# Snap-on led flood light from Costco



## vanz (Dec 16, 2013)

The best part is costcos warranty 😃



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## AirstoND (Jun 17, 2011)

Wow, do they have it in white or black?
It will be worth a shot, keep us updated on how u'll rig it up.


----------



## Deano85 (Nov 14, 2011)

Not very efficient at 53 lumens per watt.


----------



## Higher Thinking (Mar 16, 2011)

Deano85 said:


> Not very efficient at 53 lumens per watt.


I don't think you're too accurate, check out this link:

www.ledlightingexplained.com/led-lighting-myths/

Specifically focusing on "Some highly efficient white-light LED lighting fixtures can achieve efficacy of over 40 lumens per watt (lm / W), sufficient to earn ENERGY STAR and other energy-efficiency ratings. For example, linear LED cove lights from a leading manufacturer achieve efficacies of 43.9 to 53.1 lm / W in normal operating conditions."

I saw these and was really tempted to buy them. I ended up getting these:
20W LED Aquarium Flood Light COOL White High Power Fish Tank Lighting Reef Plant D?cor Salt Fresh H2O Main Lighting, Sub Lighting, Fresh Water Tanks, Salt Water Tanks - Amazon.com

I haven't gotten them yet, so I don't know how they do.


----------



## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

I have both the lamp mentioned by the op AND the item listed in the post above.

It would largely depend on the dimensions of the tank as these lights tend to be extremely intense directly below the LED beam. It would be ideal with the option to suspend at a varying height above the tank but be aware that the light also greatly diminishes when raised an inch or so.

In my fishroom, i've successfully run (2) 10W LED Floods on the rim of a 10g and a 20W LED Flood elevated over a 10g. 

It managed to support a carpet of Glosso, ET and erios without a doubt. My advice is to order the appropriate wattage LED flood based on the height and add RGB LED Floods to supplement the RED spectrum.

that 30W snap on lamp will be adequate for a 20g high tank elevated 4-5" for Medium light. At a lower height, it will be higher light but cast shadows in the upper corners of the tank.


----------



## Texan78 (Nov 17, 2013)

I don't know something tells me that the part in the big yellow box that says "For Indoor, Outdoor *Dry* Locations" would be enough to tell me it isn't worth trying.


----------



## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

vanz said:


> The best part is costcos warranty 😃
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I have reservations using this one led to provide adequate PAR. As you can see by this spectral distribution graph







6500k leds are deficient in red light. Red light PAR is absolutely necessary for good plant growth. Unknown to me is whether multiple leds will provide adequate red PAR wavelengths. Keep this in mind.


----------



## Deano85 (Nov 14, 2011)

Higher Thinking said:


> I don't think you're too accurate, check out this link:
> 
> www.ledlightingexplained.com/led-lighting-myths/
> 
> ...



So you are saying these costco lights are built from leading manufacturers leds ?

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showpost.php?p=4911353&postcount=204


----------



## vanz (Dec 16, 2013)

I have it an inch over the water, max I can do in the canopy and you are right about the corner shadows. 

I'm not planning on many plants. Maybe anubias nana and fissidens? 

I'll see if I can live with the spotlight effect. If I have to buy more fixtures, I might just have to return to pick up a strip light instead. 



acitydweller said:


> I have both the lamp mentioned by the op AND the item listed in the post above.
> 
> It would largely depend on the dimensions of the tank as these lights tend to be extremely intense directly below the LED beam. It would be ideal with the option to suspend at a varying height above the tank but be aware that the light also greatly diminishes when raised an inch or so.
> 
> ...






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## vanz (Dec 16, 2013)

AirstoND said:


> Wow, do they have it in white or black?
> 
> It will be worth a shot, keep us updated on how u'll rig it up.



Just red. I just attached the unit bracket to my canopy instead of the stand it came with. Unit is about 5".


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Higher Thinking (Mar 16, 2011)

Deano85 said:


> So you are saying these costco lights are built from leading manufacturers leds ?
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showpost.php?p=4911353&postcount=204


I was just mentioning that this post writes about super efficient, leading manufactured LEDs producing upwards of 40 lumens/watt. That doesn't correlate with your criticism of the op's light "only" producing 53 watts/lumen.


----------



## Deano85 (Nov 14, 2011)

The article just says that led manufactures cheat by testing lumen output at the best case scenario which isn't suitable for real world application. 

Even the light in your amazon link puts out 400 more lumens at 2/3 the wattage. That's 100 lumens a watt.


----------



## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

vanz said:


> I have it an inch over the water, max I can do in the canopy and you are right about the corner shadows.
> 
> I'm not planning on many plants. Maybe anubias nana and fissidens?
> 
> I'll see if I can live with the spotlight effect. If I have to buy more fixtures, I might just have to return to pick up a strip light instead.


The light is a pretty decent deal. i hope it works out for you. Anubias nana and fissidens should be no problem at all.


----------



## thinBear (Dec 16, 2011)

how long is the warranty? If it is more than a year, it worth a try imo.
The red color will is a bummer thou.


----------



## vanz (Dec 16, 2013)

This is a new set up so it's still cloudy from the sand, rocks and driftwood. 

Here's the light an inch or so off the water. I kinda like the sun light shining through the cloud effect (gives it a more dramatic effect) but not sure how much i like it...maybe I should keep this and supplement with lower wattage leds. 

BTW in reality, it's not as dark, the iphone likes to make it darker than it really is. You can definitely see the upper left and right corners, but not as bright as straight down.


----------



## ced281 (Jul 6, 2012)

Yeah it's always a challenge to take a photo with even a nice camera and keep the lighting balance similar to what you see with your eyes... I think the only way you can fix that is to manually adjust it using photoshop post-picture.


----------



## vanz (Dec 16, 2013)

I've decided I'm going to return these and pick up a current satellite led plus. The controllability of the satellite pushed me.


----------



## mach_six (Sep 12, 2005)

I have this light but didn't open it, in the store it was very bright.

And if you buy it at Costco, you can return it whenever really as long as you have an active membership.


----------



## jharger (Aug 18, 2006)

1600 lumens, if that's accurate, is the output of a 100 watt incandescent bulb. 
These cheap Chinese led lights are typically over rated so it's probably less than that. You would be a lot better off with a couple of fluorescent tubes or some of the new CREE led bulbs available at Home Depot


----------

