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Re:Cheap, strong light?
Frank I. Reiter wrote;
>Browsing through a hardware store yesterday, I came across some
halogen
>lights and suddenly realized that I have never heard any mention of
anybody
>ying them over an aquarium. With there being no expensive, bulky,
noisy
>ballasts, and with 500W bulbs costing $4.00, somebody must have tried
them.
Halogen lamps are a very poor choice for aquarium lighting. They are
incandescent lamps that operate at a higher filament temperature than
normal incandescent lamps giving them a little better lighting
efficiency. They still will be less than 20 lumens/watt while 80
lumens/watt is typical for fluorescent lamps.
>Does anybody know anything about the spectrum that these things put
out, or
>failing that, how I could find out?
More than 90% of the spectrum is in the infrared region, better known
as heat which won't do much for growing your plants.
BTW Osram Sylvania is producing a 67W compact fluorescent for a new
design of a torchiere lamp. (GE is also planning to introduce one).
These are the floor lamps that currently use 300 and 500W halogen
lamps. Perhaps these could be a source of lower cost aquarium
lighting.