The 36" 2X96W unit I ordered just arrived. I hate to say it but I am not impressed. I have a couple of issues with the light:
The "ultra Quiet" fan is actually not all that quiet...it is substantially louder than most computer fans I have heard. The acrylic splash guard on the housing, helps to form a nice resonating chamber for this annoying fan noise as well. Pulling the guard off eliminates much of the resonance but it is still pretty loud to my ears...and certainly too loud for my ultra quiet living room!
The endcaps look pretty cheesy compared to the nice waterproof caps on the Custom SeaLife 1x96W BriteLite I was hoping to replace. They also seem to be oddly placed and of an odd length. It was pretty challenging to get the bulbs in the holders once connected. In fact, the bulbs were butting up against one end of the housing and the cords from the endcaps are of such an odd length and so stiff that you have to take care to get everything back in the fixture without breaking anything.
The "german made", "parabolic" reflector also appears to be of questionable quality...much flatter and of lighter material than I would have imagined. It also does not run the full length of the fixture leaving a couple inches on each end and about an inch all along the bottom inside the fixture without reflective material. In addition, the bulb holders were of poor quality and easily bent beyond being able to hold a bulb in place. Again, when comparing to the old CSL unit it simply does not appear to be of as good a quality.
If you can live with these issues, this may be the light for you though. It does have some bang for the buck...at least on paper. The 2x96W layout offers up plenty of light and the moonlight feature seems like a neat idea. The unit comes with a separate power cord for each 96W bulb as well as one for the three LED moonlights. Note that the fan is tied into one of the lights so if you only run that light only around midday while no one is around it really may not be much of a bother. Unfortunately, the two switches provided control only the 96W bulbs so unless you put the moonlights on a timer, they are either always on or always off.
The $220 price from the Drs. seems reasonable for this feature set. But, in the end, it just did not measure up to the kind of quality I want...especially in an electrical appliance! So it's going back tomorrow.
I sure wish someone had written this last week....
