Aquarium and reptile lighting company Arcadia have sent Practical Fishkeeping details of their new LED lights.
"The first installation of a new low energy LED lighting system from Arcadia has just been completed at the Maidenhead Aquatics store in Brighton." Say Arcadia.
"Maidenhead Aquatics approached Arcadia in July when they were still planning the electrical installation at the new store to see if it was possible to reduce the energy consumption of the lighting for the livestock systems."
"Currently the stores use T8 lamps with magnetic ballasts, which provide excellent results, but require 252 Watts of electricity to light each 2.4m section of the three tiered livestock bays."
"Arcadia proposed the use of a new LED lighting system, utilising a unique mix of white, red, green and blue LED s to provide all the benefits of low energy LED lighting, but with far better colour rendition than conventional led products when used in an aquarium."
"The LED light units have the diameter of a conventional T8 tube, for ease of installation, but use a remote driver so that the tube itself runs at only 24 volts."
Installation
"After an in-store demonstration of a prototype, Maidenhead Aquatics gave the go-ahead for installation at the Brighton store and in September 68 LED light units were installed."
"All of the freshwater and marine livestock tanks in the store (excluding the marine invertebrates) are now lit with LED tubes."
"The results are spectacular " not only do the livestock tanks look superb, with the LEDs proving a gentle ripple effect and more natural light and shadow than is possible with fluorescent lighting; the energy consumption is almost half of that for an equivalent T8 fluorescent installation."
"Each one metre LED tube draws only 22 watts of electricity, so for each 2.4m bay there is a 120 Watt energy saving."
"Additionally, with a life expectancy of around five years, a single LED unit will last as long as three fluorescent lamps, assuming lamps are changed after 18 months, and as LED tubes do not contain mercury (which is highly toxic) end of life recycling is simpler."
"When all of the benefits of the LED system are taken into consideration, this results in a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of the store."
"Arcadia are able to supply LED light units for commercial installations now, and aim to have a retail product available early in the new year. The new Maidenhead Aquatics store in Warren Road, Brighton is now open for business."
All of the information above was provided by Arcadia. Practical Fishkeeping are keen to test the new lights and will give you an independent, magazine review, as soon as is possible.