Halogen lighting?

[kallmond]

Is heat the reason no one uses halogen lights in planted tanks? In looking for cheap wattage, a bazillion watt halogen work light is like $7...

The color is going to be really blue, but I wonder if the regular incandescent lighting in the room plus indirect sunlight would be enough red to cover for that?

I'm sure there is some reason, its too easy and cheap of a solution for someone to not have tried it, I'm just wondering what I'm missing. I'm pretty new to aquatic plants, so I thought I'd ask the smart people

 

[FSM]

watts do not = light

Much of the 90 watts or whatever used to power the halogen bulb end up producing heat, not light, while a 26W CFL bulb produces the same amount of light and only a little bit of heat.


If your tank is fairly small, CFL bulbs are the easiest and cheapest lighting solution. On a larger tank, tubular fluorescents (eg a shoplight) are more effective.

 

[kallmond]

I know watts =/= lumens, but isn't a 26w cfl comperable to around 90 watts incandescent? A halogen shop light is like $10 for 250 watts.

The all-knowing google says a 26w CFL is 1900 lumens, while a 250 watt halogen is around 3600 lumens.

Thats 10x the electricity for 2x the brightness, so that may be the major drawback..

 

[FSM]

Yes, the problem is that they are very inefficient.

 

[mgk]

they get really hot, like burning hot.

 

[wheresalbany]

I tried using three halogen light pucks (the kind that go under cabinets to light countertops in kitchens) to light a 10 gallon planted tank and although the light was nice and bright (and a bit yellow), the heat they caused cracked the glass hood in less that a day and made the tank water feel like bathwater. Halogen is not the way to go.

 

[JakeH]

There's bound to be a reason people dont use them... Heat is my guess. I have no need for that much wattage, though.

 

[garhog]

I would have to say that 10x the electricity useage would make them an expensive option plus excess heat would deter me