LEDs, or Light Emitting Diodes, are becoming more and more popular for helping with our lighting needs. They are proving to be very efficient and long lasting. But one of their greatest qualities is that they generate a very low amount of heat. If a regular halogen light bulb is on for fifteen minutes, there is no way you would try to handle it. However, a LED light, while it still does emit some heat, is no where near as hot as halogen, incandescent, or fluorescent bulbs. And this is one of the reasons why they work great as grow lights.
LED grow light technology is one of the areas that has utilized the low amount of heat generation to a great advantage. With conventional HID grow lights, the gardener had to incorporate all sorts of fans and vent systems to keep the area from becoming over heated from the lights. Remember, halogen light bulbs take the majority of the energy it uses to create heat, the remainder creates light. That creates a lot of heat to displace and made areas using grow lights very specialized.
Now, with LED lights and now you don’t have to be an engineer to figure out how to light your plants. No more intricate, extensive equipment like ballasts and high wattage cooling is needed to help your plants grow beyond the actual grow lights. And, with the LED technology, you can have it emit certain wavelengths of color that are most beneficial to the type of plant growth you want. For example, you can get color blends for vegetation cycles, flowering cycles, or general for all stages of growth.
The only caveat is when looking at LED grow lights, don’t go for the cheapest option. Not all LEDs are made the equally. You may pay a little more, but it will be worth it in the long run. Look for 1 to 3 Watt LEDs in your grow lights for maximum performance.