HQI vs Mogul : Lumens

[Mnesarchus]

Does anyone know how many lumens advantage there is in HQI?

How many more lumens does a 175w HQI make over a traditional Metal Halide?

[MrConclusion]

Mnesarchus,

 

The only thing I have seen is a test with a lux-meter (which is not perfect as it measures only certain wavelengths) that showed that a 150HQI was putting out more light than a 175 mogul, and that a 250HQI was much better than a 250 mogul... it was getting up to the neighborhood of the 400 watt mogul!

 

I can't find this web page, but I remember the results if not the exact numbers. I am sure that the exact bulbs used (all German brands in this test) and reflectors would have a huge influence.

[Jahkaya]

I believe a search on Advanced Aquarist website on Sanjay, double ended and or HQI, may find the answers you are looking for. The DE's tend to have better more effecient reflectors which cause them to have better PAR, over all I think the 175 still outdid the 150, but not by much. DE's are much more effecient. The type of ballast obviously comes into play. You can't run DE's on a Mag ballast, only Electronic.

 

What are you putting this MH over? The factors are infinte. The 175's put out less heat than the 150's and there are many more bulb choices and you have no need for UV protection. And yes the 250 DE outdoes the 250 mogul in terms of par and Lumens, but the 400w still has more par and lumens than a 250DE overall.

 

God, I love lighting!

[wetworx101]

IMO, ballast has the biggest role here. most DE bulbs can only be run on electronic and HQI (pulse start?) ballasts. These are just better quality than the majority of ballasts that SE bulbs can run on...and often are run on. For an accurate comparison, I would use a 250watt electronic ballast (can run both at peak performance), and then run one of each, but both 250 watters to be fair. I have actually hears the opposite from what many of you may have heard. While intnesity at the bulb may be favorably measured for the DE bulbs, I hear that the SE bulbs actually penetrate deeper in the tank...so for tanks over 24" deep, SE is the way to go bacause DE just doesnt penetrate as well. This would be consistant with other bulbs like this. Smaller, hotter bulbs end up being more intense close to the bulb, but cooler, larger bulbs produce a more penetrating light. I think it has to do with the ability of water to defract light. The tighter/narrower the light...the easier it is to block/defract with less matter...yet with a larger dispersion, the harder it is to block/interfere. (Imagine your hand blocking out the sun...your hand is the water molecule...if the sun is bigger, the less light your hand will be able to block out) Kinda like dispersion with sound waves and speakers...no matter the wattage, the larger cone will always provide more...but distortion is another story. i would like some clarification on this as well, as I have heard many things on this, and no definative tests.