Benefits Of LED Grow Lights
Anyone who has tried to maintain an indoor growing project knows the problems associated with many different types of grow lights. Incandescent lights produce too low illumination, fluorescent lights provide the wrong color spectrum, and halogen lights emit too much heat. Each of these uses a large amount of power compared to the amount of light being produced, which equates to much higher electric bills. LED grow lights overcome many of these problems and provide more flexibility in different areas. Some of which many indoor growers have never considered.
Incandescent and halogen bulbs both have similar technologies. They rely on a metal filament to conduct electricity across it in order to produce light. The filament burns as a result of the electric current. This means that much of the energy being used is converted to infrared energy instead of light, a factor which makes them very inefficient as far as light sources are concerned.
Compare them to LED grow lights, which use as much as sixty percent less electricity, to produce an equivalent amount of light. Part of the reason for the increased efficiency has to do with the fact that LED lights lose virtually none of their energy to heat. Nothing is burned for an LED to emit light.
Fluorescent lights are significantly more efficient than incandescent and halogen bulbs, though in this case, the agent being burned is a gas contained within the tube. They produce a great deal less heat than filament light sources, but often that light is a cooler end of the spectrum and not quite as close to natural sunlight as halogen can provide.
This means that plants aren’t getting the right amplitude of light waves necessary for optimum growing conditions, which greatly reduces their rate of growth, as well as their maximum potential size. LED grow lights operate using a diode, which generates virtually no heat and can be changed to match any color within the light spectrum. This allows growers to mimic more closely the peak growing season conditions for virtually any plant imaginable, simply by flipping a switch.
Researchers have been able to coax greater growth out of plants due to changes in the color of the light sources and the duration for which these alternate colored lights are in use. The significance of this research in the world of horticulture is astonishing. With electric bills for many greenhouses and other indoor growing projects skyrocketing, any chance to reduce the cost of operating is often welcome. Between dehumidifiers, heaters and lights, it’s all many people can do to keep their heads above water. Using LED grow lights allow them to operate at an increased capacity, while still saving a good deal of money on their monthly lighting expense.
LED lights might cost more than conventional bulbs, but considering the long term savings associated with these high efficiency bulbs, there really isn’t a comparison to be made. Besides being more efficient and flexible with regard to indoor growing, LED grow lights also have a longer life expectancy than other light bulbs. The increase in cost per bulb is about five times that of an incandescent and twice the cost of a fluorescent light, but while incandescent last between six months and a year, fluorescent lights last up to five years, LED lights can last as many as ten years before needing to be replaced. Any indoor growing operation with long term plans can potentially lower their regular operating costs over the long term by a great deal simply by choosing a different bulb.
