# Do your T5HO lights get hot?



## djdestructo (Jul 15, 2010)

I recently doubled up my light to another 2bulb t5ho light,
I noticed that there seems to be alot of heat coming off them, like almost too hot to touch, is this normal?


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

The bulbs or the fixture? It's normal for the bulbs to be that hot, but the fixture shouldn't be that hot. At least mine doesn't get that hot.


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## djdestructo (Jul 15, 2010)

Ya its the top of the fixture that i am touching


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## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Hmmm. That doesn't sound normal. What brand is the fixture?


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## djdestructo (Jul 15, 2010)

Aquaticlife.

Just used a thermometer and it is 116.5F


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## ChadO (Apr 2, 2009)

I have Aquaticlife fixtures, and they do get warm to the touch, but I have never measured the temperature like you are doing there. Your reading doesn't seem unreasonable to me. I can touch mine, but wouldn't want to hold my hand on it for a long, long period of time. Also, what size (length) is this fixture? Mine are 48" fixtures.


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## djdestructo (Jul 15, 2010)

Same with mine, they are 48inch


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

My bulbs get hot, the fixture itself only mildly warm. Nothing close to being uncomfortable to touch. It's a 2 bulb 48" hydroponic fixture though, not an Aquaticlife.


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## ChadO (Apr 2, 2009)

I can take a reading on mine tonight for you. I have a Thermopen, or can use one of those infrared thermometer guns as I have one of those as well. Actually, that might be kind of fun to take a reading on my various lights now that I have a mix of LED and T5HO.


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## Veritas (Aug 9, 2013)

my Zoo Med fixture used to get really hot - it's one of the reasons I switched to LEDs


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## ChadO (Apr 2, 2009)

OK, here's what I got:

Aquaticlife 48" - 104.4 F
Aquaticlife 36" - 94.6 F
Current USA Satellite Plus 48" - 93.7 F
Current USA Satellite Plus 24" - 95.8 F
Finnex Planted Plus 48" - 94.3 F
Finnex Planted Plus 20" - 97.3 F 

I used a Thermoworks IR-Gun to measure. Held it about 7" away from each fixture. The lights have all been on for at least 3 hours, and the ambient temperature in the room is about 70 F.


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## RAGEo2 (Apr 4, 2007)

My rule of thumb has always been anything over 95F gets a fan. That comes from the understanding that high heat will shorten the life of electronic components. 

ChadO - I find it VERY interesting and a bit puzzling that the LED light strips are producing so much heat. I remember when LED was first introduced, one of the selling points for me personally has always been the low power consumption that to me meant lower heat produced. I guess that was a bad assumption on my part. Good info though! TU


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## KenP (Nov 8, 2012)

Wow I would have thought the led's would have been much cooler than the t5ho's. 10deg. is 30% cooler but still thought the difference would have been greater.


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## jrman83 (Nov 22, 2010)

Bulbs get very hot. Usually the better fixtures stay fairly cool - the enclosure. T5HO will even heat your water a little. Just depends on how many bulbs and how close they are.


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## ChadO (Apr 2, 2009)

RAGEo2 said:


> My rule of thumb has always been anything over 95F gets a fan. That comes from the understanding that high heat will shorten the life of electronic components.
> 
> ChadO - I find it VERY interesting and a bit puzzling that the LED light strips are producing so much heat. I remember when LED was first introduced, one of the selling points for me personally has always been the low power consumption that to me meant lower heat produced. I guess that was a bad assumption on my part. Good info though! TU


Sure, happy to pass the info along. I was surprised a bit as well as I always figured my fish room was partly warm in the summer due to just the lights. I am sure that is helping, but switching all of them over to LED won't exactly net me the type of heat gain that I thought it would. It's not the only reason I might roll them all over to LED, but I can now set my expectations a little better regarding heat.

Also, I should mention the T5HO fixtures were dual bulb.


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## jrman83 (Nov 22, 2010)

Nothing electronic about a T5HO light. A ballast is just a transformer. LEDS do produce heat but it does not get near as high as T5HO and the heat doesn't appear to transfer to the water. Heat on the outside isn't the only thing producing the heat, most comes from the bulbs. Changing over to all LED in a room with a lot of tanks would have to take away the aggregate temp.


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