Understanding LED's

[lastlight]

I have seen those spotlight units before that have a reg twist-in end. Why am I not seeing people just wire in standard ceiling sockets above a tank with these clustered? Do the spotlights not keep up as far as the latest and brightest?

[mike31154]

If you search PAR38 on RC you'll find plenty of threads with folks using these. They come in 20,000 K versions and of course warmer colours. They're still quite costly for the powerful versions, but comparable to the pricing of most any other Cree version of a bulb or fixture. I think the original versions lacked options like different optics & the colours we need for marine systems. The manufacturers are starting to come around and offer more choices now though, specifically for our needs.

Here's a link of just one example of a thread with these on RC.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...746535&page=11

& link to page with bulb.

http://www.nanocustoms.com/product_i...roducts_id=213

Not really sure I'd go for them, since they do use household power, therefore will have the driver circuitry built into the base, same as Compact Fluorescent screw in bulbs. I'm toying with the idea of getting GU or MR base lamps & run them directly off a DC voltage source.

Here's a dimmable version, lower power LEDs, but could be very useful for certain applications.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dimmable-PAR38-W...74610053210227

Save yourself a lot of hassle soldering & having half a dozen meanwell drivers to plug in somewhere.

[mark]

would be nice if Sanjay added a LEDs over on his lighting guide. See TJSlayer started a bit of a research comparison with LEDs fixtures, here.

[fencer]

lighting link

http://www.americanaquariumproducts...._Lighting.html