T5 vs LED vs MH electricity bills

[richardhmc]

Right now, I have a 6 bulb tek light. I am not satisfied with it, because I got so much better growth from a metal halide previously. So I am considering going to halides once more. However, I need two metal halides for my 36 x 18 x 18 tank. Also considering LEDs, hearing that they save a lot of money in bills, but they have a big cost for the units

So I'm just wondering, how much a difference is there in electricity usage that will affect my electricity bills?

 

[mbg75]

What bulbs you using? I have better growth with my 6 bulb Tek than I did in my old tank that had a 250mh.

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[richardhmc]

I use giesseman bulbs that came with my fixture

 

[NewfiDog]

LED's dont have to be very costly, depends on the brand, bells and whistles. You can get good LED's at a good cost with no cost for bulb replacements. Its all up to the individiaul but theres so many LED's out there now.

 

[mbg75]

I use giesseman bulbs that came with my fixture

Definitely a quality bulb. What bulb combo?

What size halides u looking to use?

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[qy7400]

What about bulb age and ballasts?

As far as energy costs you cant beat LEDs, for that size tank you can get away with 36 LEDs so the electric will be around 100 a year; a 6 bulb T5 or 175W MH setup will run you around 350 per year. A DIY setup could pay for itself in 2 years.

 

[richardhmc]

I was planning to run two 175w halides over each opening of my tank since there is a center brace.

suggestions to cheap leds? I would like a pair of AI sol blues, but they are pretty expensive.

 

[pecan2phat]

When I had MH on my 120g SPS tank, it was 500w + 220w for the VHO actinic supplements.
My LED fixture draws about 190w at peak and it's cycling up and down due to my programmed PAR charts.

So roughly 530w x 10hrs per day = 5300w vs 1900w = 3400w per day x 30 days = 102,000w = 102kw for a month.

So if you pay 25 cents a KW, then it's $25.50 extra to run MH/VHO

 

[MIKE NY]

for me I can not justify the intitial costs of LEDs, although they are the way of the future, because for the extra $25 a month or less for me because I only run my MHs 6 hours a day it isn't worth it until the prices of LEDs become more reasonable.......

 

[pecan2phat]

Mike,
I hear 3 Radions calling your name :scratch:

 

[Paul B]

My MH lights used 350 watts and my LEDs use 108 watts and give me 25% more light in a beter color. Led fixtures are free. You don't have to change the bulbs or run a chiller. I don't know why people think these things cost more than MH. My two MH bulbs cost about $200.00 every year plus the cost of the fixture. I built my LED fixture for about $300.00 and it cost less than a third to run.

 

[Mattl22]

I have a diy led light with 72 3w Cree my bill is much less then with mh (more then $25 savings ) my color is great but not convinced on the growth yet but I'm still I'n process of raising my par a littel each week