[reeferaddict]

Originally Posted by Midknight

I totally agree with you Reeferaddict, but as G1GY says, will wait for at least 6 months and let other people reveiw it first.
Besides they will always drop in price after the first year when the "New & Improved" model comes out.

I couldn't agree more - even PFO says within a year these fixtures will actually cost LESS than a MH setup... I'm just excited about someone taking the plunge with this new technology that has been on the horizon for 3 years now... I will want to see results before I even think about ordering one... if you look at PFO's gallery, the display tank looks like nothing special.

Steve - LED's have no filaments to burn out, and run considerably cooler than HID, so it's not just the 40%, but also the other energy costs. During the warm months here I have both AC and the chiller, I get to watch my hydro meter spin around like it's getting ready for take off. As for the PAR values, they're all charted on PFO's site, and their tests show comparably with what they claim... I guess we'll have to wait for them to ship and people to use them for 6 months to a year before we can have any unbiased opinions based on real world testing. A 400W equivalent is in the works to be released later this year. As for the 10% replacement over the life of the fixture I guess only time will tell - but I DO remember the hype a couple of years back about "dead pixel" issues with LCD monitors and longevity issues with those which have since fallen by the wayside. I can't imagine a company putting a foot forward without having done its due diligence, and what could be a bigger nightmare for a company than to have problems as you have described? Having dealt with PFO directly before, I am confident that the stated life of the product is actually much less than the actual expected life. Most LED's are stated to have a 100,000 hour life expectancy. The one thing that IS of concern is their estimate that the fixtures will only retain 70% of it's PAR over the life of the product - whether this is caused by dead LED's or what have you... 30% light loss is something easily rectified by our standard fixtures of today...