SaltyCritters...I think they say 12-18 months on the T-5 bulbs which can be rather pricey. But I beleive the life on
MH's are less and the bulbs can be expensive as well. Weigh into acct. the additional energy
MH's consume as well as the potential need to run a chiller or external cooling fan array for either and they add up. I think in the long-term LED's will be the best bet and will pay for themselves in about 2.38 years. There was a great article by Patrick Ormiston called "LEDs and the Reef" in the May issue of Freshwater and Marine Aquarium about this and breaks it down quite well.
Here is a teaser link to it. Too bad they don't have an electronic version, it would be worth posting.
Granted he is the designer of teh Solaris LED system, but he is pretty straight forward in the differentiators. The initial pricetag is high for the LED's but after a few years of high electric bills you'll be ahead.
I can't wait to have the LED's drop below the $1000 mark for 48", too bad the aquarium industry isn't like the computer industry. We'd be down around $400-500 for LED at this point
