why are some led lights SOOO expensive?

YEP couldnt agree more

 

There's a lot of good points on this thread, but I think a couple of points were missed.

I can't speak for the Reef Breeders line, but the cooling is hugely different between most cheaper lights and expensive ones which will almost definitely lead to longevity problems.

Generally, cheaper lights have an aluminum housing with the LED board mounted at the bottom and the rest of the electronics stacked on top of that. For cooling the entire housing is used as a heat sink with air being drawn through the fixture. This fills the fixture's electronics with dust as well as draws salty moist air through.

The more expensive fixtures use a lot more engineering in their cooling systems by isolating the electronics from the cooling. The back of their LED boards backs up directly to a heat sink which has air drawn across it.

For some this may be a huge selling point. LEDs are rumored to last for upwards of ten years, but they won't put out much light if the connection on the circuit board rusts after two.

Another key to the expensive fixtures is that they bring the newest features to us first. We sit here comparing AI SOLs to the controllable Reef Breeders unit, but nobody seems to notice that the SOL has been out for years and the Reef Breeders unit just came out. The SOL has been around the block, stood the test of time and grew some amazing reefs. I'm sure the Reef Breeders unit will be an awesome light as well, but the difference is that AI broke new ground, sold the innovation for a premium, built a huge following and now gets to reap the benefits.

You can look back at just about every other expensive light out there and you will see the same pattern. The Radion was the first light to come out that could be so closely controlled and had a more full spectrum. EcoTech Marine was also created the largest innovation in pump technology to hit the hobby in a long time. They earned their success.

In the end, I don't think it's possible to become one of the heavy hitters unless you are the one breaking new ground. I can count on my hands the companies that are directly engineering and manufacturing ideas that they were the brains behind, and yet a new company rises and falls every month that saw their ideas and called China to have them mass produced.

Again, I can't speak for Reef Breeders on anything I've said here. They were just the name that was being discussed here, so I used them for comparison.

 

The ecotech software is pretty awesome. I love plugging in my netbook and being able to link my lights, reprogram them, set up weather features, or add a few more color point all in under 5 minutes.
Its just an added bonus they don't support the fad 'mac' thing.

 

I thought you were going back to halides! You are so fickle!

 

Well the way I look at it you can see why they sell for more. Just go to Home Depot or Lowes and look at the price of a conventional LED bulb for a lamp and than at a regular incandescent. It probably doesn't cost that much more to make the LED, but it's the new technology so they can sell it for more and they are selling an image because people want to feel like they are doing something for the environment. Such as the those curly Fluorescent bulbs, people think they are good, but they don't realize that they are full of mercury and when they go into a land fill the mercury from the broken bulb seeps down into the water table and than gets into the ocean, therefore poisoning all water.

 

Mikejrice validated my point about R&D

 

I love lights.. I love them all.. It's true. But seeing as my 300 DD build is dead in the water and I'm going Azoox... all I care about is spectrum to highlight my corals. Power and growth means nothing to my next build. So, I'm going to keep 2 of my AIs, convert them to Vegas and go puck shopping!!!

 

You are 100% correct.

The EPA's reports of needing to don a hazmat suit to clean up the mess if you break a CFL bulb have got brushed under the rug due to the heavy pressure on them by folks higher up pushing the "Green" theme.
I've listened to part of the report being read - it stated a carpet should be pulled up and permanently removed if one of the curly fry bulbs breaks over or on it.

Mecury, nasty stuff.

The minnesota pollution control agency believes that one gram of mercury can contaminate a twenty acre lake...

Apparently it was a good idea to close all the incandescent light bulb plants in the US to by the CFL bulbs from of competions overseas.
The green agenda has been excellent at that.

 

Well said Mike. I would have said the same without being so diplomatic. Great discussion.

 

i love all the input and that everyone is keeping this civil thanks guys!