LED Growing Lights

LED Growing Light

Grow LED Lights
Is LED Growing Lights Right for You?

A large number of successful gardeners consider getting an early start on the planting season by growing starters and seedlings indoors. For such eager gardeners grow LED growing lights provide affordable indoor growing advantages. Grow LED lighting has become much more affordable because of recent technological advancements and lights are now not solely used for commercial purposes. The everyday gardener can make a small scale investment of $50 to $60 in LED grow bulb technology in order to provide the right light for healthy plant starters in preparation for the planting season. In homes where the indoor lighting for house plants needs a boost, LED plant lights will also fill the gap with a low operating cost.

A $60-$150 investment is not much higher than the costs of traditional HPS grow systems but when take into consideration the fact that LED Hydroponic lights can last several years while most fluorescent and HID lights have to be changed every year or so when used continuously. This fact makes the choice of LED lights less expensive – the start up costs may be the same or higher, but the lights last much longer, giving you the head-start you need on the growing season year after year.

The otherwise high investment may also be seen in the light of energy savings made by gardeners who use LEDs to grow their plants. LED growing systems perform at a much greater efficiency than fluorescent lights such that the same (if not more) light is provided by a 90 watt LED light as compared to a 400 watt fluorescent light. That translates to 85 percent more efficiency from the LED light. This means savings in your electric bill, and of course, you’ll be helping to save the environment with a minimal carbon footprint.

The efficiency of LED plant lights is not their only strong point. They emit light in exactly the same frequency that is required by plants for photosynthesis which enables them to grow the healthiest. Also there is no waste with LED lights as it’s all absorbed by the plants; the plants getting all the benefits while you get healthier, bigger plants with more output.

Hydroponic LED lights do give you a great head start on the spring planting season as you’ll have heartier starters which will produce for you stronger plants. And this is all thanks to your LED grow lights – your running head start to the growing season.

When it comes to choosing your grow light systems depends on your level of commitment to indoor gardening comes into question. When your needs are limited to just growing a few starter plants as a means of saving towards planting in the spring, there will be no point spending heavily into the process. In that case, you could limit your use to simple HPS grow lights or other types of fluorescent lighting. But if you are planning a more elaborate operation which may include the planting of fresh vegetables that you can enjoy in the winter, or you are planning an extensive indoor garden, it would be more advisable to invest in LED plant lights. It should however be a conscious decision as you really must be committed to using the lights for years on end to make the investment worthwhile.

There is a clear difference between LED Plant lights and hps bulbs. For one, the efficiency of an LED plant lighting is considerably more than that of an HPS bulb – the same power of light that is generated by a 400 watt HPS bulbs will be had with only a 90 watt LED grow sytem. The power-to-area ratio is also significantly increased when using LED lights as you are able to cover a 12 foot area of plants with the power you would use to run a small appliance. Again, LED lights are your green option with a minimal carbon footprint, having little or no effect on the environment.

If you are planning your indoor growing beyond one or two years, LEDs are the way to go as they last up to 10 to 20 times longer than HID lamps which need to be replaced virtually every year. Your extra investment in LED growing would pay for itself after just a few years, making your savings noticeable.

It will however not be worth the investment in LED grow lights if your indoor growing plans are not so elaborate. In this case, spending $50 to $500 when you are probably buying just a few greenhouse starters would not be worth the money. It will be much more economical in this instance to use HPS lamps and they would work just as well.

When you are making the decision on which grow lights to buy, you need to consider all the variables. Will you be committed to growing your food, enjoying fresh vegetables throughout the year at a fixed investment for several years, saving over what you spend at the grocery store every week?