One thing many people fail to take into consideration is once you add in everything, aka you need more LEDs for the same amount of light, you can't run Steve's leds at the same currents (aka 1000mA max for XP-G, 3000mA for XM-L), the forward voltages are higher = more power use... long term a Cree setup will very likely save you money.
For example a Cool white XP-G puts out around 270lm at 2.4 watts while a 3 watt Pure White 7,000K LED - 2 Chip EpiStar puts out 220lm at 2.4 watts.
So if you are running 50 R5 Crees ($4.95 on ledgroupbuy.com) at 700mA they put out about 260lm each using 2.27watts. You are putting out 13 000lm using 113.5 watts.
To get the same amount of lumens from the EpiStar quoted above you would need 59 (at $3.49each) leds running at 700mA using 141.8 watts. That a difference of 9 more leds and 28 watts of power. I typical reef setup of a large tank could easily use 30-60 more watts to run and 10-20 extra LEDs.
50 XPG is $247.50
59 EpiStar is $205.00
Once you factor in the price of the extra LEDs, possibly more drivers due to higher forward voltages (the forward voltage listed isn't precise, so I can be sure), possibly more heatsinking, wiring, adhesive/grease/screws/tapping and energy use of many years it isn't necessarily more expensive to use Cree.
Just food for thought. Steve's LEDs is highly recommended and I've only heard good things. I'm not trying to bash the company in any way. I'm just saying, consider everything.
|