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There
are many areas where LED lights truly excel but none is more
apparent than with grow lights. The reasons are many fold
for this inherent strength which we'll get into but there
are a couple of key considerations and ultimately, each LED
light is not created equal for this use. We'll look at what
to consider from a shopper's point of view when considering
and choosing LED grow lights for your use. First, what do we
mean by grow lights in general?
Grow
lights are essentially used to grow agricultural plants,
flowers, and herbs for many purposes. There are large scale
grow house for year round agriculture by the 10's of acres
to personal hydroponic gardens and greenhouses even within
residential houses. These are all the same in terms of
their need for light. Just the scale differs. So let's
look at our root goal with LED grow lights or any grow light
for that matter. First, a quick introduction to the
lifeblood of a living plant. Most green, living plants
(that we're most intimately dependent upon) require light to
create energy via photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the
chemical process that a plant uses to turn certain
wavelengths of sunlight into direct energy it can use. This
area of the spectrum that can readily be used is called PAR
or Photosynthetically Active Region and it's where we want
our light "shine" if you will. Sunlight creates a wide
band of spectrum, in fact, you could say it creates across
the entire spectrum which is ideal for plans. We have
created lights that mimic the critical part of the spectrum,
the PAR, in order to substitute manmade generated light for
sunlight for many reasons. It may be a function of
controlling output, yield, and environment such as growing
in cold climates or even just the ability to grow indoors
for our own use. Either way, PAR spectrum is critical in
our light generation.
Once
we're creating the right type of light for growing, there
are other factors that make LED light extremely
well-suited. First, the primary cost of grow lights is
energy use due to the high usage. Some plants do not
require a dark period to grow while others require very
little so longer durations of light generally result in
faster time to maturity and faster growth. The problem with
traditional grow lights with such high usage are many fold
and speak to comparative strengths of LED's in general.
First, is the cost of electricity itself. As mentioned
throughout the site, LED's real value comes from the
prolonged savings in energy costs versus incandescent or HID
bulbs. Energy usage can be 10 fold for traditional grow
lights which adds very quickly with such high usage. LED
grow lights also last much longer which is important since
light bulbs life spans are measured in hours and intensive
grow light requirements eat through these hours relatively
quickly. That's more replacement costs as well.
Traditional lights also create a tremendous amount of heat.
In fact, 70-90% of the energy use is lost in the form of
heat, instead of light. This incredible amount of heat
typically poses additional issues and costs for traditional
grow lights such as dehydration, cooling, fire issues, and
the like. LED lights convert nearly all their electric
power to light (and not heat) so they do not require these
extra costly requirements.
Growers
at any scale are quickly realizing the advantages of LED
grow lights over comparable options and making the
transition over. There is some investment up front but the
resulting savings will generally pay for the initial
investment in 9 months to 1 1/2 (especially with LED light
rebates) while the savings will continue for years after.
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