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best low wattage led grow lights

For years, indoor growers have depended upon artificial light sources such as HID, High Pressure Sodium, and Fluorescent to mimic the sun's beams within an indoor environment. Whether used for Hydroponics Systems or Aquaponics Systems, these light sources have varying degrees of effectiveness. Now there's a brand new player in the game, LEDs (Light-emitting Diodes), and it's a technology that's been in existence for decades, mostly as instrument panel indicator lights, but just lately are LEDs being used to higher intensity lighting uses like indoor growing.

The primary advantages of LED, over the more established light resources, are significantly lower heat and reduced power consumption. Because they create less heat than the more commonly utilized HIDs, they are more energy efficient and require significantly less expense to cool and ventilate.

The Myth of this LED Watt

If you have been researching the best LED grow lights for over about 30 seconds then you have likely noticed that most manufacturers give each of their models a Wattage rating. At first blush it may seem like the more Watts you get for the fewest bucks the greater. Unfortunately, for most of the LED grow lights available on the market, even several of the ones we advocate, these amounts are not really accurate. Often times they represent the max output of the LEDs in the lighting, but these lights are extremely rarely capable of outputting anywhere near those numbers. (instance; A 3W LED is typically conducted at 1-2W to extend the life of the LED, nevertheless many manufacturers put 100 3W LEDs at a light and call it a 300W mild). Add to the fact that the wattage numbers are, technically, only a measure of the energy going into the light, and not a measure of what is emitted by the light and you have a bit of a conundrum.

It is important to understand that a few more things. First, a mild's outputs are both heat and light when electricity is the input. Light is what we want, heat isn't. The more heat a light put's out the light it's putting out of the same amount of energy input. That is the reason why traditional forms of light (Incandescent, higher Pressure Sodium, etc.) get hot and so are so ineffective. LEDs conserve energy only because they do not get overly hot. Pretty simple, right? However, some LEDs get hotter than others and some emit less useful light colors than many others (more on that later). This makes it rather hard to make an apples to apples comparison between LED grow lights.

Ultimately, we'll utilize estimated Actual Watts because of our comparisons, since Claimed Watts are unreliable, and accurate output data is not available for many of the available lights.

Understanding Light Spectrum

Light Spectrum denotes the assortment of colors present from the light being emitted. Most LED grow lights are comprised of several different colored LED diodes providing a broad spectrum of colours. As you might have guessed, some have broader spectrums compared to many others. Hence the question is, what spectrum is best?

Science has shown that plants, generally speaking, require more blue light throughout the vegetative phase and much more red light throughout the flowering period. That is why you see many LEDs on the marketplace emitting a purplish light, combining blue and red LEDs. However, it is believed that a wider variety of colours, including, the invisible to the naked-eye, UV light (in small amounts) have favorable effects on plant growth, although most LED lights don't offer UV light, primarily since UV emitting LEDs are expensive relative to other colors.

As many of us learned in grade school, white light is comprised of a wide spectrum of colors. Therefore, it might seem sensible to use white LEDs to provide the best colour range for your plants. Unfortunately, white LEDs are ineffective light manufacturers as compared to independently colored LEDs, and they provide colors that your plants don't make use of. White LEDs are not a bad thing, but also many can make for a less effective grow light.

IR (Infrared) light is also a component of many of the light available now, and it is also regarded as beneficial to plant growth.

Ultimately, most LED grow lights in the marketplace will grow your plants, if you've enough of them for the area you're trying to mild. However, if you are not here to simply grow your crops, you are here in order to maximize their expansion. The ideal LED grow lights offer a wide spectrum of colors such as UV light.

UV light, at large intensity, or long exposure, can be detrimental to people. It is recommended that you use eye protection and long sleeves when working beneath lighting with UV output signal.

Recognizing Light Cycles

Plants have evolved to grow well under mild cycles the Earth provides them outside. Long bright summer days and briefer less bright Fall and Spring Days. This is the reason it's best to replicate these mild cycles when growing inside. The following light cycles are recommended (by expansion phase)

The change in light cycle may really help activate the plant to move on into another growth stage, especially from Vegetative to Flowering. It's also important to bear in mind that some plants respond poorly to interruptions in their mild cycles. Turning a light on in the middle of a dark stage, perhaps to check in your crops, can be damaging to overall yield and must be avoided.

How much lighting do I want?

As a general rule of thumb, you need roughly 25 actual watts per non light plant (lettuce, herbs, etc.) and about 50 actual watts per high light plant (berries, cannabis, peppers, etc.). Manufacturers will often give a coverage area, which can be helpful, but frequently overestimated, but we find it more useful to account for the number and variety of plants being expanded to ascertain which increase light is greatest.

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Some claims are as large as 9X. Unfortunately, the majority of them are not really realistic. LEDs are normally more efficient than traditional lighting such as HID, but most reasonable estimates have them at the 25-50% greater efficiency range, nowhere close to the 500%-900% claims a few producers are making. Since most manufacturers are working with LEDs which are roughly comparable when comparing light output to energy consumption, it's safe to assume that the LED you're thinking about is more efficient than a comparable genuine wattage HID, but no longer than twice as efficient.

Along with being considerably more efficient, the life span of a good LED grow light will far outstrip that of an HID or HPS. Many HID and HPS bulbs are rated to 10,000 -- 20,000 hours of life expectancy, whereas many LEDs are in the 50,000 hours ballpark. LEDs will generally cost you more up front (at least for the high quality components) but between decreased electricity, cooling, and replacement costs, are likely to save you quite a little in the long-run.

Adjustable Spectrums

As we discussed previously, plants require different light at various stages of their growth. Some producers have built the capability to switch spectrums into their lights. Regrettably, tests have shown that plants do not react well to a abrupt change in their growth can really be hindered for a time period while they adjust to the new spectrum.

Dimming at Dusk and Dawn

Even though a wonderful feature in some aquarium lighting, there's absolutely not any compelling proof that dim lighting in the early morning and evening actually help plant development. When it comes to plant expansion, less light is less light. Most plants need a dim cycle for a time period, usually during the night, however, a simple on-off cycle is sufficient. The KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle applies here.

LED Grow Light Bulbs

A note about LED Grow light bulbs: Although they may seem tempting at $20-$30, we'd recommend steering clear of those bulbs. In a promised 12-40W output, with real Wattage draws likely in the 4-15W range, these lights are simply insufficient for all but the tiniest plants with the cheapest lighting requirements. Unless you are seeking to grow one lettuce or herb plant, avoid these bulbs.

Finally, it is necessary to point out that, like most things in life, you typically get what you pay for. There are many VERY reasonably priced LED grow lights on the marketplace with generally happy clients in the brief term. These lights are surely a wonderful place to begin for the beginner, and one even received our Editor's Choice award, just don't expect they'll endure more than a few years and you shouldn't be let down.

Our Analysis

Below you'll find our analysis of several of the most frequently accessible and best LED grow lights in the marketplace nowadays. We've compared them based on lots of variables including $ per Actual Watt, Spectrum range (LED colours), such as UV or IR, warranty, returns, testimonials, etc.. Our ratings are designed to take all available factors into account. Immediately below you'll find a quick reference table showing each light's features at a glance. Scroll down below the table to get a thorough look at each light.

Together with their Diamond Series of Grow Lights, using USA made LED diodes, Advanced LED Lights offers one of the high quality lighting choices on the market today. They offer an extremely broad spectrum including UV and IR, and strong Return (90 times) and Warranty (3 Years) options. They have been in operation for over 7 years, and have acquired a reputation for quality and product functionality.

1 entry level option for the beginning grower is the GL Series from Apollo Horticulture. Apollo is one of the bigger fibbers from the marketplace when it comes to Wattage claims (300W Claimed about the GL100LED model, about 100W Actual) but even in that, at around $2 a Actual Watt these lights deliver a sensible value for your dollar. Be careful though as the prices fluctuate for various models. These lights offer 6 LED colours for a rather wide spectrum plus IR, but lack UV. A lack of reflector signifies all 120° output angles for these LEDs. A 2 year limited guarantee puts them at around the center of the pack in the industry.

A strange name for a really high excellent merchandise, Black Dog is the Winner of our Editor's Choice Award, using their PhytoMAX-2 lineup of LED grow lights, which will be our highest rated product overall, and among the greatest LED grow lights in the marketplace nowadays. Only at about $3 per Actual Watt these lights are competitive with another high-end lines such as California Light Works and Kind LED. These lights offer one of the best spectrums we have observed with 15 LED color ranges including UV and IR. The housings are designed for maximum light distribution and heat dissipation, to boost efficiency.

Every SolarSystem model is powerful enough for veg blossom and feature a totally programmable spectrum control for effortless growing. Moreover, the SS 1100 has 800w real draw at full energy, 50,000 hr LEDs, water resistant fans, and a low heat output. The mid-size SolarSystem 550 (SS 550) has a lightweight, compact profile with 400w of actual draw full power when substituting a 600w HPS system.

Even the SolarSystem controller (sold separately in some cases) functions with all of the SolarSystem string lights to command all lights from a single controller while letting you program automation for around the clock spectrum controller. By linking a series of SolarSystem LED grow lights together, it is possible to dramatically cut your electricity bill and never have to change the light bulbs!

At just over $2 per Actual Watt those LED lights sit at the center of the price range across the industry. Offering 8 LED color Bands including UV and IR, the G8LEDs supply a better light spectrum to encourage plant growth and health. A 90 day return policy and two year guarantee make G8LED a safer option for those looking to spend on bigger scale and reduce risk of losing cash on defective lights.

Lastly, and to get some quite importantly, their LEDs are made and engineered in the united states, which for many means a more trusted item. If you're willing to take the step up into another price point above the entry-level, these G8LED grow lights are a safe bet.

The choice of many commercial growers across the Earth, Heliospectra offers some of their most state-of-the-art attributes in its grow lights such as wifi for remote monitoring and control. They're in the very high-end of this market, but they offer a lot for the price. They are available in quantity discount if you are outfitting a large operation. They are one of the most expensive LED grow light choices on the market, so that does hurt them a bit in our rating.