Crazy new PFO light being unvailed

[WAVES]

Well,, PFO has a new light that is being released at IMAC, its an LED fixture that can be run from 6.5k to 20k. Not only that but you can program the output to change throughout the day. want 20k in the am then to a crisp 10k at the days peak? Want to have clouds move across the tank as you view it? All this is available. LED bulbs are expected to last 5 years so no more replacing halides VHO's and T5s on a regular bases.

Available from 12 inches to 6 feet.

The output is being compared to a 250wHQI.

Unit runs on 24v DC power, so no more big power hogs either.

Price to be released in the next day or two at IMAC. Ill let you know when I have an idea of what they will run.

[R-3]

Holy Snikes!!!! That sounds pretty sweet. I betcha is got a nice big price tag. LAter Ryan

[rude944]

Wow, big wow. Lower heat, higher efficiency and programability. I expect it would be priced accordingly, however the materials should be cheaper, but you know, they gotta get back the engineering costs somewhere!

[andy]

I've been wondering when something like this would come along. There have been huge advances in LED technology in the past few years, it's nice to see them find their way down.

[impur]

Awesome, simply awesome. That sounds like one sweet light. Not that i'll be able to afford it for a few years but still. Sounds cool. Its about time someone used LEDs for their full potential.

[WAVES]

well if anyone has seen the LED moonlights from PFO, you should know what to expect for brightness, they are NUTTY bright.

[spayne]

That just sounds sweet! It would be interesting to see how the coral respond to the different spectrums, as well as intensity, of light. I'm hoping they have some reports on preliminary findings to whet our appetites until the hobbyists have the chance to get ahold of them. Course, I guess that depends on if a hobbyist would have to sell a kidney to buy one!

Stacy

[Palani]

It's about time someone broke through with this technology. I was kinda expecting it, caues of the lighting costs made by halides. I'm sure the wattage draw is close to 1/16 of a MH (or something like that).

[Lowman]

supposedly they never burn out

[spayne]

supposedly they never burn out Are you serious? Well, I'm surprised they put together a lighting unit utilizing the technology then. They're going to be losing some on going profit with changing bulbs. Now I am a little frightened of how much they are going to cost!

Stacy

[Ahbrit]

probably $3000

[drock59]

a little birdy told me closer to 1200 but still a sweet deal.

[impur]

I'm sure they will advise people to change the bulbs (and i'm sure those bulbs will be a special order bulb) every few years to help with profits.

Anyone know if LEDs have a spectrum shift over time?

[WAVES]

I doubt at this point anyone knows the price, Carla at PFO swore she didnt even know yet, only Pat.

Maybe she is a good lier, but I dont think anyone knows at this point how much it will cost.

[SeanF]

LED do not shift spectrum over time. They are estimating a 5 year lifespan but you may be able to get up to 10 years out of a unit.

These units will not actually hit the market until July. I am putting one on order as soon as they actually let me. They will be in a hood type unit that you can hang or support with legs.

They are supposed to be similar in out put to 250w double ended bulbs.

I told Carla not to break my bank but I need to have one. In 3 years these will probably pretty much eliminate metal halide lighting. You know the price is going to stay up there because they are cutting themselves out of selling bulbs and all the work that has gone on in development over the last 3 years. Just look at it over the long term. Lower electric consumption, no changing of bulbs and the ability to have amazing control over your lighting system. Well worth it.

[Ahbrit]

And dont forget the chiller cost

[impur]

Yah these will definately be worth it. Looking forward to seeing it in action when you get it Sean.

[WAVES]

I hope they can work it out to be controlled by an aqua controller,,, that would be sweet.

[impur]

Now that would be something.

[SeanF]

They are supposed to have their own controller that you can hook up to your computer to program dawn to dusk, the color spectrum, and probably lots of other bells and whistles. I just wish they were going to be available before July. I can't wait to get my new toy.

[Flashardy]

So where can I see them at? Web page would be nice.

Thanks CLH

[Brad]

I wonder if the hood will concentrate groups of the LED's somehow so that you can still get point source shimmer lines like with MH's.

[SeanF]

Nobody is supposed to know about them yet as they are being unveiled at the show this weekend so I don't think you will find any info out there on them as of yet. Hopefully tomorrow will be the grand unveiling and then there will be e-mails going out to PFO customers with more details about them including pricing.

LED's still provide point source illumination. I don't know how stacking LED's will effect the ripples in the surface put I would imagine you would still get the ripple effect.

[PFOLIGHT]

Thanks for all your positive feed back on the hood almost no one has seen. I am here in Chicago at IMAC setting up the booth. So far everyone has been impressed. I have posted the flyer for IMAC on our website extremely quickly. It also has a link to preorder prices good through May 4, 2006.

The question on shimmering effect: we are using 25 3 Watt LED's /foot. This is producing some shimmer effect. Not as good as Metal Halide but definately a lot better than fluorescent.

As far as coral testing: The Par readings look pretty good in relation to a 250 watt metal halide. I have a hood over corals at the show and a PAR meter set up with it. It is currently reading twice the par as a XM250W 20K bulb. This is not a factual number based on scientific tests. It is just a quick reading. However, when people walk up to the hood and test the PAR they appear to be amazed. Dana Riddle is taking a hood back to Hawaii with him to do testing and so is Sanjay Joshi. I have one hood left at the show not called for and I wouldn't be supprised to see it go to another author before the weekend is over.

The following is a link to our flyer:
http://www.pfolighting.com/Aquarium-LED-Lighting.aspx

The following is a link to our pricing and more detailed info:
http://www.pfolighting.com/AquariumPgFolder/Images/Show%20Pricing.pdf

I will be busy at the show and am sorry if I do not respond to questions.

Thank you for all your support

Patrick Ormiston
PFO Lighting Inc.

[Michael7979]

Hey Patrick,
Thanks for coming to our website and giving us a sneak peak at all this new technology. That things looks INCREDIBLE!!! There are so meaning options that it just un-real. Please keep us update if you can on all the new news about this product. THANKS AGAIN

[Brad]

I take it each foot of 25 3W LED's is what approximates a 250W MH. So looks like coverage at 24" of depth is 21" if I read the picture correctly.

Will be interesting to hear feedback on these things. Very cool that something cutting edge like this has come out. "Could" change a lot of things for the industry.

[impur]

Thanks for the info Patrick, much appreciated!! The pricing is better than i was expecting. I just might be in the market for one of these later this year to replace my MH!!

[andy]

Wow, very cool! It fires on all cylinders, tickling the aquarist, the gadget-freak, the nerd and the early-adopter in me ;-)

[UPSCALES]

Testing long term( six months plus) on tanks with various corals including SPS is the only way to test the effectivness of these units. Am I going to be able to achieve the same colors as I do with Metal halide. I doubt it, But I could be proven wrong. I think they will be good light for LPS and softy type tanks. I know when power compacts came out they were going to replace halides, and when T-5's came out they were going to replace halides, They had the par but didn't produce the results of halides. I don't think you can ever replace the intensity of a halide.

Prove me wrong

Travis

[Michael7979]

I don't think you can ever replace the intensity of a halide.

Prove me wrong

Travis


That was my first thought too. Really looking forward to see what these do do in the long haul.

[spayne]

I can't wait to see what Dana and Sanjay say about the LED lighting hoods. From everything I've read, I'm pretty excited about it. Like Andy said, it would cater to the inner-nerd in me to have one. Hopefully they will perform as well as halides, or near as well. It would be nice to be able to utilize a lighting system that doesn't generate so much excess heat as well as pull so much juice. And I have to say, I was impressed with the cost of the units! I thought for sure that they would be priced so high that only elitists could buy them.

I will be keeping a watch on this product and see how they fare with other users!

Stacy

[H20cooled]

Found these pics on RC of the PFO light.

http://www.notlehs.com/travis/IMAC%202006/145_4525.JPG

http://www.notlehs.com/travis/IMAC%202006/145_4528.JPG

http://www.notlehs.com/travis/IMAC%202006/145_4527.JPG

Rich

[PFOLIGHT]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have made a new web site www.solarisled.com for our new LED light fixture. Under the gallery tab you can see weekly updates of corals growing under the LED hood.
Thank You,
Patrick Ormiston
PFO Lighting Inc.

[reefboy]

those will be sweet ill probly wait a year usally price drops 25%-40% or others jump in and come out with there own lighting variation cant wait till they hit the market.

[H20cooled]

It will be intersting to see the results they get with SPS...

[funstarfish]

too bad that pendant is so damn ugly...

[UPSCALES]

Everything looks pretty brown to me.(scratch)

[H20cooled]

Yeah I noticed the samething. I guess its to early to tell...

[reefgeek84]

the 72" one is 3300 bucks!!! Ouch!

[SnowboardKid26]

The guy I get alot of hardware from down here (also the local PFO dealer) is going to be running one of these already over his tank in about a week I guess. They are BAD A$$. The color is so changable, no more timers, you can simulate seasonal changes.. EVERYTHING. plus, you will pay for the unit in 1 year of power savings they are saying.

[Chief]

the 72" one is 3300 bucks!!! Ouch!

I would need 2 48in units to cover my 8 foot tank. $4650.00

You only need one kidney, right? (scary)

I am going to see how the coral react to the led's before jumping on the bandwagon. If they do perform, I could see myself changing over to them in the future. The savings in the long run would be amazing.

Jay

[SeanF]

I opted to wait on the 400 watt equivilent fixture to come out later this year. Hopefully I will also be able to get some feedback on the actual led fixture and see what it can really do. I am optomistic but before I have to fork out some of my vacation fund I want to make sure that this thing will do what it is supposed to.

[Twitterbait]

I have heard nothing but good about these things. they offer 13k and 20k settings currently and the final pendant is actually much nicer looking too. take a look at the site gallery... www.solarisled.com
The 14" would be perfect for a nano IMO and with 5-10 years of life they are totally worth it IMO... now i just gotta find the cash.

http://www.solarisled.com/Portals/0/Images/SolarisWFeetLarge.jpg

[H20cooled]

I hope they do work out, it would be really nice to have another option for quality lighting especially one that would last for that long and not eat up power. Personly though I'll wait to see how the perform long term.

Rich

[WAVES]

I wish they would have put the menu looking thing on the end or something. Its such a distraction from the rest of the design of the unit.

Does anyone know anybody that is running one of these? Maybe on RC or something? someone non biased I mean.

[H20cooled]

Nope, I've heard that someone locally purchased one, not sure who it was though. Are they actually out though?

Rich

[WAVES]

yes they are available, just bring me your credit card and Ill get you one :)

[squidster]

LOL Joel, they won't be released till sometime in July, and the ones released in July will be obsolete in September when the "up-graded" version is released.

We've sold 2 sets so far, and both customers have opted to wait for theirs until the September "up-graded" version is released.

[H20cooled]

Ok, that's what I thought was going on.

Joel, I just spent to much on a new T5 system. So, this will have to wait for a while. Thanx for the offer to accept my $$$$ though, LOL...