To Cree or not to Cree

I am looking to upgrade to LED lights soon. The set up that I am interested in has several options. I know I definatly want a controller. The question is are the Cree LED's so much better to pay an extra $120 for the light. If I get the Crees it pushes the price over $640 with shipping.

 

CREE compared to what? There are other things that are important other than the diodes. If everything else is truly equal and you are comparing CREE to another brand that has been used successfully for reef tanks, such as say Bridgelux, then I would not tend to think CREE is really worth that much extra. There are some new brands, that haven't been used much in the hobby that I would be more cautious of though, but realistically, LED technology is pretty consistent within brands. Some brands may tweak the spectral output more to get more "lumens" per watt etc... and make their product look superior, but real useful output shouldn't vary as much.

 

The Standard LED in the fixture are the Bridgelux.

 

can you show what fixtures that you are comparing.

 

are they bridgelux 1w, 2w, or 3w?

crees are 3w, and the bridgelux 3ws are comparable but cree has higher par and less margin for error allowed in their bins....par isnt necessarily as important as pur though

Photosynthetically available radiation (PAR)
Photosynthetically usable radiation (PUR)

maybe see if anyone has studies of the comparison of PUR between the two of them

 

Do you have a comparison of PAR? I've been looking and have not found one. Despite of lots of claims on the internet that x led is z% better than y led, yada, yada, yada, so far, the data needed to make an accurate comparison of LEDs just does not seem to exist. Although, basically all LEDs produce all of their output in the visible range. So, you can compare mW flux instead of PAR. From what I have seen mW ratings of LEDs will be within about 10% of each other. So, PAR will therefore also be within 10%. I would be interested to see data suggesting otherwise though.

As to PUR, it is a nice, theoretical concept, but isn't useful unless defined for corals. Which, it really isn't. So, we can't do much with it yet.

I have some bridglux LEDs and CREE LEDs and a PAR meter, but the optics, spacing, drivers etc.. are drastically different, so, I can't really make a comparison. Both put out plenty of light though and can burn my corals easily if not acclimated properly LOL.

 

In case no one has mentioned it. I would add that driver and cooling design will make a lot of difference in performance and life of your LEDs too.

 

i personally dont but i know there are a couple of threads probably buried out there with the actual data....i didnt say it was drastic difference but cree has a little more of a punch and there labeling is more precise with stricter limits....if you search hard enough on here you could find some....both can handle just about anything it was just a factor to throw out there

 

The Cree's are an available upgrade for approx $120 and I was just wondering if it would be worth it.

 

You don't really give enough info. I probably wouldn't pay more than 5-10% more for CREE leds, but there are a heck of a lot of factors that could change that. For example, how much is the fixture to start? are the optics the same? colors the same? are they driven the same? warranty the same? etc... etc... etc...