Power saving tips and ways to save money!?

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

LED heater anyone?

Put waterproof leds on aluminium blocks and submerge them into the water. They are "efficient" at emitting heat too isinit?

Ok I shouldn't have said that being an electrical major But then again, its not a crime thinking outside the box (or inside the water over here)

Actually not such a bad idea really & I've found myself wondering why someone hasn't given this a go. Not only will you get at least some heat transfer to the water, you'll also benefit from having the light source very close to your livestock. It's common knowledge that distance is a killer when it comes to light loss. Downside is that you won't have that funky shimmer caused by a point source of light shining through surface agitated water.... and you'd probably need to scrape off algae once in a while... ok, I think now I know why no one's tried it...

Anyhow, waterproof SMD LED light strips have been available for quite some time now & I'm using a couple of 5050 strips to supplement my DIY 10 watt multichip build. Of course I don't have them in the water, but on a smaller system this could work quite well. It's a low voltage light source, so with proper water proofing it's no more dangerous (probably less so) than having a 300 watt heater running on 120 VAC submerged in your tank. I've ordered some LEDs that are submersible for my daughter's wedding this summer. No reason you can't throw a strip of waterproof SMD LED lighting into your tank.

Here's a photo of the waterproof RGB SMD 5050 strips I have. They're covered with a substantial layer of silicone like material. All you would need to do is keep the connectors out of the water, or just gum them up with silicone too. There are also more powerful 5630 SMDs available.