spanko
Active Member
Just some more information from blogs by Steven Pro.
"It seems just about every month, LEDs are making the aquarium news circles either with a new brand entering the marketplace, a new or upgraded model being released by an existing manufacturer in the industry, or some advancement in LED technology. With all this constant buzz, it is hard for hobbyists to discern if now is the right time to jump into LEDs, what brand and model would be a good choice given their particular circumstances, and what is the return on investment on these devices?
I guess I should start by simply stating that over the last year or two, I have seen in person enough reef aquarium displays solely illuminated by LEDs and witnessed growth in those same aquaria to be convinced that LEDs are certainly capable of supporting coral growth. I did not always feel that way. Early version LED fixtures seemed to demonstrate great coral coloration, but growth seemed to be lacking. All that said, there is a wide range in brands and models and their respective quality. Based on the units I have witnessed in use and being able to examine a number of fixtures at tradeshows, I decided to further investigate the performance of one brand and its two available models.
I chose to look at the Acan Lighting units because they were one of a few brands I would consider spending my own money on. I was able to get two models and sizes, the A103AC-12B and the A101AC-12B. At the time, the 103 was their higher output design while the 101 was made for more modest lighting situations. I wanted to compare them to a metal halide fixture of similar size and wattage. For that, I borrowed a 75-watt double-ended metal halide pendant from a friend. It was a no name brand. I would describe it as a Chinese made copy of a German model. On the plus side, it did have a relatively new (it had been used for only 4 months at 8 hours per day) Ushio 10,000 Kelvin lamp in it. The Ushio 10,000 Kelvin lamp is known as a high PAR value lamp, but it is a little white for most aquarist tastes. It is even more so when lit side by side with the blue heavy LED fixtures in my testing.
For my test, I used an Apogee PAR meter to record lighting levels and a watt meter I bought at the hardware store to compare power consumption. I also took all my readings through water. I wanted to see how well the LED fixtures penetrated water in comparison to the MH.
As you can see from my readings, the Acan Lighting 103 unit used only two-thirds of the wattage of the MH unit, but put out more than twice the average PAR values. This gives the Acan Lighting 103 model more than three times the PAR output per watt used in comparison to the MH.
-Steven Pro
Selecting a LED Fixture
In a previous blog entry, I showed some limited testing I performed on some LED fixtures and one metal halide fixture of the same approximate size and wattage. Having demonstrated that LED’s can produce good intensity lighting, I now want to give a few tips on selecting a quality LED fixture.
My first piece of advice is, buy a brand that you have seen in operation in person. Reading about them online and seeing pictures and video clips is ok, but nothing beats seeing something work right in front of your eyes. Don’t be surprised if they don’t appear very bright, though. Many LED fixtures don’t look very bright, particularly in comparison to a MH, but your eyes lie to you. The same thing happened to me when I compared the LED’s to that MH in my last blog. To my eyes, the MH looked much brighter than either LED, but numbers don’t lie. The human eye is just not a good judge of brightness. I don’t know if that has something to do with the fact that most LED’s are blue heavy in color or some other factor. That is why having and checking the performance with a PAR meter would be a good idea.
The next factor, and one of the biggest in evaluating an LED fixture is heat management. Does the unit in question have a large heat sink? The heat sink is one of the easiest ways to check if a LED fixture is a good one. It is generally easy to locate and compare in size to other brands. It is also the fist thing an inexpensive brand is going to cutback on. If the heat sink is small or nonexistent, I would walk away and look at another option.
Is it relying on passive cooling or does it also incorporate fans? All things equal, I would like to see fans on a LED fixture I would buy. There are some that can manage heat solely through large heat sinks, but I feel more comfortable with fans aiding. Also, are those fans placed in such a way that they are easy to service? In my experience, dirt, dust, and in some cases salt spray will build up on and near fans used around aquarium. This requires regular maintenance. In general, if something cannot easily be serviced, it usually gets skipped. Making sure the fans are operating and free from obstruction is critically important in any light fixture, but even more so with LED.
The last bit of information to gather prior to buying is to examine the warranty policy. How long does it last? What does it cover? And worst case scenario if something happens, where does the service occur, whose responsibility is it to get the unit to the service center, and what is the typical turnaround time for repairs? I have heard of some brands requiring the broken units be sent back to China at the cost of the purchaser. I would avoid those brands if I were you.
I hope I have given you some useful pointers in evaluating a LED prior to purchase. LED seems to be clearly heading as the future lighting of our hobby, but there is a wide range in quality of the units I have seen so far. Early adopters to new technology take the greatest risk and must be extra careful in their acquisitions if they don’t wish to have to repurchase something later.
Steven Pro has had an aquarium for as long as he can remember, but didn't get into marines until sometime in the early 1990's. He started working full-time in the ornamental aquatics industry in the summer of 1995, primarily doing design, installations, and on-going maintenance of aquariums. He has also worked previously for Red Sea and IceCap Inc. Along the way, he was a contributor to WetWebMedia, had over 40 articles published with more on the way, spoken at over 60 clubs and conferences, and co-hosted MACNA 19. He is currently the President of MASNA."
"It seems just about every month, LEDs are making the aquarium news circles either with a new brand entering the marketplace, a new or upgraded model being released by an existing manufacturer in the industry, or some advancement in LED technology. With all this constant buzz, it is hard for hobbyists to discern if now is the right time to jump into LEDs, what brand and model would be a good choice given their particular circumstances, and what is the return on investment on these devices?
I guess I should start by simply stating that over the last year or two, I have seen in person enough reef aquarium displays solely illuminated by LEDs and witnessed growth in those same aquaria to be convinced that LEDs are certainly capable of supporting coral growth. I did not always feel that way. Early version LED fixtures seemed to demonstrate great coral coloration, but growth seemed to be lacking. All that said, there is a wide range in brands and models and their respective quality. Based on the units I have witnessed in use and being able to examine a number of fixtures at tradeshows, I decided to further investigate the performance of one brand and its two available models.
I chose to look at the Acan Lighting units because they were one of a few brands I would consider spending my own money on. I was able to get two models and sizes, the A103AC-12B and the A101AC-12B. At the time, the 103 was their higher output design while the 101 was made for more modest lighting situations. I wanted to compare them to a metal halide fixture of similar size and wattage. For that, I borrowed a 75-watt double-ended metal halide pendant from a friend. It was a no name brand. I would describe it as a Chinese made copy of a German model. On the plus side, it did have a relatively new (it had been used for only 4 months at 8 hours per day) Ushio 10,000 Kelvin lamp in it. The Ushio 10,000 Kelvin lamp is known as a high PAR value lamp, but it is a little white for most aquarist tastes. It is even more so when lit side by side with the blue heavy LED fixtures in my testing.
For my test, I used an Apogee PAR meter to record lighting levels and a watt meter I bought at the hardware store to compare power consumption. I also took all my readings through water. I wanted to see how well the LED fixtures penetrated water in comparison to the MH.
As you can see from my readings, the Acan Lighting 103 unit used only two-thirds of the wattage of the MH unit, but put out more than twice the average PAR values. This gives the Acan Lighting 103 model more than three times the PAR output per watt used in comparison to the MH.
-Steven Pro
Selecting a LED Fixture
In a previous blog entry, I showed some limited testing I performed on some LED fixtures and one metal halide fixture of the same approximate size and wattage. Having demonstrated that LED’s can produce good intensity lighting, I now want to give a few tips on selecting a quality LED fixture.
My first piece of advice is, buy a brand that you have seen in operation in person. Reading about them online and seeing pictures and video clips is ok, but nothing beats seeing something work right in front of your eyes. Don’t be surprised if they don’t appear very bright, though. Many LED fixtures don’t look very bright, particularly in comparison to a MH, but your eyes lie to you. The same thing happened to me when I compared the LED’s to that MH in my last blog. To my eyes, the MH looked much brighter than either LED, but numbers don’t lie. The human eye is just not a good judge of brightness. I don’t know if that has something to do with the fact that most LED’s are blue heavy in color or some other factor. That is why having and checking the performance with a PAR meter would be a good idea.
The next factor, and one of the biggest in evaluating an LED fixture is heat management. Does the unit in question have a large heat sink? The heat sink is one of the easiest ways to check if a LED fixture is a good one. It is generally easy to locate and compare in size to other brands. It is also the fist thing an inexpensive brand is going to cutback on. If the heat sink is small or nonexistent, I would walk away and look at another option.
Is it relying on passive cooling or does it also incorporate fans? All things equal, I would like to see fans on a LED fixture I would buy. There are some that can manage heat solely through large heat sinks, but I feel more comfortable with fans aiding. Also, are those fans placed in such a way that they are easy to service? In my experience, dirt, dust, and in some cases salt spray will build up on and near fans used around aquarium. This requires regular maintenance. In general, if something cannot easily be serviced, it usually gets skipped. Making sure the fans are operating and free from obstruction is critically important in any light fixture, but even more so with LED.
The last bit of information to gather prior to buying is to examine the warranty policy. How long does it last? What does it cover? And worst case scenario if something happens, where does the service occur, whose responsibility is it to get the unit to the service center, and what is the typical turnaround time for repairs? I have heard of some brands requiring the broken units be sent back to China at the cost of the purchaser. I would avoid those brands if I were you.
I hope I have given you some useful pointers in evaluating a LED prior to purchase. LED seems to be clearly heading as the future lighting of our hobby, but there is a wide range in quality of the units I have seen so far. Early adopters to new technology take the greatest risk and must be extra careful in their acquisitions if they don’t wish to have to repurchase something later.
Steven Pro has had an aquarium for as long as he can remember, but didn't get into marines until sometime in the early 1990's. He started working full-time in the ornamental aquatics industry in the summer of 1995, primarily doing design, installations, and on-going maintenance of aquariums. He has also worked previously for Red Sea and IceCap Inc. Along the way, he was a contributor to WetWebMedia, had over 40 articles published with more on the way, spoken at over 60 clubs and conferences, and co-hosted MACNA 19. He is currently the President of MASNA."
