In recent years, the demand for LED grow lights is increasing day by day along with the vigorous development of indoor farming and greenhouse industries. The global market for LED grow lights was approximately US$1.28 billion in 2020, and is expected to grow to US$12.32 billion in 2030. In terms of these data, we can see that the development potential of this industry is huge. However, people still have some common misunderstandings about it even though they have used it for wide applications. In this article, we will focus on explaining some misunderstandings about LED grow light, hoping to give you some inspiration. Let’s get started.
Common Misunderstandings of LED Grow Lights
LED Grow Lights Are Not Cost-effective
The single price for LED lights is more expensive than conventional lights, that is true. But have you realized that the lifespan of a fluorescent light is about 20,000 hours, while an LED light has an expected life of about 50,000 hours? A LED light can be used for about 10 years, then how about a fluorescent light? On another hand, LED grow lights consume much less power, as we all know that plants require sufficient light to ensure their growth, thus, the lights should be operated for at least 12 hours per day. Apparently, LED lights are more cost-saving for long-term use.
LED Lights Are Not Bright Enough
People have such thought that LED lights are not bright because they don’t use much power, they believe that more watts will bring more brightness. This could make sense when it comes to incandescent and florescent lights, but for LED lights, it is not the case. Even if the wattage of LED lights is low, it can produce more light. For example, if the watts of a standard LED light is about 8, and you want to use a traditional lamp to achieve the same lighting effect, then the lamp needs about 80 watts to produce the same number of lumens. For LED lights, the main function of wattage is to let you know how much electricity the LED light will consume, which will not indicate how bright it will be.
LED Grow Lights Won’t Hurt Plants
Compared with conventional bulbs like fluorescent lights, LED lights would generate less heat, so people think that LED lights will not hurt plants. With lower light intensity and safe design, there is less possibility that qualified LED lights would burn plants, but it is possible. Placing LED grow lights too close will result in photoinhibition of plants, which will damage the plant. Therefore, when we place the LED lights, we need to pay attention to controlling the distance between them and the plants, so that the plants can better benefit from them instead of being hurt.
LED Grow Lights Generate No Heat
Sometimes, when you touch the LED bulb, you may not feel hot, which causes the misunderstanding that LED lights will not produce heat, but actually, LED grow lights would emit low heat. According to research, 20% of the energy obtained by LED lights from electrical energy is converted into heat energy. When the LED bulb is working for a long time, you will feel hot to touch it, so you need to be extra careful. The heat would shorten the life expectancy of LED lights, so it is of vital importance to take some heat dissipation measures, for instance, you can install some fans to help dissipate heat.
The Higher the Wattage, the Brighter the Light
This understanding is not entirely wrong, in most instances, a bulb with higher wattage will be brighter than a bulb with lower wattage, but this is not true in all cases. Some LED lights with high wattage operate with lower efficiency as they would generate much heat if run with high efficiency, which means they may have the same brightness as those lower wattage bulbs. To check how much light is from LED bulbs, it would be better to check the lumens instead of checking the wattage only.
The Center of LED Lamp Has the Highest Light Intensity
Another misunderstanding about LED grows lights is that the center part of a LED lamp will emit the highest light intensity. It is correct for traditional lighting sources such as HPS, the center of it has more light intensity, while the other parts have lower light intensity because there is only one bulb inside. But for LED lights, there are amounts of tiny lights that compose an LED light, which means there is not a true center at all, each place of the light have equal light intensity and the same effect to plant growth.
Normal LEDs Can Be Applied to Plant Growth
Can regular LEDs be used for plant growth? This answer can be “yes” and “no”. The reason is that the normal LEDs can help the growth of plants only if the color of their light is suitable. The color spectrum of regular LEDs is narrow, but the plants need various colors of light such as red and blue, for LED lights, the color spectrum and wavelength are customized according to the corresponding plant. So if you want to use normal LEDs to play the same role as LED grow lights, you need to assemble many LEDs which may cause much heat, thus, you need to set up a cooling system. It may save you some cost, but it requires professional knowledge that is no small feat.
Green Light Is Not Needed for LED Grow Lights
People believe that green light is useless for plant growth, as common sense told us that plants would reflect green light, then why do they need green light if they will not absorb it? From this perspective, it seems reasonable. But the truth is that green light is also important for plant growth, in fact, not all green light would be reflected by plants, some of them will be absorbed. The green light even can be absorbed better than red and blue lights for those leaves in the lower position, which is much helpful for photosynthesis. So it would be much important to get LED grow lights with a wide color spectrum which include green light, MOKO Light provide full-spectrum lights with various wattage such as 100W, 320W, 480W, and so on, it is a great option if you are finding a LED grow light manufacturer in China.
Summary
Misunderstandings would lead you to make unwise decisions when purchasing LED grow lights. This article only lists some common misunderstandings about LED grow lights, if you are not well-versed about them, it is necessary for you to consult some experts before buying. MOKO Light owns a professional R&D team that has participated in many LED grow lights projects, if you have any queries, please connect with us, we are happy to help you!
