LEDs.. have they arrived yet?

[snowmansnow]

I keep wandering this...

chime in and let me know what you think....

have LEDs arrived as a viable lighting yet???

what I mean is has the effectiveness / cost evened out yet?


Too many issues still to work out?

What are your opinions?

 

[elfloyd]

Had mine up for over a year. Bulb changes and electric bills are rapidly eating away at he cost of the LEDs plus (along with the Apex) tank temps never vary more than .3 degrees.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

While mine aren't here yet....given what I know in my own business world...the cost is beginning to come down but I don't think we've come anywhere close to seeing it bottom out. We're still probably a year away from that. It'll take more than a hobby to bring it inline. The auto industry is investing heavily in LED technology along with the industrial/manufacturing market (being used as a light source in these types of buildings). I'm now seeing it in commercial buildings. It's only a matter of time before we see it in schools and finally in homes (already here to a small degree). Once all of those are in alignment...we'll see the cost versus benefit equal out.

 

[coolsurf]

I firmly believe in them however, I chose to build my own. I did it my way, my terms, my design and the effect was my chioce. To answer your question, LED is here and is definately ready to take over the lighting world of reef keeping.

 

[ichthyoid]

I have all 3 types of lighting. All 3 work. I just don't think LED's are refined enough yet, so I'm holding off (for now) on further investment.

The next year or two will see major advances in available spectrum/balance and power/PAR distribution (apologies to all the affecianado's that have 'tuned' their fixtures with the right balance of lenses).

Not to mention that, for a variety of reasons, prices are dropping like the 'proverbial rock'. So much so, that many sellers will find it difficult to make a profit on them.

Controllers/interfaces are developed and about to hit the market in a big way. Interfacing to controllers, like the Apex, will go mainstream as welll.

 

[enderg60]

Yes and no. Due to the relatively cheap electrical costs here most of the stock units are still above the break even point over T5's or halides.

Now the DIY ones on the other hand are if you do it right well worth it.

For example, I did the math for converting my system which has 3 400w halides and 4 3w t5's, to LED's using CREE's.

With 216 LED's at MSPR prices, the unit would pay it self off in 10 years or the life of the LED's. Not worth the investment or time.

Using Bridglux LED's at group buy prices the return time dropped to 3-4 years.

So basically the only person that can tell you if its worth it is you. Do the math and see for yourself.

 

[dakota9]

I think LEDs are good... And getting better.

They will also c-ome way down in price as Plasma Lighting enters the market place

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTGsM9pplUs">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTGsM9pplUs</a>

I predict in 5 years, the typical reef tank will be lite using LEDs, and within 7 years, high end (yet flawed) Plasma fixtures will be available.

Kiss you MH good-bye, for they are heaving dinosaurs......

 

[gnashty]

I got my LED's not long ago and I must say, it was a no brainer. I paid less than I paid for my T5 fixture 2 years ago. Temp is stable, growth is crazy....overall, depending on what features you need...LED's have become affordable if not the best option when looking for a new light fixture.

 

[db366]

I think they are here, but I think that they still have a while to go before they are a staple. There are still so many questions up in the air 1 watt, 3 watt, Cree, Bridgelux, White/blue or do you need royal blue, UV bulbs, Red, yellow, green colors. Everyone though AI was the best LED light made, now it's just okay and the growth is meh.

 

[rskillz]

I built a custom fixture for my 180g consisting of 180 LEDS about five months ago, I think LEDS have absolutely arrived, and here is my take on it:

Pros:

1. My SPS growth and color is unreal under the LEDs. There is no doubt that of all corals SPS seem to benefit the most from the intesity/wavelength of LEDs.

2. Dimmable white/blue - I used to be one of those people who constantly switched bulbs to find the right spectrum, but was never truly happy. Gone are those days, I can ramp them independently.

3. Lack of Heat--pretty self-explanatory. We fight heat in this hobby and chillers are a pain.

4. long term-cost. If they last even half as long as they are supposed to, they will practically pay for themselves.



Cons:

1. LPS don't seem to like them a lot. Chalices inparticular have given me problems. Probably my fault for ramping the LEDS up too early. I still only use them at about 40%

2. Expensive up front--the cost is dropping fast though. Especially if you're willing to build it yourself.

 

[snowmansnow]

I have had a DIY fixture over a frag tank for a while, and yea the growth was really good, but the cost of lighting a full tank put me off. This was about a year ago.

I currently run totally t5, so the cost of a chiller isn't really a saving for me since I don't need one anyway. I would be interested to know how much annual savings a LED light would offer me though.

I have an SPS display, and I'm always cautious about installing new equipment that will cause radical changes.... like light

Personally, I'm not sure they are cost effective yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen soon.

I guess the newest big name one out is the one from Ecotech. Any reviews in on this one yet?

B

 

[mockery]

I spent quite a few hours this past August I building my LED fixture. Put quite a bit of money into in and it has been sitting in my closet done and ready to put on my tank since then.

My tank has just been too consistent with growth and such that I can't bring my self to change it. Now my radium bulb is about to need repacing end of the month so I'm gonna have to do something pretty soon.

 

[snowmansnow]

I'm in the same boat kinda with my T5 fixture.. time to spend $200 on lamps (been a year almost)....

Not sure if I wanna spring for something new

B

 

[snowmansnow]

It is in another thread here, but I do find it interesting that Sanjay still runs MH. I think his home tank is 500g, so maybe its just more feasible for MH on a larger tank.

B

 

[rededge2k1]

porpoiseaquatics;696039 wrote: It'll take more than a hobby to bring it inline...I'm now seeing it in commercial buildings. It's only a matter of time before we see it in schools and finally in homes (already here to a small degree).

Interesting that you point out schools -- I work for a construction management company and we are building a new middle school addition to St. Martin's Episcopal School here in town. All of the exterior light fixtures are LED fixtures. This is most notable for the parking lot lighting -- the LED fixtures allow the entire parking lot to be lit from a string of light poles fed by a single 277v circuit. Considering most parking lots have a multiple big ole honkin' 400w metal halide or high pressure sodium bulb on EACH pole, switching to LEDs in this area alone saves a considerable amount of energy ($$$). Add to that all of the exterior fixtures on the building, as well as a good majority of interior fixtures being LED, and you have a pretty cool setup. Of course, like all good investments, it costs more upfront but pays off in the long run.

If only we could find a way to get the public sector to front the added costs during public school construction, imagine how much money the state school system (us, the taxpayers) could save in electricity costs each year.

LEDs are certainly the future, no doubt about it.

Dustin

 

[tchristman]

I think they have surely arrived but might be just a bit away for large tanks. They look and work great on small tanks but I am not quite ready to buy into them for a large tank. With that said I have used them on my new 400 for actinic lightning and they are very nice. I say another 12-18 months and they will have fully arrived.

 

[rdnelson]

As an electrical contractor I am seeing them more and more. But, the cost is still prohibative. Really takes someone who is not concerned with the budget to agree to save money. (I promise that makes sense if you think about it). LOL Exterior lighting was the first place we started seeing them. More and more the interior lighting is going that way. Especially recessed downlighting. Since downlighting over the past 20 years has been done with Compact Fluorescents (a lot of them to cover the floor space) switching to LED is a good fit. When you are trying to cover larger areas or from higher elevations, T5 Fluorescent is the only viable option at this time. But that will change very soon I bet.

RedEDGE2k1;717415 wrote: Interesting that you point out schools -- I work for a construction management company and we are building a new middle school addition to St. Martin's Episcopal School here in town. All of the exterior light fixtures are LED fixtures. This is most notable for the parking lot lighting -- the LED fixtures allow the entire parking lot to be lit from a string of light poles fed by a single 277v circuit. Considering most parking lots have a multiple big ole honkin' 400w metal halide or high pressure sodium bulb on EACH pole, switching to LEDs in this area alone saves a considerable amount of energy ($$$). Add to that all of the exterior fixtures on the building, as well as a good majority of interior fixtures being LED, and you have a pretty cool setup. Of course, like all good investments, it costs more upfront but pays off in the long run.

If only we could find a way to get the public sector to front the added costs during public school construction, imagine how much money the state school system (us, the taxpayers) could save in electricity costs each year.

LEDs are certainly the future, no doubt about it.

Dustin

 

[wbrown]

meh, I do a LOT of building on Army installations as a construction manager, even the gummint has to concede to the dollar and a lot of projects where I am working are not going LEEDS nor LED.
However I have a handful of 200W, 400W and 1000W high bay fixtures stored. many not in service for a year. I will have canopy mount 200W times about 30 in the next few weeks if I want to lug 'em home. Lamps are 3500-6000K, but they dont look bad with a 20K screwed in.

 

[morganatlanta]

I like my DIY LED set up I did about a year ago, but I was 6 months ahead of the curve and paid way to much for the LEDs. They would cost less than half now, and the choices for drivers are much better.

Compare a the cost of a 120W Chinese Bridgelux system to the cost of a 6x39w T5 system or 250W MH, and they are about the same initial cost, but the savings on T5 blow the others away. LEDs have arrived.

 

[rdnelson]

I have a ton of 400W MH high bays. Thought about using a couple on my DIY fixture but opted for 6 Lamp T5HO instead. We almost never install MH anymore in warehouses.

wbrown;717638 wrote: meh, I do a LOT of building on Army installations as a construction manager, even the gummint has to concede to the dollar and a lot of projects where I am working are not going LEEDS nor LED.
However I have a handful of 200W, 400W and 1000W high bay fixtures stored. many not in service for a year. I will have canopy mount 200W times about 30 in the next few weeks if I want to lug 'em home. Lamps are 3500-6000K, but they dont look bad with a 20K screwed in.