The use of grow lights as a substitute for sunlight to improve plant growth and yields goes back many years. But quite recently LED technology spilled over into this field causing no end of a stir. So let’s examine what all the fuss is about and sift reality from opinion.

One thing that LED lighting technology can lay undisputed claim to is being the most effective means ever devised for converting electricity into light. Unlike high intensity discharge (or HID) lamps which create considerably more heat than light per watt of electricity, LED lights waste very little and thus also run cool to the touch.

The second key difference between LED and HID lamps is that the former can be made to target very specific parts of the spectrum whereas the latter emit light broadly across most of the visible spectrum. Since plants absorb most of the light they need for photosynthesis from just two narrow zones in the spectrum, HIDs not only waste energy creating heat, they also waste it creating useless (to plants) light.

When LED Grow Lights hit the indoor growing scene a few years back, they did so with a fair amount of controversy. How do they stack up against the standard HID grow light and can they produce results that are even close to the hype? If you do your homework and a little bit of investigating to find the best LED grow lights, the answer is a resounding “YES.”

The most important concept to understand about LED grow lights is that you are swapping the brute-force tactics used by metal halide and high pressure sodium grow lights for the gentle strength and simplicity of the technological break-through of LED grow lights.

When typically using HID grow lights – with all the associated (expensive) accessories such as heat ducting, extraction fans, ballasts, and so on – the entire white light spectrum is emitted. With wavelengths from red to blue and in between, plants get the benefit of light while getting attacked by excessive heat. Not many people think about how efficient this method is. At only about 15% efficiency, HID grow lights throw away most of its energy in the form of non-absorbable light and plant-killing heat. That is just money down the drain.