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LED fixtures where to find/purchase a decent one that is affordable

I am considering purchasing an LED fixture, recently someone posted a link to a seller here, and I cannot seem to find it. Or I found the link but it did not lead to the advert I saw before. I wondered into an aquarium shop yesterday, and saw some interesting fixtures but they were going for up to $500 and more. Some they had used for $100, and cripes! Two plug ins, dimmable, two colors, seperately dimmable, timers, on and on it went. Evidently to pretty much mimic the sun. Which is great, but I think I need a lower end product, a cheaper one anyway. Surely some of those features are nice, but are they really useful? Separate controls, dimmers? The timer is a no brainer. Thoughts, ideas? I would like to find something in the 36 inch range, and with a way to hang that is adjustable, say ten to 15 inches...I forgot to mention three fans, I guess they all have/require fans? Thanks for any info.
 
Be careful of the aquarium LED fixtures, the two I have are just not working for emersed growth plants any better than a stand cheap single T5/T8. For aquatic plants (what they were designed for) they are working great.

Now if you already have a setup consider just adding a http://www.rapidled.com/4-led-solderless-moonlight-kit/, you still would need a heatsink + lenses (and make sure to have them replace the blue LEDs with the color of your choice) but it would give you something to play around with for not that much of an investment before you spent the real $$.

Here is all the US test runs I know of.

http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php/137255-Philips-GreenPower-LED-flowering-lamp-trial
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...results-from-my-CREE-XM-L2-LED-grow-light-kit

My threads.
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...lotus-grow-space-would-love-input!?highlight=
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...rm-LED-Experiment-with-a-few-Cephs?highlight=
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...ng-It!-Thermoelectric-Cooling-Fun!?highlight=
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php/135880-Terrarium-tank-stand-build-log?highlight=

Can also search though http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/, a lot of them are using a screw in LED bulb with good results but its nothing I'm interested in.

Some UK info that can be useful.

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=48350
 
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I had thought of a multibulb t-5 or t-8 fixture to mount over or suspend above the area I wish to light, and the width is 39". For most all 36" bulb multibulb fixtures the overall length is 40" or greater. I had started to lean in the directions of led's when I saw how much light carried over a given area relative to the size of the fixture itself. Guess I will keep looking. And give it some more thought. Thanks for all the info!
 
If you do go the route of T5/8 I'd look into the 4 ft fixture prices. They are mass produced compaired to 3 ft ones and the pricing may be less depending on when you actually purchase one. I am currently lighting a 36" area with a 48" T5 fixture just for that reason.

I'd still recommend LEDs over T5s if you can afford the higher up front costs, do the DIY work, and have time to do the research. I have not seen any reviews/trials of premade LEDs that had good results, but I have not looked in over a year.
 
If you go the t5 route I'd check out speedyliquidation on ebay. I got my rft 8 bulb t5HO with bulbs $110 shipped. Good fixture if a bit flimsy on the reflector.
 
Trouble is the area I would mount or suspend the fixture from is 39 inches. The larger one would not fit. The area I want to light below it is the same size. I know it is an odd size, but the place was built before I got there.:) Maybe some day I will contemplate a tent or minigreenhouse in the house. I have one but am not sure how to incorporate it and not have it look like it does not belong in the house. Which is pretty small in the first place. About the led thing, I would consider as variables I guess, if things grew about the same as with fluorescent lamps, and if there were a cost savings in less electricity used, or less heat generated, or something else to charge off to the higher start up cost. Or longer bulb life or??
 
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Even with the extra cords and all, that one fixture at the aquarium store was pretty ace, if a bit knocked about.
 
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For me in my area paying about $.114 per KWH my break even point is around 2.5 years. The point where the extra power costs of running the T5s would have paid for the LEDs. Everyday after that I'm saving money.

LEDs are newish so bulb life is not as set in stone as T5s are, but 10-15 years running 12 hours a day is the best guess I could find. During this time period they should have lost about 30% of there brightness. At that point you would pretty much have to replace everything expect the heatsinks as I would guess the newer stuff would not work with the older stuff. Newer stuff so more risk.

T5 bulbs run 2-3 years? Losing about 50% of there brightness over that time. Depending on ballasts and bulbs, there is a lot of varation here.

Page 11 of this thread I wrote a lot about it. http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php/87561-Terrarium-lighting-101/page11

If you need an odd sized heatsink, I've ordered from http://www.heatsinkusa.com/ and plan to again probably in 2015.
 
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I like the idea of removeable and hence replaceable lamps. The non-solder plug in connectors as well. The find your own fixture, heatsink, and/or hood less so. I wonder if a premade fixture with lots of .5 watt lights would give more or less the same light as fewer three watt as in the kit setup. You also have the advantage of tucking away your "plug ins" in the fixture. And choosing your lamp colors. I think for now I would probably fare better with a premade lamp. Nice that you have the skillset and knowledge to set things up precisely for your application and area.
 
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