I posted this up because its the first widely available LED fixture I've seen aimed specifically at aquarium use. Until now, I think it was mostly custom & DIY jobbies... These are nice lights & all, but waaay overpriced I think. Maybe not compared to some of the big SW lights its meant to replace, but definitely pricey for FW guys. That said, here is some general LED knowledge for the skeptics:
Properly driven LED's are rated for a theoretical 50,000 hour lifespan, but its theoretical because nobody has ever seen the actual light-emitting diode burn out. Connections may corrode, heatsinks may fail & cause a meltdown, power fluctuations can cause power supply issues, PCB mounts may fail, but the actual diode never dies as long as it is receiving power (unless its crushed & loses vacuum). Some of the original test LED's from the early 1990's are showing signs of degradation now that they have been burning for almost 20 YEARS, but our LED's today are built better, so who knows how long they'll last.
Besides, who leaves their tank lights on for 5 years straight?! If your lights are on for 12 hours a day, the LED should last twice that long. Thats 10 years of energy efficient light with very little heat (reducing cooling costs & temp swings), no lamp changes or buying new bulbs, and significantly more light output from that 200w. 200w of MH is nothing compared to the lumens from 200w of LED's. Color spectrum is a different issue...
Bottom line: LED's will never completely replace other lamps for some specific uses, but they are taking over the world of general illumination for good reason, so get on board!
Properly driven LED's are rated for a theoretical 50,000 hour lifespan, but its theoretical because nobody has ever seen the actual light-emitting diode burn out. Connections may corrode, heatsinks may fail & cause a meltdown, power fluctuations can cause power supply issues, PCB mounts may fail, but the actual diode never dies as long as it is receiving power (unless its crushed & loses vacuum). Some of the original test LED's from the early 1990's are showing signs of degradation now that they have been burning for almost 20 YEARS, but our LED's today are built better, so who knows how long they'll last.
Besides, who leaves their tank lights on for 5 years straight?! If your lights are on for 12 hours a day, the LED should last twice that long. Thats 10 years of energy efficient light with very little heat (reducing cooling costs & temp swings), no lamp changes or buying new bulbs, and significantly more light output from that 200w. 200w of MH is nothing compared to the lumens from 200w of LED's. Color spectrum is a different issue...
Bottom line: LED's will never completely replace other lamps for some specific uses, but they are taking over the world of general illumination for good reason, so get on board!
