I work in auto repair and deal with lighting-I call the shop "the dungeon" and have found that LED's can be effective for spot lighting, but really suck at lighting large areas. The tool trucks are selling drop lights that are advertised as being the =13W c.f. but aren't nearly as effective and cost several times as much. I use a 42W c.f- yes 42 W..advertised=150W incandescent for general underhood lighting and it is BRIGHT! I have a flashlight with 6 LEDs for spot work-underdashes and in doors,ect and it's great...use the right tool for the job. If you feel ambitious go for it-I'd try mounting the LEDs on an highly directional reflector-like the AH supply units.
Lighting an Aquarium with LED's
- Thread starter oingbingboing
- Start date
You are right about LEDs being very directional. When you look at one from the side it outputs little to no light at all.
However, it depends upon the affect you are trying to get.
I did a test tonight with 1 5mm White LED. It worked like a small spotlight. It looked really cool.
Im not saying that you can get as much light as a Flouresent, but you can get some cool lighting.
However, it depends upon the affect you are trying to get.
I did a test tonight with 1 5mm White LED. It worked like a small spotlight. It looked really cool.
Im not saying that you can get as much light as a Flouresent, but you can get some cool lighting.
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I'm using one of those "miracle beam" kits with several blue and purple LEDs for night time in my tank. With 5 LEDs going, it looks really cool and most of the fish think it's night and some of my other fish come out of hiding.
if you go over to reefcentral.com there are several posts on led lighting. they use it for a moonlight effect. there is also a post going rightnow of using rope lights. think that would be much brighter.
Actually, a lot of the "ricer" car guys locally are using LEDs extensively for exterior lighting, specifically that lovely glow under the cars that annoys me so much. The fun thing about LEDs is that it can be made to do more than just be off and on. One guy has his rigged somehow to read his tach and the LEDs are synced to his RPM and they go from back to front, so it's like an annoying neon sign going insane whenever he revs it... Annoying, but very clever.
