initially more expensive, but save money in the long run. The lights last a very long time as opposed to having to replace metal halide lights every 9mos or so. My brother-in-law switched to LEDs a few months back and is already noticing the savings building up. It costs him about $75-$80 to replace his one halide bulb. So he is saving drastically on energy usage from both metal halides and his chiller (which he doesn't need anymore without the halides), and in a bit over two years, he will have save close to $240 in bulbs alone. This does not include the savings of energy usage of LEDs over halides or being able to take his chiller off-line. He spent a bit over $600 for the 12" AI unit and it's controller. His metal halide light cost close to $300. In two years, he will have basically paid for the LED light with the savings he is having based on energy usage and not having to constantly replace bulbs. He is also seeing very nice coloration and growth with the AI light. Don't look at the initial cost of the LED. You have to look at the long term savings.

Just to play devil's advocate here. What happens if your brother in laws LED's shift spectrum in 2-3 years, what's he going to do then?

LEDS haven't really been around long enough to tell how long they will hold spectrum.

Manufacturers can say 5, 7, 10 years of bulb life all they want. I can more than likely get 3 years out of a halide bulb. That just means the bulb will fire for 3 years, it doesn't mean it will hold its spectrum for that long.

 

[dknydiep]

Very sleek looking unit. It'll be interesting to see how well it works, especially at that price tag.