Anyone tried the "new" LED plant lights

[Diane]

I've seen them advertised a couple of places, lower heat, lower use of electricity.... different color spectrum?

Anyone seen them in person or read about them in any detail?

[Annie]

I think I saw them in person at the RI Orchid Society show a couple months back. They were really small! I didn't have the time or chance to ask the person who had them about his experiences. I had seen photos before (advertising) so their small size really surprised me. I should have delved into it...now you've got me all curious! Incidentally though, I've been trying to find the person's email address regarding another matter so if I turn it up, I shall ask him about the lights.

[Tindomul1of9]

Alot of people use them to grow corals in thier salt water aquariums. They sell this really cool one called Solaris that simulates sunrise, sunset, moon light (using the natural moon cycle) and even simulates darkening due to rain storms!

[Diane]

Well the ones I saw weren't quite that exotic, but a small fixture would supposedly replace a 4 foot 4 bulb flourecent... Since I have 4 of those, which take a lot of electricity, the LED sounds intriguing..

[bench72]

I'm trialling it out with my new flasks... and i've brought in a couple of other plants to see if they will do better... fingers crossed.

[orchid-man]

this Im very interested in .
Can someone please send me details PM if needed
Thanks in advance

[ATester]

Ja tozhe (Me too)...I want to check out a little more on this, anyone with info, could PM it to me?

[Tindomul1of9]

Well if you want to hear more about the one I was talking about you can PM me and I will send you the link. Otherwise, I was just about to research it myself. Especially prices.

An alternative would be Power Compacts. Less heat, more wattage, less energy taken.

[bench72]

my bad!

Just had another look at the info and it looks like I have Halgoen lights not LED lights...

[Roberto Vespucci]

As it turns out, current LED fixtures are not the most energy efficient way to go.

A nice page on LEDs.

And I think I can link this image without violating the posting rules:

The LED page is a bit technical, so I'll summarize, but most LED fixtures are in the same range as the mercury vapor and the lower end of the fluorescent range. LED, fluorescent, and metal halide can be "tuned" to give you a particular spectrum that is best for your plants.

The really huge caveat here is that you also have to consider how much light you want. It may be better to sacrifice some efficiency for a more ideal lamp.