Lighting Ideas Please

[Rorie]

So you all came forth with ideas for lino flooring and came up triumphs with the answer being Pound Land. Now i need your help again!

I need a CHEAP way to light all my aquariums. Cheap as in running cost rather than purchase cost though.

I have bought a strip of the following My link in the hope that this will light my aquarium enough....but i am doubtful that it will. One will hopefully arrive this week for me to try out.

If this doesn't work, how can i light 8 4 foot aquariums with the lowest running cost? Florescent tubes are quite high wattage, so not too interested in them. I'm not sure if energy saving bulbs will distribute the light well enough to be useful.

Thanks in advance!

 

[coldcazzie]

That led strip might be better than you think Rorie. Are you growing plants in these tanks, or just housing fish?

 

[Rorie]

No plants (other than moss etc just for the fish to hide in), its only for the fish to have light! I am really hoping they are bright enough to light the tank!

 

[watertown28]

No plants (other than moss etc just for the fish to hide in), its only for the fish to have light! I am really hoping they are bright enough to light the tank!

Do you plan on ever having plants? I would plan for the possibility of that. I did and guess what... I got plants now

 

[coldcazzie]

We sometimes get threads in the planted section about those led strips - they are definitely not bright enough for plant growth (I imagine moss will be alright, might go a bit leggy) but they're plenty sufficient for giving light just so that you can actually see the fish.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Let us know how you get on with those lights - I've just added them to my watch list

 

[Rorie]

I've done the whole planted tank thing, but this is for fish breeding, so really not intereted in plants other than the most basic.

I'll le you know how it goes

 

[PJPJ]

I've just been looking at the EBAY ad. and thought I would do some efficiency calculations for you.

I notice they have advertised it as taking 1.5A, this will be when running on 12Vdc.

We can calculate, from this information, the power it will consume at 230Vac (The UK household voltage supply)

Power(Watts)(P) equals Voltage(V) multiplied by Current(Amps)(I) : P = VxI
So that is 12Vx1.5A = 18Watts

You could then calculate how much current it will take at 230V if you wanted.

Using the same equation but transposed : I = P/V
18W/230V = 0.078Amps (Rounded down)
Note: The power consumed is the same no matter which voltage is used.

So the question is will this LED strip give out more light than an 18W bulb?

Unfortunately, the one thing that can make all of this mute is the accuracy of the Current reading supplied, the asian suppliers tend to be conservative and very often the actual current drawn is significantly less than they state on the packaging.

At this point in time there is a large difference in the quality of LEDS. The higher the quality the more efficient to run they are for the same or greater light output. There is also a large difference in the lifespan of the LEDs. Of course all of this is reflected in the price.

I believe the best LEDs are currently called CREE.

Anyway, I hope this is clearer than unwashed sand in an aquarium and is useful to you or someone else.

It would be interesting if you could get a reading from LED running tanks compared to standard fluorescent tanks. There is also the power consumed by the control gear and transformers to take into consideration.

Regards

PJPJ

 

[PJPJ]

I have just noticed the brightness is also stated in the advert.

Brightness/m: 260 lumen

So a five metre length is 1300 lumens.

I looked at lampspecs.co.uk at a T5 21W 865 daylight tube which says its brightness is 1750 lumens. This tube is only 0.85 metres long though.

If you work out the lumens per watt (1750/21=83.33) and then multiply by 18 to give us the same power rating as the LEDs then that gives us 1500 lumens.

Interesting.

This all assumes that the brightness readings have been taken at the same distance from the source etc.

Regards

PJPJ

 

[Geoff-]

CCFL tubes. You can buy a set of 2 x 300mm CCFL tubes for AUD$20 retail (not ebay). They use a pipsqueak inverter module and run off 12V DC input. Don't get them wet as the tube side is high voltage. I have mine mounted on my tank lid such that the CCFL is exposed, but behind a plastic shroud, next to my fluroescent lights. The inverter is in the top of the tank lid along with the fluroescent ballast, giving it additional protection from the water.

I use a single white CCFL tube on a 90L tank as a moonlight and it works great in the evening I can still see everything clearly. 2 CCFL tubes on a tank this size would be sufficient for general viewing. On a larger tank, add more. The total current consumption with 2 tubes is less than 9 watts for the model I bought, so it is very frugal. Obviously it's not as bright as an 18W fluoro tube though.

Geoff

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

ooooh my head

 

[Rorie]

Interesting, but i do not see an answer at the end of this I gather from the lumens calculation that the LEDs are theoretically not that far off. But what about the power consumption? 18w vs 21W is not that much difference! i thought the LED would be an awful lot less than 18W!! The halogeon spot light equivilents allow a 3w LED to replace a 30W halogen!

 

[PJPJ]

Interesting, but i do not see an answer at the end of this I gather from the lumens calculation that the LEDs are theoretically not that far off. But what about the power consumption? 18w vs 21W is not that much difference! i thought the LED would be an awful lot less than 18W!! The halogeon spot light equivilents allow a 3w LED to replace a 30W halogen!

In reality measurements are needed to be taken of the actual products than rely on the information, on the imported products in particular.

The advertisement itself states : Low power consumption, below 5 W/m

So less than 25W over the 5 metres.

Have you ever tried one of those cheap LED spotlights, they are usually nowhere near their specified equivalent (At least they weren't a couple of years ago). If you buy a high quality LED Cree spotlight for £25-30 probably at 4W then you will be somewhere near but the spread of the light is still not as good. More to the point however is Halogen is also much more power hungry than fluorescents too. The compact fluorescent equivalent of a 30W halogen would use apx. 7 or 8 Watts.

At this point in time there are only a few Watts difference between LED and compact fluorescents for the same light output. This is improving all the time though.

To summerise on the above posts. These figures are calculated only and will no doubt differ from actual readings.

5M LED strip takes 18W of power producing 1300lumens
An adjusted power drain for the T5 865 tube of 18W produces 1500lumens

LED Pros
Light output is over a 5metre length
The lifespan should be at least twice that of T5 (Dependant upon quality)
The light output is consistent throughout its life
The light output is immediately at its maximum and requires no warm up time
Cheaper and smaller control gear (12Vdc transformer) than fluorescent
Easier to fasten into place
Lighter and more durable
Cooler running (Dependant upon the quality and power rating of each LED)

LED Cons
The light output is very narrow
The colour band is poor and requires different colour LEDS to give a decent range for the use with plants etc.

I hope this is a little clearer and helps.

Personally, I have a couple of T5's for the plants and until LEDS improve (In price and efficiency) and I also have a few small, cheap LED strips for night time viewing at a lower light output. I suspect the LED strip you have will light the tank for you to see the fish but the colours will be washed out as they are with mine. This can be improved by placing a strip at the front edge of the tank pointing backwards.

Time for a cuppa!

Regards

PJPJ

 

[onlyslightlymad]

I'll be watching this thread with interest too as I posted yesterday about the same sort of thing. My concerns though were more of a cooler environment than an energy saving thing as I intend to build my newest tank in a cubby hole in a wall where the heat build up from "normal" lights would be excessive.

Please post your observations when you can!

 

[Rorie]

Thanks for that. I guess the main thing for me is that the LEDs cover 5m for 18W where as the compacts only cover 36 inches for a higher 21w. My intention would be to have the LED running straight, so it would be lighting 4x 4foot tanks! My initial thoughts are that it will not be enough, but as the tanks are only 12 inches deep it may not be a problem.

Time will tell though and i will post my findings

THanks for the help!!