crazyelece
Fish Addict
automotive is not industrial. Also the reason LEDs were introduced into automotive applications was the fact that an automobile is already a DC power source and for a saftey aspect. The latency involved to power an LED to glow time is ten times as fast as a lightbulb. This means when someone depresses the brake pedal, the LED cluster light will glow or come on ten times faster than a normal light bulb. This gives anyone following that much more time to react. This is the main reason LED lamp clusters came into existance and why you see the majority of them in brake light setups. After this came about trailers were the next step as the lamp load on the vehicle was significantly reduced. This meant that lower power flasher units and vehicle wiring could be used with no effect by the trailer. An industrial use of this is in commercial trucking. After the technology was introduced to the trucking industry it started trickling into the comercial market for use in everyday utility trailers.
Now an industrial use for LEDs to overtake MH would mean that LED fixtures would have to be made for industrial lighting applications. Such as in your local supermarket. Ever look at the ceilieng. Most places are powered by MH fixtures. Now imagine all the fixtures in all the warehouses throughout the world. This is where the LED cluster has to take over before MH will become extinct. The main problem with this is the cost. Not only do you have to make the fixtures and the lamp clusters, you also need a power supply. LEDs are only considered efficient because less power is wasted to heat compared to a MH lamp, but what about the power source. The cheap transformer plugs that most DC powered appliances run on are very ineffiecient. Much power is consumed to heat and more is wasted converting to proper voltages. Each LED needs a resistor to limit the current sent through it. That in and of itself is a waste of power.
The technology has that new "Cool" factor, but the reality of the situation is if it is forced into the aquarium market it will be made too cheaply and will not function like it should. It will either remain and be too expensive for the average aquarist or be cheapened to the point that it will not be any good and no one will want it. Look at the nanocubes, great idea, but JBJ cheapened it to the point that the aveerage aquarist would buy it without thining about the cost, only to have it crack down the road. If they would have used thicker glass from the begining, the tanks would have cost more and less consumers would have chosen that option for a tank.
All in all, the main point of my argument is that if the LED cluster doesn't take over in an industrial application - it will never totally replace MH and thus MH will not be gone from the trade.
Now an industrial use for LEDs to overtake MH would mean that LED fixtures would have to be made for industrial lighting applications. Such as in your local supermarket. Ever look at the ceilieng. Most places are powered by MH fixtures. Now imagine all the fixtures in all the warehouses throughout the world. This is where the LED cluster has to take over before MH will become extinct. The main problem with this is the cost. Not only do you have to make the fixtures and the lamp clusters, you also need a power supply. LEDs are only considered efficient because less power is wasted to heat compared to a MH lamp, but what about the power source. The cheap transformer plugs that most DC powered appliances run on are very ineffiecient. Much power is consumed to heat and more is wasted converting to proper voltages. Each LED needs a resistor to limit the current sent through it. That in and of itself is a waste of power.
The technology has that new "Cool" factor, but the reality of the situation is if it is forced into the aquarium market it will be made too cheaply and will not function like it should. It will either remain and be too expensive for the average aquarist or be cheapened to the point that it will not be any good and no one will want it. Look at the nanocubes, great idea, but JBJ cheapened it to the point that the aveerage aquarist would buy it without thining about the cost, only to have it crack down the road. If they would have used thicker glass from the begining, the tanks would have cost more and less consumers would have chosen that option for a tank.
All in all, the main point of my argument is that if the LED cluster doesn't take over in an industrial application - it will never totally replace MH and thus MH will not be gone from the trade.
/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5328586.stm
