LED Craze

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by ponokareefer

1. Successful fixtures haven't been out very long, so haven't been tested by actual reefers over the long haul. Will they stand up?

Sucessfull LED fixtures have been out for almost 7 years now.. don't know where you are getting that impression from.

Originally Posted by ponokareefer

2. Do bulbs actually last 50,000 hours and remain effective? Or will they be very ineffective after 25,000 hours? My MH's, PC's and T5's don't burn out after a year, but I change them for good reason anyway.

at 50,000 hrs the LEDs are said to have lost 15 to 25% of there intensity, with no color shift, so you can look at this as yes you can use them for the full rated life. will some burn out befor then.. probably, incorect use can burn them out pretty quick, but as long as you keep them cool then you should be fine.

Originally Posted by ponokareefer

3. The cost for fixtures compared to MH's and T5's is way higher right now. I can buy a decent MH or T5 fixture for less than a DIY LED kit. Are you really going to save that much on energy bills and bulb replacements to make that up?

I don't understand what you using for pricing.. to buy a new 2 bulb MH fixture or for me to build a DIY LED is about the same price and in some cases the LED is cheeper to build. I agree that pre-made systems are still expensive but are you adding the 10 years of bulb changes to the MH system that you wont have with the LED system... LEDs get a lot cheeper then.

Originally Posted by ponokareefer

5. I don't own a unit, but are there instructions on how to remove and replace bulbs for a pre-made unit? Aren't they soldered in and together? Personally, I'm not messing with soldering a pre-made unit or I would have just gone with a DIY unit.

why do you want to remove and replace bulbs?

I don't think your getting the idea behind LED set ups.

I don't know how big your tank is but to need 100 LEDs it must be pretty big. also what do you have in it?

so you can get a 96 LED kit for about 700 to 800 bucks, add say 150 for hanging stuff and heat sink well say 1000.00 finnished.

so now I got to J&Ls and buy a set up for a 48" long tank. two MH bulbs two T5's and a hanging kit. 1050.00 now that is the marinstar fixture with two giseman 13K bulbs, digital ballast, and two Uri super actinic t% bulbs. now add the bulb cost for 10 years at 240 per year total cost of this fixture is 3090.00 so three times the cost of the LED fixture. and this is not including the savings in power from both the fixture and the reduction on the load of chillers and such.

so after 10 years you buy a new LED fixture.. and good chance after 10 years you'll be buying a new MH fixture also. so worst case you save 2K.

Steve

[ponokareefer]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

Sucessfull LED fixtures have been out for almost 7 years now.. don't know where you are getting that impression from.

What fixtures are people still using that are 7 years old?



at 50,000 hrs the LEDs are said to have lost 15 to 25% of there intensity, with no color shift, so you can look at this as yes you can use them for the full rated life. will some burn out befor then.. probably, incorect use can burn them out pretty quick, but as long as you keep them cool then you should be fine.

Good to know

why do you want to remove and replace bulbs?

You just said they last 10 years. I guess you just throw the fixture out and buy a new one? What happens if a bulb burns out? Do you have to replace the whole fixture?


Steve

r

[ponokareefer]

Thanks for some of the input Sphelps. One point you brought up that I have an issue with as well is the fast evolution of LED's. If one breaks or burns out in 3 years, are they even going to make that type anymore? We are on XP-G's now, are we going to be on XP-T's in 3 years and no one will carry XP-E's in 3 years? All of this doesn't matter though if you can't even change out the bulbs on a fixture.

[Cal_stir]

i built my 72 led fixture, the dimming feature is awesome, the colour temp can be controlled, i went 50% wh, 35% royal blue and 15% blue but wish i had went 40% wh, 30% rb, and 30%bl, very little heat, been running about a year now with no issues, bought 2 extra of each led type in case of failure, about the same wattage as my 4 bulb t5 ho,but less heat, much brighter and it shimmers, all LPS and soft corals thriving(i have no sps), i'm sure it will last 10 years but i'm also sure that in a few years i will have upgraded to a much larger system and there will be huge advances in lighting technology and i will use it for a gium light or sell it or something.
i do love my led light.

[Hustler]

Im pretty sceptical myself as I have to do an 8 foot tank and the costs are INSANE..... But I do know they work well and are way cheaper in the long run.... I wont be doing a diy but Im in the market for them for sure if they can be found for less than a few grand...

[mseepman]

I'm doing a DIY fixture for my new tank and I can't find a downside to LED. For all the statements of "Where are the nice tanks"...people obviously aren't looking very hard as LED has been around a long time and some amazing tanks are represented out there.
As with all trends...people try different things until they find the one that works...I guarantee the first people using MH were running things in the 6k range and thought it was "awesome".
With the right combination of bulbs and dimming, LED's can be made to fit almost anyone's color choice.

Just my 2 cents though and I encourage everyone to follow the lighting method of their choice.

[ponokareefer]

Originally Posted by mseepman

I'm doing a DIY fixture for my new tank and I can't find a downside to LED. For all the statements of "Where are the nice tanks"...people obviously aren't looking very hard as LED has been around a long time and some amazing tanks are represented out there.
As with all trends...people try different things until they find the one that works...I guarantee the first people using MH were running things in the 6k range and thought it was "awesome".
With the right combination of bulbs and dimming, LED's can be made to fit almost anyone's color choice.

Just my 2 cents though and I encourage everyone to follow the lighting method of their choice.

A lot of concerns I have are not to do with DIY fixture's. They are much simpler to modify or change and if there is an issue, you have put much less money into it. Thanks to modularled, you don't even have to solder anymore, which is a huge bonus if I ever did go this route. Are you planning on buying a bunch of extra LED's just in case you have bulbs burn out/break and the ones you are using go obsolete?