LED Lighting

[gwen_o_lyn]

At the July meeting, I brought up that Led lighting is coming out soon. And then I heard someone say "It's already out." I am not sure who said this, but the voice came from where Kevin, Wei, Tom, and Doug were standing. There were a few other people over there as well.

Anyway I would like to know who currently has them out.

I know PFO is sending out the first shipment July 31st.

 

[mojo]

I heard that one of our sponsors at SWU had an LED light almost ready, but not quite ready for us. They were going to introduce it at MACNA, so maybe it'll be out and more information will be available by the end of the year...

 

[gwen_o_lyn]

mojo wrote: I heard that one of our sponsors at SWU had an LED light almost ready, but not quite ready for us. They were going to introduce it at MACNA, so maybe it'll be out and more information will be available by the end of the year...

Thanks Chris, I am in contact with the person who made the first order at MACNA which is through PFO. Was the sponsor PFO?

 

[mojo]

I think it was PFO, but I can't be sure....

 

[sammy33]

Solaris LED

http://www.solarisled.com/">http://www.solarisled.com/</a>

Interesting but expensive.

 

[darren24]

Wow. Nice link. For that kind of money I will let someone else be the test pilot!

Darren

 

[gwen_o_lyn]

You can get the sames lights here for less
http://www.theculturedreef.com/pfo.htm"><span style="color: #497790;">http://www.theculturedreef.com/pfo.htm</span></a>

Thanks for posting the PFO website Sammy!

 

[msnajkowski]

Those are so nice. It would be cheaper in the long run with no replacement bulbs and cheaper power bills. Just can't get over the initial price.

 

[kullas]

sniff sniff i smell a Diy project

 

[msnajkowski]

Amphibious wrote: Well, you can wait a year and see if the price drops. I suspect it will some what especially if another manufacturer comes out with there version. If you currently have MH, an energy bill you hate to see every month and cringe when you have to replace those @%*#@ expensive bulbs, you might want to consider what I'm going to do. One month before IMAC I bought an Aquactinic MH fixture costing $1200. I recognized immediately the benefits of LED lighting. I ordered one to replace that new MH fixture and begin saving money on energy. Plus not having the heat issue to constantly deal with.

People will still be buying MH fixtures. It will not be any problem selling the Actinic MH that's only 4 months old. Taking that money to offset the cost of the LED fixture made it sensible to me. Yes, the initial cost is a bite but the savings in the long run is what interested me. I intend to be in this hobby a long time. What about you?

I am still new to marine tanks. I have only had one for about 18 months or so. Currently I have a 30 gallon tank set-up with plain fluorescents. I will be setting up a 56 gallon tank once I build my stand and canopy which will have about 250 watts from PC lights. These were given to me and are DIY kits. Maybe in the next couple of years I me be ready to upgrade but that will be with another tank.

 

[kullas]

Amphibious wrote:
Oh, by the way, these are not your standard 5mm LEDs that look like this.

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The new high output LEDs look like this.

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The difference is dramatic.

According to PFO, "5mm LEDs are very common and very cheap. The problem is, their light output is very low, the light output diminishes extremely quickly overtime and focusing the light onto a surface is very difficult.


<p style="text-align:left;">The high power LED's have high light output, very little light loss over time, and have optics that can focus the light over a surface area. Luxeon is the leader in these LEDS and they are the ones used in the Solaris Illumination System."



Dick

I was looking at these the other nite on the web 25$ for the LED granted thats still several hundred bucks for the LED's but thats way better than 3000$. With the MH its on and off so whats wrong with the LED's being on and off. i can wire a LED with no problem and the dimming of the LED's is not that hard to do just need to do the wiring i guess time will tell

 

[gwen_o_lyn]

Thanks Dick

 

[tsciarini]

well this sounds great and all but thats a hefty pricetag for 178PAR (at what depth?)...

Obviously, getting these on the streets is going to produce "usable" numbers... until then, this is still a dream awaiting an ending.

 

[cgill311]

I ran across the luxeon LED website today, and thought it might be worth looking at for all you potential DIY'ers. See link below. They've got individual bulbs as well as banks of bulbs for sale. Looks like you need the bulb drivers as well. I see they do have dimming drivers. Maybe some of the electrically savy people could control these from a PC. Check it out. I didn't run the numbers using "old" or "new" math, but it might be an economical option. Besides, what's the fun in buying something if you could have built it yourself?

It would be interesting to see someone crank out a cost comparison on MH versus LED at current prices on an equal PAR basis, accounting for heat effects, utility costs, bulb life, etc. I have the feeling it would be synonymous to the hybrid vs. standard engine car comparison. Until gas prices go up or hybrid base prices drop, buying hybrids can't currently be economically justified.

In the long run, I'm sure LED's will be the preferred lighting solution though. Just a matter of time until they become economically feasible for the general public.

 

[sprayin70]

I don't understand what is the PAR going to be? Are all lights equal, just one is longer than the other but the same PAR at depth per square inch?

 

[wildemon]

Although not apples-apples, I deal with signage at work & we needed new exterior large letters for the top of our building, the ones everybody has in neon. We compared the two side by side- LED and Neon. While the LED was bright, it just was not as bright as traditional Neon. We really wanted the maintenance free LED but decided to let someone else ride the technology edge. Lots of automobiles now use LED taillights instead of glass bulbs and I use them as nightlights over my tank. Obviously metal halide's heat is wasted expensive electrical power, especially if you need a chiller as I do. The corals we love do come from the equator and if this last club meeting proved anything, if you want adequate light on the tank bottom, right now that means metal halides. I hope the LED lighting is sufficient and Amphibious can get the club's PAR meter to prove it's penetration & power. A cool light source would be very welcome in our hobby.

 

[gwen_o_lyn]

If he ever comes to visit, then we will have to make that happen. He lives in FL

 

[tsciarini]

Any idea why they say the units are controllable from 6500->20K and everywhere between, but are then selling two units, 13K and 20K????

 

[kevin]

Welcome dick, thanks for all of your wisdom, as aways!

 

[cameron]

Hmmm... You could use the K2 star with a lens cover and get about 100 lumens per bulb at 1000mA. More per bulb if you pushed it up to 1300mA. Bulb and lens cover would run about $11 bucks per bulb. I am guessing they are using a type V which is far more energy effecient pushing 120lm at 700ma, but would cost 2.5 times as much. You could probably get similar lighting out of 150 K2 bulbs. In bulk you could easily get the price down to $8 per with cover which would give you a total of $1200 plus probably another couple hundred in mounting and wires. Wouldn't be pretty, but it would work fairly well I would guess.