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The new trend in lighting our marine tanks, both
FOWLR and reef, seems to be progressively leading to LED Lighting.
Until recently, LEDs were too expensive to use for most lighting
applications because they are built around advanced light emitting
semiconductor material. These devices have dropped considerably in
price over the last few years making LED lighting a more cost effective
option for a wide range of applications, including ours. Although LED
lighting systems are currently more expensive than T5, HQI, and MH
systems, in the long run they are a better buy for the following
reasons. '¢
Greater than 160 lumens/watt available now, with an expected 200
in'¨ the near
future '¢ No
compromise between efficacy and CRI '¢
Useful Kelvin temperatures readily available '¢ No
wasted light, any pattern possible '¢ Up
to 50,000 hours of life '¢ No
filament to break '¢
Reaches full brightness in nanoseconds '¢
Creates the shimmering effect associated with MH and HQI
lamps '¢
Contains no mercury, lead or other heavy metals '¢
High in energy savings '¢ No
heat transfer to aquarium thereby no noisy fans or chillers to
run '¢ No
costly lamp replacement
'Unfortunately you will find that
'50,000 hours' is thrown around by almost every LED company in
our industry - and its simply not true. Most manufacturers are not
using high quality LED chips, they often will overdrive the LED chip
(up to 1000mA), or have no temperature protection. In the end the LEDs
will fail prematurely (often within 2 years), and end up just
disappointing customers. It's unfortunate, but its all too common
in our industry.' -- Ike Eigenbrode/Ecoxotic Selection LEDs (or light-emitting diodes) work by applying a
low voltage to a light emitting diode/semiconductor contained within
the device itself.
The Reef Culture Aquarium Store in Tempe, AZ uses Ecoxotic LED Modules exclusively for lighting their display tanks exclusively, thus saving energy costs and providing ease of tank maintenance. Ecoxotic photo.
LED hoods can be affordable and fill basic
fish-only roles such as the Double Bright Lighting System from
Marineland, with 16 one-watt LEDs and with 8 lunar LEDs in a
36-48" fixture. There are also high-end systems such as
Ecoxotic's Panorama Hood available in two models (17.5" and
23.5") designed to support photosynthetic organisms like corals
and giant clams. These models are also available as retrofits. Another
company, Reef Brite also produces comparable LED modules designed for
retrofitting and/or installation in custom canopies.
'As hobbyists become more and more aware of
the power consumption our aquariums use on a daily basis, energy
efficiency equipment alternatives are becoming increasingly popular. At
the forefront of this push is LED lighting, which utilizes a
considerable amount less of energy consumption, while having virtually
no heat transfer into the aquarium itself. Now that we are
approximately four to five years into using LED lights for our light
loving animals, this technology has proven to be a viable alternative
to metal halide and fluorescent lighting, even for our most light
demanding inhabitants.' -- Jeremy Brower, Premium
Aquatics How do LED systems stack up against other types of
lighting? A test was conducted on a 20 inch cube tank lit by a fixture
containing six T5HO lamps totaling 120 watts. At mid level, the PAR
reading measured 170. Replacing the T5HO fixture with a 42 watt
Ecoxotic Retro (to be released soon) produced a PAR reading of 240. In
all fairness, there are other factors to consider when comparing LED
lighting to other types of lighting. Type of lamp, Kelvin temperature,
and depth of tank all play a role in comparing PAR readings. Aquarists
with deep reef systems will obviously choose HQI or MH lighting as LED,
T5HO, and PC light penetration are limited in this
regard. 'It's quite obvious that the LEDs have
come of age in providing a viable solution to lighting reef aquaria.
While a lot of other factors that may be involved in making decisions
such as power savings, cost, longevity, controllability, cost of
ownership etc. these are not the factors considered here. Based solely
on quantitative light output data, I am excited about the future of
this technology for reef aquarium use.' -- Sanjay Joshi, Advanced
Aquarist Magazine, February, 2010. Energy Efficiency Energy savings are one of the biggest assets of
using LED lighting. If we take a twin 175 watt metal halide fixture and
use a rate of 0.15 per kilowatt hour, based on 10 hours use per day,
the yearly cost would be a little over $190.00. Comparing this with two
of Ecoxotic's 23.5" Panorama fixtures, the cost would be right
around $50.00 per year, and keep in mind, no additional energy
consumption for cooling fans or chillers which are typically required
in these systems. That amounts to a savings of $140.00 per year just
in electrical consumption, and you can add to this the cost of yearly
lamp replacement and energy use by supporting equipment such as fans
and chillers. Yes, the initial investment for LED systems is high, but
in the long run you will be saving a substantial amount of
money. There are many options available to aquarists with
LED lighting, including full hoods, retrofits, modules, strips,
pendants and components for DIYers. If you already have an existing aquarium light
fixture (or canopy retrofit system) and want to add some additional
color enhancement, LEDs could very well be the way to go. The specific
wavelengths LEDs produce definitely will make the colors 'pop'
in your fish and corals, they also produce the beautiful ripple/shimmer
effects associated with higher output lighting such as metal halide and
HQI. These are often labeled as 'stunner strips' and are
becoming increasingly popular for hybridizing existing
lighting.
Caution 'Aquarium product companies appear to
be rightly focusing their R&D capabilities on LED lamped lighting
products, as their operating costs/lamp lifespan are far better than
MH/HQI fixtures. As to LED spectral and intensity characteristics, they
also have improved over the past few years, yet do advise aquarists to
do their homework on what product/fixture will suit their specific
needs, as these fixtures are still somewhat expensive. Then be sure
your buying from a reputable source, as warranties mean little if the
company goes out of business.' -- Bob
Goemans A word of caution should be noted here.
There are many LED fixtures and retros available to aquarists that are
not meant, or falsely advertised as primary aquarium lights. These LEDs
will give aquarists not doing their homework a false impression that
LEDs are not powerful enough for a Reef or planted freshwater aquarium.
My advice is that you do your homework on any LED system you may
consider purchasing to ensure PAR value, lumen output, and Kelvin
temperature meet the needs of your inhabitants. Another factor to consider is advertised
lamp life, it could be misleading. Presently, many of the high power
LEDs that are being produced by reputable LED manufacturers claim
50,000 hour lamp life. This is achieved by not exceeding the
recommended operating current of 350mA per lamp. Some fixture
manufacturers may overdrive LEDs in an effort to reduce the number of
lamps in the fixture which in turn lowers production expense at the
cost of lower lamp life. All of the above should be carefully
researched before making your LED lighting
purchase.
Conclusion As you can see, the future of LED lighting
is very bright (no pun intended). High power LED development is
increasing on a daily basis along with component costs steadily
dropping. In a recent press release at Cree, the company
states: Cree's tests confirmed that the LED
produced 208 lumens of light output and achieved 208 lumens per watt
efficacy at a correlated color temperature of 4579 K. The tests were
conducted under standard LED test conditions at a drive current of 350
mA at room temperature. Although it will be some time before these LEDs
will be available to manufacturers, and in the Kelvin temperatures we
desire, this continuing combination of technological advancement and
decrease in component cost will no doubt lead to an increasingly
well-priced, effective, energy efficient solution to any aquarists
lighting needs. It is hoped that this information will be beneficial to
those considering switching to, or supplementing their existing
lighting with LED technology.
Clownfish and anemone under Ecoxotic Links:
http://reefbrite.com/ (under
construction)
http://www.edison-opto.com.tw/
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