LED Grow Lights: The Little Diodes That Could.
LED Grow lights are taking the indoor gardening world by storm, and it isn't a wonder why. With an increase in efficiency, optimized color spectrums, less heat, and longer life cycles it is a wonder why everyone hasn't switched already. But just how much of a difference are they really in comparison?
Energy Efficiency: How Much Electricity Does it Really Save?
Conventional grow lights tend to be quite expensive to operate. Most people have a preconceived notion that it is just a light bulb, so how much energy could it actually use? If you are using a Metal Halide or a High Pressure Sodium lighting system, you grow area requires about 25W per square foot. Most indoor gardens will range in size from 25 to 50 square feet, so looking at the latter number, this would equate to approximately 1250 watts of power to maintain the garden. To put this size into perspective, this is a garden approximately 5 feet by 10 feet, or half of a medium bedroom. In the USA, the average electricity cost was around 12 cents per kilowatt hour. That means, running your indoor gardening lighting system would cost around $750 per year to have the light on an average of-- hours per day. This obviously starts to add up quite significantly in a short period of time. LED grow lights on the other hand will save as much as 75% of the electricity cost, or $550 per year.
Less Heat
In addition to electrical savings for the light itself, there is also a savings on the cooling costs of the system. Conventional grow lights will be as hot as 750 degrees Fahrenheit. LED grow lights on the other hand are a much lower and manageable 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This allows for a wider array of plants to be grown in the same area without the worry of dehydrating or wilting particular sensitive plants, as well as reducing the energy use for cooling the room from the high heat output off the HPS or MH lamps and ballasts.
Longer Light Life Cycles
Lamp life is often rated in the number of hours they operate on average to failure. LED lights have a period where they perform at a higher lumen output and the way they are rated is slightly different because of it. Conventional light bulbs will last between 12,000 and 20,000 hours on average before they require replacement. LED lights will operate at 90% lumen efficiency up till around 50,000 hours. This is how they have come to be rated on life cycle calculations, however it is important to note that they often will be able to remain at 80% lumen efficiency for as long as 100,000 hours. If you buy your LED lights over sized for your area, you may be able to save additional money in the long run by operating them for the entire 80% efficiency.
Optimized Color Temperatures
Of course, one of the prime reasons LED grow lights are so efficient, is that the light is specifically target to match the optimum spectrum that plants require for photosynthesis. Most plants are green because they absorb the red and blue frequencies from the incoming full spectrum light. This means, as far as photosynthesis is concerned, that green light is not used. LED lights target the red and blue frequencies in their output to allow more of the energy to be directly taken up by the plant. Healthy, more productive plants are the result.
It's obvious that as energy costs continue to increase that indoor gardening is going to need to continue to adapt. Many people are making the switch to this type of artificial lighting and it is pretty obvious why. It is now both economical and biologically more productive to make the switch. So what are you waiting for?
The Indoor Garden Centre is a website dedicated to help people develop an Indoor Herb Garden. For more information on indoor LED Grow Lights visit Vladmir Skillet's post on grow lights.
