I WANT! LED light by Ecoxotic

[groan]

http://www.tankgadget.com/2010/03/ecoxotic-led-lights-wow/

I need new lights, but do i need $1500 lights?
The benefits are great for LED though. 50000 hours life? wow.
no light changes for 50000 hours.
wow.
How much would you save over the course of 2 years?

(excuse me while I pimp my site in the process )

[JetJumper]

I really don't know how they justify the cost of these LED Lights.  LED's are cheap to manufacture.. yet they charge a retarded price for fixtures.  Hence me making my own for $50.00 so far invested.  Sure they are not the same wattage but I sourced an ebay store with the correct ones.  If I make a new light, thats what I will use next time

[groan]

I know. that's the issue I have.
BUT
comparing price to price, between fixtures, for the lazy person with money to burn, LED fixtures are still a good deal.
How much to replace a 6 tube set of bulbs on a T5 HO? 2-300 bucks?
how often do you do that? Nominally every 6-8 months? so over the course of 2 years you could spend 8-1200 bucks! HOLY!
If my math is right (that's not necessarily a given), 50000 hours is 5 years, and that's 24 hours a day., so say you run your lights at 8 hours a day, even thats generous, you can get over 10 years out of them.

I'd say that's pretty decent. Or am I off somewhere?

[JetJumper]

your pretty much right on target.

I just get annoyed at the price being inflated for the start up price

[mikerobart]

Right now I think the costs are very high because high output LED's needed are still pretty pricy and perhaps with a relatively low number selling prices need to be high. Probably not a ton of manufacturing infrastructure to mass produce them until demand grows.

The Cree LEDs that the higher end fixtures are using are still pretty pricy.

That being said the markup on them is obviously much higher than the tried and true MH and T5 fixtures but those have been around much longer.

Have you seen the phobos and deimos from Pacific Sun ? Insanely awesome control wayyyy to $$$$ for me but people getting good results. Fully software controllable, really cool features, high output. Not to mention bluetooth hookup to pc!

http://www.aquariumled.eu/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6

[mikerobart]

A lot of the cheaper leds actually lose quite a bit of output over the first two years or so and need to be replaced.. there has been a lot of talk about this with respect to the first gen maxspect systems over at RC... they seem to be a lot cheaper than the Aqua Illumination / Pacific Sun / Ecoxotic but maybe for this reason among others.

[RossW]

I think LED and Plasma are very interesting and close to making it main stream, LED is closer than Plasma.  ReefStock this weekend is going to be very interesting...

It is still too early/unknown for me but I could see myself seriously considering the options in about a year or so.  I think between the saving in not changing bulbs and the cost of hydro to run them they will pay for themselves.  The question is can we get the colours we like, and will they last like they predict.

Ross

[JetJumper]

Have you seen the phobos and deimos from Pacific Sun ? Insanely awesome control wayyyy to $$$$ for me but people getting good results. Fully software controllable, really cool features, high output. Not to mention bluetooth hookup to pc!

http://www.aquariumled.eu/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6

WOW.. Thats impressive control that you can do with the unit.  something like that would be "almost" worth it.  Not $2000+.  I know I could make something for cheaper.. just lazy.. haha

[ray]

Most T5's can be stretched to a yr.I have both UVL and ATI at $25 ea so that's $150 for 6 bulbs.So yes your math is off

Ray

[groan]

Most T5's can be stretched to a yr.I have both UVL and ATI at $25 ea so that's $150 for 6 bulbs.So yes your math is off

Ray

Thanks Ray. For that much savings I am willing to be off a bit. I'll be sending you a PM soon to get some 6-8 bulb pricing on 48 inch units since I can't afford $1500 right now. Hell i cant afford $300 right now but I need to know what to save for.

[groan]

More drooling.
http://reefstock.reefbuilders.com/2010/03/10/the-greatest-aquarium-led-show-on-earth-this-saturday-at-reefstock-and-reef-builders/

Anyone going to Denver this weekend?

[KrazieCanuck]

I actually plan on taking on an LED DIY project at some point this summer.  I've priced things out and should be able to build a great HO LED fixture for my 90g for approx. $700-$800.  Should be interesting and I can't wait to get started.

[Stussi613]

How much would you save over the course of 2 years?

As a self admitted <geek> and former employee at Buchanan Lighting (many, many years ago) with a little too much time on my hands I did the math:

Consumption calculation =  (Wattage * Hours/day * 365 / 1000) * KWh to get operational cost per year      
      
T5HO      
Wattage     39   
Hours/day   8   

      
Consumption   113.88         
$ per KW/h   x0.058   
      
Price per bulb/year   $6.61   
      
LED      
Wattage     1   (300 mA * 3.6v for a typical LED)
Hours/day   8   
      
Consumption   2.92         
$ per KW/h   x0.058   
      
Price per LED/year   $0.17

Now, onto the more interesting part, the light output.  A standard T5HO puts out ~5000 lumens.  A standard 300 mA LED puts out ~50 lumens.  So you need 100 LED's to match the light output of one T5HO.  Sounds like the T5HO is the better deal, but it isn't.  Considering the aquisition cost of the flourescent bulbs and the shorter life, the LED's are a better choice since you would have to replace the LED's once in 17 years based on a median 50,000 hour life.  Even assuming light drop off after 65% of life, you are still talking about a 10 year cycle for LED bulbs that cost $60 for 50 pieces...and as the industry moves more and more towards LED's you'll see the price come down and light output go up - similar to the way that compact flourescents are now pretty cheap compared to 15 years ago when they first came out. 

[JetJumper]

You got me thinking and I found something in the junk pile at work today that would work nicely.







This is the casing of a 22" (DEAD) Dell Monitor.  It would look perfect for a casing for a LED fixture that would cover my tank that I am building.  If I get some spare cash down the road, I will purchase some LEDS and use this to make an entire LED Lamp for my tank.

[Severum]

I was actually thinking to suggest a group buy of LED parts and even try to plan a weekend workshop to get some fixtures made. Anyone up for that?

[HomerJ]

I'd sure be up for it.  In addition, I've been playing with etching my own PCBs in the past, with fairly good results.  That would mean simpler soldering jobs (at the expense of some acid bath and drill press action).  I'm in for designing a PCB and etching a prototype if I can source LEDs for a reasonable price through a group buy.

[JetJumper]

I would be in for a group buy on LEDS.

the only thing I am not liking so far from most diy LED's is that they use white and blue LED's.  The blue at 450-470nm isn't "glowing" enough for the effect I want, so I would most likely mix in a few 400nm Led's to give a nice "glowing" effect.

I have been reading this so far.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1587273

I am contemplating  going for those LED's and sourcing some 400nm's from Ebay.

The size of the Dell Shroud is 17" x 11".  Looking at the design of the other unit made, I think I could get away with 24 x 3w leds in this. 12 x Royal Blue + 12 x White.  Then I would just mix in a few UV's that I have kicking around from my other LED diy project.

So my list would be

12 x Royal Blue
12 x White
4  x 700mA wired buckpucks (3023-D-N-700)
1 x Powersupply (taken from 1U Computer Server)

$233.60 USD. for my config.

Plus any random bits required.

[ciaus]

I was actually thinking to suggest a group buy of LED parts and even try to plan a weekend workshop to get some fixtures made. Anyone up for that?

I like that idea very much...

I'd sure be up for it.  In addition, I've been playing with etching my own PCBs in the past, with fairly good results.  That would mean simpler soldering jobs (at the expense of some acid bath and drill press action).  I'm in for designing a PCB and etching a prototype if I can source LEDs for a reasonable price through a group buy.

That would be the way to go if there was to be a standardized DIY kit for an LED fixture....but the shape of the board - overall dimensions - would be a big factor.  On the other hand the LED density could be driven up quite high compared to what you accomplished in your other thread...for example a 10 CM grid, would have 100LEDs, which would equate to teh lumens output of a T5.  Since a 10cm grid is a 4 inch square, you could, in theory get the equivalent light output of 10 or 11 T5 bulbs into the space normally occupied by only 4  or 6 48" T5 bulbs. Can you say "Blinded by the light!"

The more I think about this the more intriguing the construction of an LED fixture as DIY project becomes.

Ciaus

[HomerJ]

It could be done in a modular way.  Think of small "tiles" you can daisy chain together to get the light output you need.  If we design say a 6x6 or 10x10 tile, it can be daisy chained to fit all kinds of sizes.

[Severum]

I can envision hollowing out an old 6 or 8 bulb Tek light and installing fans for LED cooling like this:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1572514

A couple of these kits and your good to go:
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-32/48-Premium-LED-DIY/Detail

That would certainly be amazing for covering my 120 and look real pro too.