Do LED grow lights really save your money? 420 Guide 2020

When you make the decision to invest in your indoor grow, you'll definitely want to learn about the best LED grow lights.

LEDs are regarded as some of the best indoor grow lights on the market, but there are so many out there that it can be tough to weed out the cheap, unreliable brands and models from the legitimate ones.

And with the price of some of these grow lights, it's crucial that you do your research before purchasing.

Before you buy an LED, you should make sure its the right light for your grow.

How do LED Grow Lights Help You Succeed In Growing Marijuana Indoors?

There are a couple of factors that you need to take into consideration before choosing the best light for your grow room. In order to provide your plants with light, you will need a Grow light for Marijuana which is powerful enough to cover the grow area where your plants are going to be. The area may differ depending upon the scale of your operation and if you have different space allotted for seedlings and clones or are you planning to grow your marijuana all the way to maturity in one place. Another thing you will need to decide is whether you want an all-purpose light or will you be planning on supplementing your plants with other lamps for processes such as vegetation and flowering. However, if you are tight on budget and are on the lookout for a lower running cost and a stealthy growing then LED grow lights are the perfect fit for your project. Last but not the least, you will not face problems such as running too hot, ballast or replacing bulbs. All these problems have been associated with the HPS and HID lights and not the LED lights. Let us further take a look at the best LED grow lights of 2020 and help you select the perfect grow light for your grow room.

How much electricity do LED grow lights use?

To calculate the monthly cost of operating a LED grow light, use the actual power draw in wattage. For example, the 600W Veg/Flower light has a power draw of 380 Watts. This means the light consumes 0.38 Kilowatts (Kw) per hour.

Multiply this number by the number of hours the light is on per day (ex:18 hours per day during vegetative growth.

0.38kW x 18hours = 6.84kWh (kilowatt hours)

Multiply the total kilowatt hours by your electrical rate. You can find this on your power bill or check the map above. The average price in the USA is 12.83 cents per kilowatt-hour ($0.1283/kWh).

6.84kWh x $0.1283/kWh = $0.8776

This is the daily cost to operate the 600W Veg/Flower grow light. Multiply by 30 to get the monthly operating cost.

30 x $0.8776 = $26.33

Additional Advantages

LED grow light offers more benefits than simple savings in electricity. Although electrical costs are the easiest to calculate, there are other factors to consider.

REDUCED HEAT GENERATION: Switching to more efficient lighting technologies can mean a significant reduction in heat generation. This can translate into reduced cooling costs. If you will use your lights in an air-conditioned space, during hot months, then this is something worth consideration.

IMPROVED LIFESPAN: You can expect more than double the lifespan out of your LEDs versus Fluorescents grow lights. Most T5 bulbs will have a rated lifespan of 20,000 hours. In contrast, LEDs claim to offer 50,000+ hours of operation. These are only estimates, of course. Bulbs can fail sooner than expected. And that even applies to some LEDs that have fallen short of consumer expectations, often due to driver failure.

What to look for when buying LED grow lights?

You need to consider the following features when you are considering a purchase for growing your favorite plants, indoors.

Wattage (How many led watts per weed plant?)

You need to consider the size of the grow room and the plants that are inside to determine the right wattage of the light strips to buy. For a small grow room with only one or a few plants, you will already be good with a light that has a minimal wattage. If the grow tent is large, you need a more powerful light or use several light strips.

Light spectrum (What is the spectrum resolution for weed?)

The light spectrum is the wavelength of light that the plant needs at different stages of growth. The light spectrum needed to grow indoor weed varies for different growth stages. Usually, weed needs blue wavelength during germination and vegetative stages and red at flowering stage The best Light Spectrum for growing Cannabis differs during different stages of growth in plants and what they need. The weed plants, like all other plants, rely on the light spectrum for signs about their growth. Blue light is particularly useful during vegetative growth, while the red light is particularly useful during the flowering stage. For the best results, you will also want to supplement these with the other colors on the visible light spectrum. Similarly, all other plants use the light of different wavelengths during different growth stages but generally, blue light is important for initial plant growth and red for flowering and bud formation.

Amount of light

Weed plants are adaptable to blue and red wavelengths for germination, vegetative growth, flowering, and bud formation. So, select a light that delivers the entire range of the light spectrum that your plants need. Even if you are not growing weed plants, it is necessary to select a full spectrum light for your grow room that exhibits the following wavelengths range.

Ultra Violet (380-410 Nanometer), Blue (1st Spectrum 440-450 and 2nd Spectrum 450-460 Nanometer), Orange (605-610 Nanometer), Red (1st Spectrum 620-630 and 2nd Spectrum 655-660 Nanometer), Far Red (730 Nanometer).

Wattage per square foot and coverage area

Your grow lights are supposed to be operative most of the growing time probably 12-14 hours if you are growing Cannabis. So, it is import to know the wattage and the daily light consumption your selected lights will consume. On the other hand, your selection must be based on future gardening programs keeping in mind that these selected lights would go a long time with you. Your selection must be based on the type of plants and the area they might cover during their growth. Large spaces need more lights while growing 1 or 2 plants indoor should limit you buy accordingly.

Low Heat Emission

High heat omission may be of substantial damage to your lovely plants due to burning issues. Choose only those light that is durable and protect your plants from the heat burns. The lights remain close to the plant’s foliage whereas high heat omission lights are prone to burn plants when kept lightening for several hours during a day. So, make a careful choice by selecting a light that omits a balanced heat.

Quality of materials

The quality of any material is judged only after you use it. There might be several products with different capacities and prices but you may not aware of the quality. Go and check the brand repute, check existing users’ reviews and check the portfolio of the company for their business history. Make purchases after you are fully satisfied with the product and services by the supplier.

Energy Savings

Your grow lights are supposed to be operative most of the growing time probably 12-14 hours if you are growing Cannabis. So, it is import to know the wattage and the daily light consumption your selected lights will consume. Go the energy-saving options that will not increase your cost of production for the particular plants especially if you are a hobbyist and not supposed to grow commercially.

Lifespan

LED lights are supposed to operative for the years under normal conditions in your grow room. Check for the maximum viable guarantee that consists of years with the replacement options. Don’t compromise on quality for cheap purchase as it would harm you in the long run.

Easy to use

Be sure that the product you are going to purchase is easy to handle, easy to install and operate.

Conclusion

We do hope that you enjoyed this massive guide for buyers for the best LED grow lights in 2020 for your marijuana plants. We wish you the best of luck in growing marijuana independently and hoped that we could help with this informative article. What's more, if you want a best brand recommend, I recommend you ECO Farm quantum board! Happy growing!