LED Grow Lights FAQ

LED grow lights are becoming increasingly popular as people realize how beneficial they can be.  Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about LED grow lights.

Why is an LED grow light so efficient?
LED (light emitting diodes) grow lights produce only the type of light that plants can absorb and use for photosynthesis.  Plants do not see light the same way humans do.  Our eyes see light and the brightness of it but plants only “see” certain wave lengths and spectrums of light.  If you are using traditional white lights your plant is getting mostly extra light that it cannot even use.  LEDs only produce photosynthetically active radiation which is light in the colors that plants use for photosynthesis.  Adding to the efficiency of LED lights is the fact that their normal life expectancy is at least 50,000 hours and because they only produce the light needed, they are approximately 75% cheaper to power than other lights.

Why aren’t LED lights rated in Lumens?
Rating an LED light meant for growing purposes in lumens would be pointless because lumens only measure the intensity of a light as seen by the human eye.  As we have said before this types of light is different from what plants crave and would have no bearing on the quality of a growing light.  LED lights need to be rated by the PAR (photosythetically active radiation) wavelengths to determine their effectiveness for plant growth.

Why do many people claim LED lights are ineffective?
LED technology has rapidly increased in the last few years and only now are affordable lights coming out with high enough intensity to grow quality plants.  Most the lights that have been on the market are not very good quality or altogether scams.  Because of this many people have assumed that all LEDs are scams and have been over exaggerated as to their abilities.  This is not true, in fact even NASA is using LED lights to grow plants on spacecraft with high quality yields.