dual purpose LEDs?

[fishorama]

My kitchen T-12 4 x 36 inch 3 ft fluorescent lights have died, ballast is shot. I'm thinking I'll go with LEDs like these https://www.amazon.com/Hykolity-Int...B07XQDP5X9&pd_rd_r=a87a3b77-852e-48d8-8455-2b Very cheap & likely good enough with 3 for my kitchen?

I have also recently set up a 5ft x 18 x 25 inches high 110g that need better or at least different lighting than the 2 x 4 ft PC & T-8 fixtures I'm temporarily using...might 2 or 3 of these lights work well enough for this low-medium light tank? What about suspending 2 or 3 of them? How high should I start with?

LEDs scare me in some ways, I'm used to fluorescents: T-12, T-8, T-5 HO & NOs & PCs...yeah, old school, lol.

Any thoughts on either kitchen light or for my tank? I need to decide soon-ish, dim kitchen is driving me crazy, new tank not just yet...

 

[dougall]

I would say it should work for both, I'm not sure how well it would work better than the fixtures you are currently using right now except for beaing cleaner and longer lasting.

An acquaintance is using them to light a 8'x2'x2' aquarium so they will provide enough light.


I think he uses maybe 8 or 12 of them, though, to give medium or more light and is injecting CO2. and has them mounted at maybe 6 inches above the aquarium. I would plan to mount them as low as possible, but allowing the light to illuminate your plants


It should work fine for the kitchen too, depending on the size of the kitchen, and how much you prefer to see the room lit by 'daylight' bulbs

Assuming you're OK with the installation of them, my only advice would be to try using a PAR meter on the tank right now, if the light is enough for you, and then installing the new lights, and seeing how PAR compares, if you use 3 lights over the tank, you can control them independantly, so don't need them all on at once, and can stagger them using timers to allow it to build up and fade away a little .

but really just go for it, yell if any questions.

 

[dougall]

if you think you might want/need a couple more fixturees, and/or would like a higher color temperature over your tank,

https://www.amazon.com/Integrated-Fixture-Utility-Ceiling-Electric/dp/B07FF3R16Z/

 

[the loach]

It depends more on what you want and how much money you want to spend ( you know it's not hard or expensive to change a ballast right?)
The first thing that concerns me about this product, is misleading/incorrect/omitting specifications (as with many led products):

" Up to 65% Energy Saving - Hykolity T5 integrated LED shop light features 2200 lumens brightness by using only 22W, 40W equivalent to a fluorescent tube, provides a 65% reduction in energy usage."

A T5 of this size is 39W and about 3500 lumens, so that is not a 65% saving but something like 35%. In essence if you replace 1 T5 of 3500 lumens with this you save ±40%, but also a reduction in light of about 35%. If you want the same amount of light, or even more, you need to install more of them, not just 1:1 replace. Led sellers and advocates always hide these types of additional costs... most folks don't want less light.

For the kitchen, 5000K is probably fine (matter of your personal preference) and the CRI doesn't matter much, however for an aquarium, especially a show tank 5000K is too low and the CRI rating is omitted, meaning it is 80 or lower which is not good at all. 6500K is good but it really depends on the CRI how good your tank looks.

There are some leds that have good specifications and they aren't expensive either, they fit everywhere they're like duct tape. In some of my tanks, I just stuck them to the old fluorescent bulbs. I can look them up if you're interested, I can't remember the type numbers right now.

 

[FreshyFresh]

I'd only replace the fixtures with bad ballasts and so long as the electronics keep working on your other fluorescent fixtures, keep'em going as long as you don't mind replacing lamps.

The problem with present day LED and fluorescents is, the electronics in them are junk. Nothing like the components from 20-30yrs ago.

I recently stripped the ballasts out of about 10 old 48" T12 shop lights in my basement. I bought a box of ballast bypass LED tubes off ebay and had at it. Only really did it to reduce power consumption. Well.. that and most of your fluorescent bulbs are junk now as well and don't last.

In terms of the LED fixtures you linked to working on a planted tank, I guess that would depend on your setup. I have LED lighting over my tanks that is as simple as the clamp on aluminum reflector utility lights fitted with screw in "75w equivalent" LED bulbs. Grows plants like a champ on small tanks.

 

[fishorama]

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help! I did see the 6500K vs 5000K & somewhere I saw for kitchen ceiling light 5000-6000K (higher is better in white kitchens like mine) & 5-10k lumens is good. I also read to replace T-12 120w I need about 60w LED. Does that sound right?

The T-5 size is just for the slightly shorter size I need to fit in the ceiling area (~4ft x 6ft but not quite). It's like a drop ceiling with wood instead of the grid & panel thing. I'm also wondering if, since the T-12 bulbs were so old, we'd notice much difference...I replaced 1 or 2 bulbs over 8 years here. I used "daylight" CFLs in a hall light & the difference from yellowy incandescents is very noticeable since they're in the same hallway. I guess I've gotten used to it but it bugged me for a while.

As for cost 36 inch T-12 bulbs cost $13 x 4 = more than a 6pk of these LEDs. (4ft bulbs are less than half that but are ~1inch too long). I will also need to hire an electrician to install them since neither of us can do ladders or work over our heads for long...& if we had to use the small access area above them, well, that's out, lol.

HD has the exact same lights in a 4pk for $20 more than 6pk of either. I read the attachment clips are crappy. I'm still looking for now.

TL if it's not too much trouble would you please look yours up? The kitchen is the priority, tank is optional, not many plants yet since some melted.

 

[the loach]

The ledstrips I use in some of my tanks are the Epistar SMD2835 6500K. They have them in 12 or 24 volts and 18 or 36 leds/ft (this doesn't matter). It is the only led I've seen that matches the best T8 fluorescents. The CRI is 95 I think which is crazy high. It is aimed at studios and exhibition/photography lighting... I have them as a led strip tape light, but I imagine they are used in other applications as well, it's a LED type not a ledstrip type. If not I guess you could just tape them to your existing lights in your kitchen but that would that would be kind of a hillbilly solution depending on how fancy your kitchen is. Otherwise look for a replacement of 6000K with a CRI over 85 when looking for kitchen light replacements.
However these SMD 2835 6500's can't be beaten in price/quality as a fluorescent replacement for aquaria.

 

[fishorama]

Thanks TL, I'll look at them tomorrow, it's the end of late football & heading toward my bedtime right now...yeah lame retirees...thank you though, I appreciate it. Not quite "hillbilly"-ish, lol. Got to keep up with the house values in my neighborhood to some extent & those are pretty high the last few years...yeah? or not...tomorrow...Kitchen is not "fancy" by todays standards, not updated in the latest ways....no "smart appliances" etc., more medium-ish Cali if you get my drift...

 

[fishorama]

TY again TL, those look interesting for tanks but not maybe for my kitchen...still looking.