Advantages of LED Grow Lights

LED grow lights are rapidly becoming the "must have" accessory for indoor gardners. They offer a number of benefits over traditional indoor lighting systems, but they do come with a few problems of their own. If you grow indoor plants that require a lot of sunlight then you should read this article as you will learn the major advantages and disadvantages of LED grow lights over other forms of plant lighting.

These plant lights use less than a third or the electricity of metal halide or high energy discharge sodium lights. Some manufacturers claim that their LED lamps actually use less than ten percent of the power of a comparable system using conventional lighting. The reason that LED plant lights are so cheap to run is that the light produced almost exactly matches the spectrum of light that a plant needs - very little is wasted.

The other reason that LED plant lighting is so inexpensive to operate is that the light produce very little heat. The energy transfer from electrical power to usable light for your plants is very efficient. The lack of heat produced helps save money in another way too. You will not need expensive fans or ventilation systems for most installations as LED grow lights run quite cool to the touch. Compare this with a high energy sodium light and you will see the benefits immediately. Sodium lights can kill fragile seedlings if place too close to the canopy. This is just not a problem with LED grow lighting.

Installing an LED grow light is also incredibly straightforward. The lamps generally come with their own ballast, power lead and housing included in the price. If you are choosing a high power model then some minimal ventilation will be required to keep the temperature of the unit down low, but this is normally included in the assembly. Compare this to a fluorescent plant lighting solution. Often expensive ballasts have to be set up separately and then there is the amount of wiring that you will normally have to do. If you cannot do this yourself it necessitates hiring an electrician and the expense that this can entail. LED grow lights are much more straightforward to install. They could almost be called "Plug and Play".

The only real downside to an LED grow light installation is that they are slightly more expensive to buy, but the units will soon make their money back in savings both in terms of power used as well as maintenance and replacement of bulbs as LEDs have bulb lives measured in years rather than a few months.

With advances in the technology surrounding these lights set to continue it looks as though the best choice for a keen indoor gardener for today and tomorrow will continue to be LED grow lights.