LED's Do Heat Up Your Tank
- Thread starter Stolireef
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OP
OP
As you can see, when my lights are on, it takes significantly longer for the tank to cool down sufficiently to bring the heater back on, especially compared to when the lights are off. It's not nearly as significant as MH's but the numbers appear to validate that LED's do add some heat to the tank. Note that all other equipment in the tank stays on at the same level throughout the night. The only variable is my Radion G4's running at about 50% intensity.
Not really important but I thought it was interesting.
Not really important but I thought it was interesting.
USMC 4 LIFE
Valuable Member
Is the tank is in a controlled temperature environment? What LEDs are you using? Just some additional relevant questions needed to get more clarification.
OP
OP
Radion G4's. Temp is controlled and monitored by my Apex.
I don't think this is an issue. I just thought it was really interesting.
USMC 4 LIFE
Valuable Member
Your apex monitors your house AC? I want one of those. Lol. I think you misread my post. Do you have AC in your home? The climb in temp can simply be associated with ambient temperature.
Wait, people don't have AC in their house? How do they live thru the summer? My AC runs wide open for 9 months out of the year.
USMC 4 LIFE
Valuable Member
No need for AC when I live a block from the beach in Southern California.
I'm only 120 miles from Myrtle Beach in SC and I would die in the summer. Actually, people do die here when the an goes out and they can't afford to fix it. Mostly elderly folks.
Heating should, + or -, correspond pretty much 1:1 with wattage drawn from the wall.
Thanks, First law of thermodynamics!
+1, Yep! The law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system is constant; energy can be transformed from one form to another, but can be neither created nor destroyed.
OP
OP
Ooops. The house is centrally cooled (haven't figured out how to put that on the Apex ). I get the first law of thermodynamics but I was just a bit surprised at the size of the effect, particularly on a completely open top rimless tank with a ton of circulation. But, I guess radiation is radiation and it does heat things up.
). I get the first law of thermodynamics but I was just a bit surprised at the size of the effect, particularly on a completely open top rimless tank with a ton of circulation. But, I guess radiation is radiation and it does heat things up.
BoomCorals
2500 Club Member
My 180g had 6 G4 pros over it at one point. 6" from the water. I never saw a temp increase during the day. I think there are other factors at play here. My temp is 77.7-78. Heaters controlled by apex. Kick on at 77.7 and off at 78.
I now have 6 SB reef lights over my tank. Also no temp increase. I have a canopy top that is open on top.
I now have 6 SB reef lights over my tank. Also no temp increase. I have a canopy top that is open on top.
n2585722
2500 Club Member
You do realize the light itself can generate heat. So there will be some heat regardless of the source.
BoomCorals
2500 Club Member
Right, but depending on the size of the tank I guess it may or may not affect your water temps. I've found ambient air temp affects tank temp a lot more than people think.
andrew james
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I run MH and the heat isnt a big deal at all I just point a fan at the water when theyre on, problem solved. So I imagine the same would work for LED. The cost of running a the fan is .12 per day.
I think what everyone is trying to say is......
The graph that Stolireef is showing does not depict any heat gain or loss. The reason why is........
There is no base temperature set for the tank. Let me explain. If you fill up your aquarium with water and do nothing else but that. The water in the aquarium will eventually match that of the house......IE your cooling/heating temp set by your thermostat. Now if you decide to circulate that water in your aquarium with pumps, etc. Those pumps will add heat to the water, causing your temp in your aquarium to be a little more than ambient temperature. IE your new ambient.
If you run your aquarium with your pumps for a day or two with no lighting then you will have a base line of what your aquarium runs without lighting...this is assuming that your thermostat is set on a program and it keeps a constant temp each day. Then if you turn on your lights and see an increase in water temp, then you will know what increase the lighting has made on your aquarium.
I have done this in the past to reduce heat in my aquarium. Its actually a good task to take on to determine cost savings and heat savings on an aquarium. That being said. Yes LED's do give off heat. Place your hand under them to feel it. Coming from MH to LED's.....they don't even belong in the same sentence IMO. Try placing your hand under a 400MH SE bulb and you will know what I"m talking about.
I agree that LED's do give off heat, but its so minute that I have never even tried to measure the difference. Try the above an you will now. If you have MH, then you will truly know what heat from a light is. JMO.
The graph that Stolireef is showing does not depict any heat gain or loss. The reason why is........
There is no base temperature set for the tank. Let me explain. If you fill up your aquarium with water and do nothing else but that. The water in the aquarium will eventually match that of the house......IE your cooling/heating temp set by your thermostat. Now if you decide to circulate that water in your aquarium with pumps, etc. Those pumps will add heat to the water, causing your temp in your aquarium to be a little more than ambient temperature. IE your new ambient.
If you run your aquarium with your pumps for a day or two with no lighting then you will have a base line of what your aquarium runs without lighting...this is assuming that your thermostat is set on a program and it keeps a constant temp each day. Then if you turn on your lights and see an increase in water temp, then you will know what increase the lighting has made on your aquarium.
I have done this in the past to reduce heat in my aquarium. Its actually a good task to take on to determine cost savings and heat savings on an aquarium. That being said. Yes LED's do give off heat. Place your hand under them to feel it. Coming from MH to LED's.....they don't even belong in the same sentence IMO. Try placing your hand under a 400MH SE bulb and you will know what I"m talking about.
I agree that LED's do give off heat, but its so minute that I have never even tried to measure the difference. Try the above an you will now. If you have MH, then you will truly know what heat from a light is. JMO.
OP
OP
Actually, we do have a baseline since the only thing that changes is whether the lights are on or off. Ambient temp in the house is very steady at 75 degrees. I agree that it adds a minimal amount of heat but it's demonstrated on how much longer it takes for the tank to cool down when the lights are on.
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