LEDS Lifespan

[Frederick Edwards]

I have been pondering the idea of switching to LEDS. I currently have 2x MH 4x T5 with led moonlight not ran since 2009. In the process of gathering equipment for my system to be back up and running after a LONG break. WOOW!! has technology changed! With so many brands and types of LEDS it gets quite overwhelming. To make this decision simpler for me, I think i want to go with something that can be controlled by an apex or some other controller and wish to know the lifespan of different brands and types of LEDS. Can said brand(s) LEDS be change out at the end of there lifespan? Cost of LED bulb replacement VS MH & T5 bulb replacement?

 

[Frederick Edwards]

SPONSORS. I would love as many of you to weigh in on this issue please?

 

[TbyZ]

I believe the typical lifespan of an LED is 50,000 hours.
That would give you around 13 years at 10 hours a day.

 

[Frederick Edwards]

I believe the typical lifespan of an LED is 50,000 hours.

Great Information. But, What I want to know is brand specific lifespan and bulb replacement cost? If allowed to change bulbs.

 

[Frederick Edwards]

Still kind of new to this forum. Is there a way that i can link this thread so that our LED Sponsor's can see this as well?

 

[Oscar47f]

The only brand i can vogue for is AI and their Hydra 52s have lasted 4 years so far.

 

[Oscar47f]

If your lights do burn out i know the AI and Radions allow for you to upgrade the lights to the latest models and to replace the LED clusters for 50$ a cluster and each light has 4 clusters

 

[Frederick Edwards]

Also it would be nice to see documented proof on said opinions please

 

[Reefnjunkie]

In my humble opinion you're not going to get what your asking for-Just sayin


Do a little searching online, all your answers are out there.

 

[DBR_Reef]

I believe the typical lifespan of an LED is 50,000 hours.
That would give you around 13 years at 10 hours a day.

Not really the typical, that is a well cooled led under ideal circumstances. that 50000 hours is also measured to %75 percent intensity. Now, that isn't a issue for many fixtures, as many are now overpowered, but I might also worry about spectral shifts. I don't think individual leds are going to shift much, but different color leds degrade at differing rates, which could lead to a apparent spectral shift. Most manufactures I see giving 5-10 yr lifespan estimates, which is a pretty big range. Then there is the issue of, has the advancement of leds slowed enough that you will want a 10 or even 5 yr old fixture in 5 or 10 years. I know I wouldn't want a 5 year old LED at this point, but that is a little unfair, because I'm not 100% sure I would want a brand new led. Unless I move to florida. Then I will suddenly love LEDs

 

[MartinWaite]

What you're asking for isn't out there yet as led lights are evolving that much. I have just removed a 5-6 year old led from my reef tank for a newer version and it hadn't burned out that much I still couldn't run it much above 50% power without bleaching my corals and I have a full mixture of corals from softies to SPS corals in my tank as where with MH and T5 tubes in 5 years you can work it out yourself a MH bulb twice a year and you need 2 so that's 20 bulbs. At £20 each £400 . T5s you have 4 change twice per year so 8 per year times 5 years so 40 tubes at about £25 per tube that's £1000 plus your MH totals £1400 in 5 years that's a lot of leds you could buy. Cost of leds al hydra 26HD s £328 each total cost £656. And you can carry on using them.

 

[DBR_Reef]

What you're asking for isn't out there yet as led lights are evolving that much. I have just removed a 5-6 year old led from my reef tank for a newer version and it hadn't burned out that much I still couldn't run it much above 50% power without bleaching my corals and I have a full mixture of corals from softies to SPS corals in my tank as where with MH and T5 tubes in 5 years you can work it out yourself a MH bulb twice a year and you need 2 so that's 20 bulbs. At £20 each £400 . T5s you have 4 change twice per year so 8 per year times 5 years so 40 tubes at about £25 per tube that's £1000 plus your MH totals £1400 in 5 years that's a lot of leds you could buy. Cost of leds al hydra 26HD s £328 each total cost £656. And you can carry on using them.

Uh, I don't think your numbers are right- mh bulbs are every 18-24 months, t5 bulbs are 9-18 months. That is according to the manufacturers. So more like £600 by your numbers, but if you can find a decent mh bulb for 20, please let me know where

 

[nwkermit]

Radion gen 2 pro for 3 years. Still working amazing, good thing is even if it burn out you can buy parts and fix it.

 

[Frederick Edwards]

Radion gen 2 pro for 3 years. Still working amazing, good thing is even if it burn out you can buy parts and fix it.

What would your cost to fix one be?

 

[nwkermit]

What would your cost to fix one be?

If it burn out, the new cluster would be at this point $150 but 8 more years...it should be a lot cheaper.

 

[MartinWaite]

Uh, I don't think your numbers are right- mh bulbs are every 18-24 months, t5 bulbs are 9-18 months. That is according to the manufacturers. So

Hahaha I don't know who you being talking too but I wouldn't even leave a light tube on a fish only system for that long never mind a reef tank with soft corals and as for SPS they would probably be dead.
According to Giesemann who design through to selling all types of lights T5, through to LEDs and the recommendation is by 3000 hrs or when you notice that corals are not opening or growing as they were so that 3000hrs at a 12hr day is 250 days so we're back to nearer to what I said. If you have proof to back up what you claim feel free to show it.
My proof is on page 17 and 26 of this web page www.giesemann.de/PUB/Bedienungsanleitungen/GIESEMANN_Manual_English.pdf

 

[DBR_Reef]

Hahaha I don't know who you being talking too but I wouldn't even leave a light tube on a fish only system for that long never mind a reef tank with soft corals and as for SPS they would probably be dead.
According to Giesemann who design through to selling all types of lights T5, through to LEDs and the recommendation is by 3000 hrs or when you notice that corals are not opening or growing as they were so that 3000hrs at a 12hr day is 250 days so we're back to nearer to what I said. If you have proof to back up what you claim feel free to show it.
My proof is on page 17 and 26 of this web page www.giesemann.de/PUB/Bedienungsanleitungen/GIESEMANN_Manual_English.pdf

Yes I would never run a bulb 18 months (that is what some manufacturers claim, but every 6 months is too often as well. I had a bigger problem with your mh timeline though, which was of by 300%. With a t5 mh setup, mh do most of the work, so I am less worried about the t5 bulbs.

But for t5, This is from ati, which is the most popular bulb. Time: With typical daily photo periods of 8-12 hours T5 bulbs carry the average life-span is 9-12 months. If it’s been more than 12 months since your last bulb change, it’s probably time for a change.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

Yes I would never run a bulb 18 months (that is what some manufacturers claim, but every 6 months is too often as well. I had a bigger problem with your mh timeline though, which was of by 300%. With a t5 mh setup, mh do most of the work, so I am less worried about the t5 bulbs.

But for t5, This is from ati, which is the most popular bulb. Time: With typical daily photo periods of 8-12 hours T5 bulbs carry the average life-span is 9-12 months. If it’s been more than 12 months since your last bulb change, it’s probably time for a change.

+1 if you are running a halide, t5 combo then you are more than likely running actinic and an electronic ballast so 12 months or even longer is possible with the T5

 

[bobyboy]

Here's my $0.02

After having LEDs for nearly 5 years now I've decided to add T5 's back into the mix.

Leds give you great color but in my experience much slower growth.

 

[DBR_Reef]

Here's my $0.02

After having LEDs for nearly 5 years now I've decided to add T5 's back into the mix.

Leds give you great color but in my experience much slower growth.

I agree that leds give great colors out of coral, but I'm not sure they produce good color coloration by themselves. I.e. corals grown under other light sources might look better under led than those grown under led. But I am not sure of this at all, just a feeling. In terms of best light, which is getting off of the op's topic, I think all three is best. Like a mh, t5, reefbright sort of thing