How much power does and LED fixture really use?

[787will]

So im in the planning stages of rebuilding my 125g and I'm trying to decide what route I'm going to take with regards to lighting; all LED, all T5 or LED/T5 combo. Im a big fan of T5/LED combo, i have used it previously and i have seen a lot of other tanks setup this way too. With this hobby being expensive enough as it is i am huge on efficiency and have been thinking more and more about LEDs only and comparing fixtures against T5s.
So this is where i need a little help as my electrical knowledge is not the best! When it comes to the wattage of and LED fixture, lets say fixture X is rated at 150watts. Is the consumption always going to be 150watts regardless of how you use it, say blues at 70% and whites at 30% or do the levels come into play with how much is really consumed?
Any and all help would be appreciated!

 

[hawkinsrgk]

I have a reef radiance black box. I think it is the DM-155. Basically 55 x 3 watt LEDs. I have 4 of them over my 180. It is running 65 percent blue, 60 percent white and uses a total of 1.6 amps. The 3 x 250 watt halides used 6.3 amps. The 4 t5 39 watt used .9 amps

Hope that helps
Randy

 

[hart24601]

The dimming makes a difference. LEDs are more efficient when they are dimmed, so dimming them produces even better ratio of light vs power. A 100 watt fixture dimmed will not be burning 100 watts. Now I don't think the response is linear, so I don't know if you can determine the watts being used without something like an Apex that measures energy output.

 

[d2mini]

Here's a good estimate at how much my 4 radion pros were pulling each day throughout my daily light cycle.
http://www.aquaticlog.com/aquariums/d2mini/1/lighting_profile/70

 

[pickupman66]

I have a Reef radiance Lumentek 240 Pro. It is a 240 watt light and is 32" long. I run it with the blues at 70% and the whites at 40%. From the readouts on my Archon Controller, I peak out at 1.4 amps at these levels. However, that total also includes a Jebao DC6000 at 50% and my SCA-302 Skimmer. Add in the Jebao WP40s i use for circulation and NOT counting the heater i max out under 3 amps. add 3 more amps to that when the heater kicks in.

Other equipment includes 25 watt UV, Jebao doser, Par 38 LED fuge light, Koralia Nano for the fuge and an Aqualifter occasionally. Pretty good if you ask me. Compare this to the 180 I used to have which and I was pushing a 12-15 amp average when the lights were on. YIKES.

 

[hart24601]

Wow, 15 amp average for a 180!

 

[pickupman66]

It may have been more when heaters we on

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Never judge a LED fixture by watts.

Take the latest Cree 5 watt XT-E Royal Blue LED. Given its different Intensity Bins these LEDS commonly driven at 3 watts each can have a brightness difference of over 20%. Factor in Optics quality and Driver efficiency, Design Quality and you can have say for argument two different 150 watt fixtures with one offering twice the PAR of the other.

When you compare a Generic Fixture with 3 Watt LEDs driven at 650mA to an Optimized Fixture with 5 watt Binned Cree LEDs driven at 700-1000mA there is no comparison in efficiency.

I'm in the 400 watt MH camp for SPS and when I switched over my 570 Gal to LEDs, I went from 26 Amps to 11 Amps with higher PAR and a true Sunrise and Sunset.

Here is a pic of a transition fixture we did well over 5 years ago. Now we are 100% LEDs

Here is a current pic

If you do go with a LED T5 combo you can optimize efficiency by using a Cree Royal Blue, Blue & Cool White combo. With the right mix and Bins this will give you a 400 watt Radium MH equivelant at only 118 watts. To this add a true actinic and fiji purple T5 for in my opinion a great look.

If you go all LED choose a fixture with the latest LEDs and at least 6 410-420NM with true 660 nm Red like the Cree Photo Red or Luxion Z 660nm Red. Many Imports call themselves full spectrum but their Red is really only 620-630nm and they only have a token amount of 410-420nm for marketing.

On my personal system I plan on adding some 660nm and 410-420nm only to tweak the looks.

Here is a recent customer pic of a SPS tank only using DIY LEDs.

Bill