LED grow light reviews 2020 buyers guide to the best LED grow lights for the money!

Last updated: June 14, 2022 at 19:47 pm

Editors LED Grow Light Reviews

Our trusted led grow light reviews are based on careful testing in real-world situations with marijuana to guarantee accuracy. All of our tests are based on growing medical marijuana, which means our led grow light reviews are 100% related to your LED panel or HID needs. This truly is the most detailed guide/review on LED grow light reviews.

Don’t Buy Until You Read Our Led Grow Light Reviews

We reveal the winners, bestsellers, budget options, small space options, and large space options. You can be sure that any LED grow lights listed on our list of led grow light reviews will meet your expectations and produce cannabis crops for years to come. All of this knowledge is based on testing products and exploring the resulting crop (my favorite part).

PICTURE	MODEL GROW LIGHT	Grow Footprint	Reviews	Price
	Electric Sky 300 LED Grow Light	2′ X 4′ In Flowering
	VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 600W	2.5′ X 2.5′ Flowering
	Cree High-Intensity 100W Full Spectrum Cob	2′ X 2′ Flowering

LED Grow Light Reviews by Price, Power, Cooling, par value, and LED Performance

PICTURE	MODEL GROW LIGHT	Grow Footprint	Reviews	Price
	Advanced Platinum Series P9-XML2	4′ X 4′ In Flowering
	Advanced Platinum Series P600	5′ X 2′ Flowering
	G8LED 600-Watt MEGA	4′ X 3′ Flowering
	MARS HYDRO Pro II	2′ X 2′ In Flowering
	MarsHydro Reflector 720W	4′ X 2.5′ Flowering
	G8LED 900-Watt	4′ X 3′ Flowering
	CANAGROW CREE CXB3590 COB	2′ X 3′ In Flowering
	Advanced Platinum Series P300	3′ X 2″ Flowering
	California Lightworks 440W	3′ X 3′ Flowering
	Roleadro HYG08-2X400W-W 800W COB	3′ X 2′ Flowering
	King Plus Double Chip 2000 Watts	3′ X 2′ Flowering
	BESTVA 1000W Grow Light Full Spectrum	4′ X 3′ Flowering

LEDs are Great for Light Coverage, Spectrum, and Par Value Check Our LED Grow Lights review

When it comes to the best LED’s, it doesn’t matter if you are upgrading your current grow room or building ground up. LED offers the greatest increase in technology for growing in decades. It is now possible to toss out your old high energy consumption bulbs and replace them with energy-efficient more powerful lights. Toss out your old metal halide and HPS lights, it’s time to invest in a led panel.

The LED Chips Quality Brand

These LEDs are created from small electronic components called light-emitting diodes. It is these diodes that are used in led grow fixtures that will greatly help you grow medical marijuana. You just can’t compare a metal halide or HID lights to these new breeds of led’s. Best LED grow lights have quality and coverage ratings. The other important LED related fact is LED angle which affects the average coverage area produced.

Electric Sky 300 Wide Band LED Lights (top led grow light reviews)

A New Better Technology led light with Excellent Coverage

Electric Sky by The Green Sunshine Company is a truly a unique Led unit in a crowd of similar technologies. It isn’t often that new technology comes online that disrupts the marketplace and that’s just what the Electric Sky does through its development and use of “wide-band”. Electric Sky uses a patent-pending GS1 wideband spectrum technology to give your plants more of what they need to grow and thrive. It was my pleasure to be able to perform an led grow light review of the Electric Sky!

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Click Here To Buy The Electric Sky

The Old Way of Thinking about what makes LED lights

In the early days of LED’s, it was thought that plants only really needed red and blue light to grow. It’s because of this that many, LED lights that you see always look purple in color. Marijuana leaves are absorbing much more than red and blue spectrums. The fact is that the leaves of your plants are processing green and yellow light in the 500-600nm range. The chloroplasts which drive photosynthesis are using green, yellow, and orange light as well to fully operate at peak performance.

It was thought in the past that green light is reflected off the leaves, but it is absorbed and used to produce energy within your plants. The wideband LEDs used in the Electric Sky produce a significant level of red spectrum and infrared light which many other LEDs lack; these spectrums are vital to healthy vegetation.

Why is the Electric Sky Different Than the Competition? Our Detailed Review

The wide spectrum led type is the first point of difference in this grow unit. These wide bands provide your cannabis plants with more usable light than any other LED brand on the market. The Electric Sky doesn’t rely on just 8 to 12 spectrums of light like its competitors. It fills in the missing spectrums other LEDs neglect. This light is different, it’s actually one of the LED’s available on the market today.

Older grow lights have difficulty penetrating the canopy of your marijuana plants to provide energy to the lower plant leaves. The Wideband technology improves purple and white LEDs as well as red and infrared LEDs which allow for better penetration and light uptake in your cannabis plants. The lights provide more than just intensity, they provide the spectrums and LED angle needed for your plants to thrive.

The Electric sky also uses “top bin mid-power wideband diodes” which means the quality of the LEDs used is the #1 quality scale. With a life expectancy of over 60,000 hours, you’ll get your money out of these units fast between the number of grows you can have and with the amount of electricity you’ll save over using old-fashioned HPS or HID.

Another great convenience that is created by the wideband unit is the fact that the light color is much more neutral to the human eye than most LED grow lights. While using the Electric Sky 300 I didn’t need to switch the unit off and a regular light on to view my plants and how they really looked. The color shift in most LEDs makes it impossible to examine your marijuana in detail.

Dual-Way Linear Lenses Expands Growing Area Light Coverage

When you look at an Electric Sky for the first thing you will notice is the long linear lenses that stretch across the entire light panel. These lenses are designed to mimic natural light from the sky by diffusing the light rather than using a single source like traditional LED panels. The other goal of the linear lens angle is to manipulate the light by projecting it out and down rather than all down like a single point LED grow light would provide.

With the Electric Sky the diffused light allows the unit to be placed at just 20” above your cannabis plants while vegetative and while blooming the light can be dropped to just 15” above your plants. All of the light intensity is driving directly into your plants whereas traditional LED’s would need to be placed at least 24” to 30’ above your plants.

With many units on the market, the actual growing footprint can be very different. For example, round LED units to produce around a light pattern of dissipation where most of the intensity emanates from the center of the led panel and then falls off the farther from the center of the unit you get. The Electric sky has a must larger sweet spot and the light falls off in a regular rectangular shape which means there is much more usable coverage.

The Final Word on the Electric Sky 300:

The Electric Sky 300 is a revolutionary new grow option using brand new wideband technology. If you are an intermediate to advanced marijuana grower you’ll be very excited when you get your hands on one of these bad boys. My personal experience growing cannabis with an Electric Sky was one of amazement and wonderment. Big fat buds and really fast healthy vegetation is what you have in store.

Cree High-Intensity 100 Watt

Small but powerful

This tiny fan-cooled LED is a 200W HPS replacement. The Cree provides full-spectrum light between 380nm~780nm using just one CXB3590 Chip. The power of this unit will penetrate deep into your plant’s canopy.  Great for growing one plant or for supplemental lighting you’ll find the Cree suitable for many options in your grow area.

The onboard silent cooling fan keeps the device under 25C to ensure a long lifetime. Cree grow lights are the go-to LED’s for many growers. They are extremely powerful while being cost-effective.

I love the convenience of the small unit which I like to use to supplement the lighting on the lower sides of my plants. I generally run a few of these little guys along with my main overhead unit to get the perfect deep canopy penetration you need to grow great cannabis plants.

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VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 600W

Viparspectra has invested a lot of science and engineering into their grow units. After years of experimental development, working with professional indoor growers; Viparspectra earned its spot in our list of all the best LED’s. This brand is the go-to light for many growers and one of our biggest sellers.

Engineering allowed Viparspectra to create a perfect balance of PAR/Lumen output. This along with the large rectangular foot-print distributes light evenly over a larger usable area.

This is a 600-Watt LED but that is the effective estimated light output compared to an HPS. The actual amount of wattage being used by the grow light is only 276 watts at the wall. This means that it saves 70% of the electricity that would be used to light the same HPS equivalent.

The grow unit is built with high-quality aluminum heat syncs with high-speed fans directed right at the fins of the sync. This creates massive heat dissipation allowing your unit to last for over 100,000 working hours. At the same time, the lower amount of heat created by this light will allow the grower to use fewer fans and ventilation overall to keep their plants at a happy growing temperature.

Viparspectra still provides you with a quick and easy VEG to Bloom switch. When bloom and veg are selected together the unit produces its maximum intensity grow light. The unit provides wide spectrum light that will feed your plants from beginning to end.

The grow area for this unit is 3×3 ft square at a growing height of just 24 inches above the plants. The unit uses 90-degree lenses to provide that great flowering grow area.

Viparspectra uses 129 high-intensity 5-watt Bridgelux/Epileds LED chips to cover the unit’s surface. The manufacturer offers a full 3-year warranty and a 30-day no-hassle return policy if you aren’t happy with the unit.

 

MARS HYDRO II, 400W led grow light review

Mars Hydro is a great consumer-grade LED brand. I’ve tested many of their LED’s over the years but was very excited with the results I achieved growing White Widow with the Mars Hydro II 400W Full Spectrum. This is a small light that will flower a 2×2 area only at 24 inches. Mars Hydro uses more traditional units which are red and blue in color.

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I was very surprised at how well this light performed. It didn’t heat up my small grow test at all and in the end had two plants about 3 ft tall that produced about 1 pound of bud total. Very respectable results for a small unit. The reason for this power is the use of 5-watt chips which provide that extra power needed to penetrate deep into your plants.

My test grow of four Gorilla Glue #4 plants was extremely successful with the Mars-Hydro II LED. During vegetation, the plants were deep green and grew vigorously to 3 feet tall. That’s when I flipped the “bloom switch” and added the extra bandwidths for flowering.

The entire flowering process went off without a hitch and the plants produced decent sized sticky cola’s that I was very satisfied with.

The unit is full-spectrum reporting light-wavelengths from 365 nm to 750 nm. This spectrum provides the perfect coverage for popping cannabis seeds, seedlings, vegging and flowering. That penetrating energy does come at a cost as the unit produces significant heat which it manages well with two high quality bearing driven fans.

This light was exceptional for vegging cannabis plants. I would recommend this unit for any small or beginner grower because of its simplicity and it’s the ability to not over-challenge the grower with complications during the grow.

The Mars-Hydro II  is rated for up to 100,000 hours of use and comes with a 3-year warranty plus 30 days satisfaction or return guarantee.

I just did another side by side test with this Mars Hydro Pro II against a high priced LED and it kicked the expensive lights ass. Growing AK-47 for a heavy Sativa buzz I started from seed and grow my cannabis plants (four in total) to about 3.5 tall and then flipped them over to bloom.

I can already see the buds starting to form. If my first test with the Mars Hydro wasn’t enough it’s really kicking ass again against a $600 Grow light.

CANAGROW CREE CXB 3590 COB

Small but powerful Full Spectrum Option

The Cangrow Cree is a full spectrum unit which provides 200 Watts of growing power from two 100 Watt Cree Cob drivers. The cooling fan used in this unit is silent and provides exceptional cooling for the light unit. This unit is dimmable which is great for starting plants and younger seedlings, as the plants mature you can dial up the power.

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This unit also contains glass optics to better spread the grow light into a usable area of about 3×2 ft for flowering.

This full-spectrum option provides light from 380nm to 780nm and is designed to replace a 400 Watt HPS system. The cobs are super high-quality made by MEAN WELL, a leading producer of LEDs.

This unit will rapidly veg your plants and when the unit is dropped close to your flowers it will produce nice fat buds. This light will not penetrate very deep into a dense canopy so I recommend some LST (low-stress training) to keep the plants flat and the buds exposed to the light to get maximum bud yield.

 

Roleadro HYG08-2X400W-W 800W COB

Roleadro has been a maker of fine LED’s for several years. I have tested these lights with cannabis so I can speak from experience about their grow and build quality. You can certainly grow up to about 6 to 8 nice plants under this bad boy and achieve nice yields as long as you train your plants for maximum light exposure.

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Though this is an 800 Watt unit it’s growing footprint is just 3×3 which do mean you are giving a lot of energy to a smaller space. I grow some big plants under this light with large colas.

This 800-Watt quality lighting source provides a wide spectrum of usable wavelengths from 440nm to 730nm. Though the unit is producing a substantial amount of grow light it’s an efficient heat dissipation system with silent fans to mitigate any increased heat.

The Roleadro 800W COB system uses patented reflective cups with a 90-degree coverage area to ensure maximum light reflection and wavelength blending.

What I love about this unit is the format of the footprint and the fact that you can daisy-chain up to 5 units to cover very large growing areas.

The grow unit comes with a full 2-year warranty so you know you are going to get lots of grows under your belt with this baby.

 

Advanced Platinum Series P9-XML2  – Editor’s Choice – 

The Advanced Platinum Series from PlatinumLED use full-spectrum technology to keep your grow room and plants cooler while meeting all your cannabis plants photosynthetic requirements. The P9-XML2 offers its trademark technology which provides “3x the light intensity” of other LED’s.

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Buying into LED is a big investment regardless of energy savings so we’ve researched all the best LED grow lights on the market and created this LED lights for-the-money list. All the picks in our list have been tested so that we could provide accurate and qualified picks for the best LED’s on the market today.

We’ve also included buying considerations which explain all the terminology and what you should look for in a grow Light. All of the Best LED grow lights that we have reviewed are suitable for indoor grow tent kits.

PAR rating you can’t beat

The P9-XML2 series grow unit also features the highest PAR per watt rating of any other LED lights available on the market. Remember that LED lights are not measured in watts but PAR, which stands for photosynthetically active radiation. This refers to the active light bands for plant photosynthesis.

The best indoor grow lights are those that closely mimic real sunlight. The P9-XML2 grow light achieves this by providing 12 bands of light wavelengths including infrared and ultraviolet, which can’t be seen by the human eye. This LED light provides not only the correct light wavelengths for all stages of cannabis growth but also the correct intensity of light for incredible growth results in both the vegetative and flowering stages.

A flip of the Switch is All it Takes

With the P9-XML2, a flick of the switch provides the perfect light intensity for vegetation, another flip of the switch increases the intensity for blooming and flowering cycles. Another breakthrough in the PlatinumLED series lights are the focusing lenses. These lenses act like mini reflectors to send the maximum amount of light deep into the canopy of your grow. Getting energy deep into your plants encourages explosive plant growth.

The initial investment in LED systems is higher than a traditional bulb and ballast options but over time the investment in LED lights will pay off because of the massive savings in electricity. The P900 can replace a 1000-watt high-pressure sodium light and only uses a power draw of 515 watts of electricity.

This means that your energy savings are close to 50%. The average cost of a 1000-Watt HPS light is 12 cents every hour. This doesn’t include the cost of the fans needed to cool these extremely hot lights. The P900 gives the same intensity of light as well as full-spectrum light at half the price of a traditional HPS bulb.

The P9-XML2 provides 4×6 ft of vegetative growth quality light and 3.5×5 ft (18 inches above your plants) at a full blooming intensity of 515 watts. Like traditional incandescent grow lights, raising and lowering the unit increases and lowers the intensity of the light reaching your foliage. The P9-XML2 also provides the “Veg” and “Flower” switch, as well.

How many plants can you grow with a platinum series P9-XML2? You can grow between 12 and 24 plants at a time, depending on which growth stage they are in. Adult cannabis plants use 1 square foot of space in a 3-gallon grow pot, meaning that in a 4×6 grow area, you could fit 24 plants.

If you plan to keep your plants in the same grow area from vegetative to flowering, you could safely grow 18 plants in a 4×6 area with our platinum series P9-XML2 on full intensity.

The PlatinumLED LED system is not an entry-level budget LED system. Its power and features are leaps ahead of most systems and even include the ability to function on 110V or 220V, as well as 85V to 260V power systems.

The Final Word on the Advanced Platinum Series P9-XML2:

This is an investment and the advanced platinum series P9-XML2 includes a fantastic warranty. They stand by their products with a 90-day money-back guarantee and a whopping 5-year full warranty on the system itself. That’s 5 years of growing worry free!

Advanced Platinum Series P600 – great for up to 8 flowering cannabis plants – Our Review

Platinum Grow Lights are the most advanced available on the market. The P600 Advanced Platinum Series is no exception. It is easily one of the best 600w LED light to buy for the money, and worth the heavy investment. Your energy savings and increased plant yields will more than pay for this high-end system before the incredible 5-year warranty expires. That’s at least 5 years of trouble-free growing of the biggest crops you’ve ever grown. The P600 is built with rugged components and has a vegetative light coverage area of 2×5 ft. Hit the magic “bloom” switch and you’ll blast up to 8 mature plants with flower growth intensity light.

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The advanced platinum series p300 provides the highest PAR per lumen output compared to any other unit available in the market today. That’s fancy technical speak; meaning the Platinum P300 provides 3X the intensity of other options available on the market.

Setup the advanced platinum series p300 in a 3×2 foot tent our grow closet at a height of 18-inches and you’ll be able to take up to 7 plants from their veg state to full flowering, without changing anything but flipping a switch when it’s time to bloom your cannabis plants. The intensity is like a 400-Watt HPS light and only uses about 180 Watts of power – making it super energy efficient like its big brothers the P600 and P900.

Like the larger models, the platinum series p300 includes the same high-end features growers want. Don’t forget that the PlatinumLED provides 11 band full-spectrum LED light that provides your cannabis plants with the photosynthetic energy they need to flourish, including both UV and IR light. The P300 is composed of 3 Watt LEDs and provides 60-degree and 90-degree lenses, which focus the light for more intensity.

The Final Word on the Advanced Platinum Series P600:

The chips in this lamp are also replaceable and another reason for the slightly higher price tag. This means you can always keep that 400-watt output, even when a chip blows. Just order the one chip and replace it when it arrives from the manufacturer. With a 5-year guarantee, PlatinumLED offers complete security to its customers.

 

California Lightworks 440W, ideal for a 3′ by 3′ grow tent – Our Rating

California Lightworks 440W is a whole different breed of light but it comes at a steep price. It is actually one of the more expensive units we’ve reviewed. What is instantly apparent when you see the Lightworks 440 LED turned on is the bright red color emitted from the 5Watt LEDs, all 88 of them shining brightly.

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Most of the other panels we have tested are driven by 3-Watt LEDs which provide a less intense light. The LEDs are emitting deep blue in the 430-460 nm, and deep red in the 650 to 670 nm levels. This helps achieve maximum light absorption in your cannabis plants. This range of light also handles the plant’s vegetative stage. as well as the flowering stage very well without switching lighting equipment.

The intense light is focused at 90 degrees by the jewel-quality glass, which directs the light deep into your plant canopy. Though the unit provides ample wavelengths for all stages of growth, the California Lightworks 440W LED also includes two 15-Watt UV-B tubes to enhance your flowering stage growth.

UV-B light is not included in any other lighting system we’ve tested, and this wavelength of light truly helps grow fantastic crystal covered buds.

The Final Word on the California Lightworks 440W:

The lighting unit in this taking less room in your grow area and comes in a solid enclosure with built-in high-speed fans which keep the whole unit cool.

 

King Plus Double Chip led grow light review

What makes this unit so powerful? The secret is the double 5-Watt chips, which are laid out in a grid pattern. These chips are literally more than twice as bright as your average LED. I haven’t seen this sort of technology before on any of the other units we’ve reviewed, and I have to say I’m excited to see more of it in the future. These double chips provide very bright uniform light with a PAR range of about 660 directly below the grow unit.

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The LEDs used to build this unit have a life expectancy of 50,000 hours. This ensures that the grow light continues to perform even if one LED burns out. This is known as a “Zener protector.” It allows the unit to continue working even when one light is burned out. Think of it as a string of Christmas Tree lights. Just because one light goes out doesn’t mean the whole strong is done for.

The Final Word:  King Plus Double Chip

The lighting unit in this taking less room in your grow area and comes in a solid enclosure with built-in high-speed fans which keep the whole unit cool.

 

G8LED 900-Watt MEGA Grow Light — 2016’s Top LED Grow Lights, according to HIGH TIMES Magazine

The G8LED 900-Watt MEGA Light is a high-quality unit with LEDs made in the USA. High Times Magazine called this unit “a winner.” This grow light provides an 8-band wavelength and includes IR and UV, which provides the extra wavelengths to support massive flower growth on your cannabis plants.

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The LEDs are so efficient that, even after running for a full 24 hours, you can touch them without burning yourself.

The G8LED 900-Watt Mega unit provides ample power to grow cannabis in a 4×4 grow tent or room, the optimal flowering area is 3×3. The penetration of the powerful LED measures 60 inches down into the canopy of your grow.

This unit can operate on 110V and 240V power with the flip of a switch. G8LED provides complete 2-year parts and labor warranty.

G8LED 450-Watt Grow Light

For small- to mid-size growers, looking to light up to a 3×4 square foot area. This unit can provide vegetative lighting for up to 12 plants or flower up to 8 plants in your grow tent or closet. If you are working on a budget but want to have an upgraded lighting system, this is the unit for you.

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The G8LED 450-Watt grow unit provides 8 bands of the visible spectrum plus infrared, giving it the ability to grow your plants through all stages of life. The 450-Watt system provides an equivalent amount of power as an 800-Watt HID system while using less than half the energy to power the unit.

The Final Word On The G8LED:

This is a quality-built American-made LED, which comes with 2-year parts and labor warranty. The solidly made unit weighs 18 pounds due to its durable construction. The LEDs are rated for 50,000 hours, which means you can be using this unit for at least 10 years!

 

Mars Hydro Reflector 720 Watt

If your growing in a 2×4 square tent or grow space, this unit will excel as it is the only unit that we’ve reviewed that isn’t rectangular. The MarsHydro Reflector uses 5-Watt LEDs, which provide very intense lighting. The unit also produces UV light to supplement flowering. Like many of the other units we’ve looked at, this system provides a switch to change from vegetative growth to flowering.

This unit puts out the equivalent wattage of a 1000-Watt HPS light but uses 40% less electricity to provide the same grow energy. This Mars Hydro unit is made up of 144 X 5-watt Epistar LEDs which are incredibly powerful putting out 1202μmol/s per square foot.

Your cannabis will grow very well under its full-spectrum unit which runs between 440nm to 730nm.

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The Final Word On The Reflector :

The high-quality LEDs in this unit are rated for at least 50,000 hours, and the manufacturer provides 3-year parts and labor warranty. The light intensity from the 5-Watt chips is amazing.

 

VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 300W

If you are a small grower and are looking for a balance of features for the money, then look no further than the VIPARSPECTRA 300-Watt. This grow unit is perfect for grow tents or closets that are 2×2 or 2×2 square ft. At 24 inches, the unit provides intensity like a 250-Watt HPS while it only consumes 137-Watts of power.

This is a solid quality beginners light but it lacks the power and features that more advanced growers will need. You can daisy-chain up to 4 units together which can easily flower a 4×4 tent.

The 60 Epileds/BridgeLux LEDs are high quality and focused to 90 degrees to give good coverage while providing some canopy penetration.

This unit won’t heat up your grow area because Viparspectra uses two high-speed fans which are more than capable of keeping the unit cool to the touch.

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This unit is engineered to balance the PAR output for even intensity meaning that the center of the light provides the same light quality as the sides, no burning or stunted grow of your center plants.

The Final Word VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 300W:

A fantastic 3-year warranty plus a 30-day Money Back Guarantee round out the VIPARSPECTRA 300-Watt unit making it an ideal choice for the small grower.

LED Grow Light Reviews: What Do We Look For In the Led Grow Lights?

So, you might be wondering about the factors we looked at, in order to come up with our best LED’s list. We considered several aspects of growing, as well as what a beginner and professional grower would want in their grow lights.

Check this out. This way, with or without our list, you know what to look for when you go out to buy your lighting unit. We want you to know to look beyond the brand and its published features. Here are a few more things to think about.

Comparison of LED vs. HPS:

LED Lights

True Energy Efficiency: LED grow lights are close to 40% more efficient while providing a third more energy.

Useful life: Can last up to 1000,000 hours where an HPS needs to be replaced every 3 or 4 grows.

Lower heat: Efficient and produce more energy with the electricity provided instead of creating more heat.

Great for stealth or beginner grow. LED’s are much more compact then HPS options and require much less headroom.

More cost up-front. LED grow options have a larger up-front investment cost but will save you money on electricity and lifespan.

HPS Lights

Energy Waster: All HPS units share the same problem, they waste electricity. Much of the energy generated is heat and not light.

Replaced Often. The power the HPS will produce depletes over time and needs to be replaced. Usually, every 3 or 4 grows.

HPS will require more ventilation and air movement in your grow area to manage the heat generated by the unit.

Great for Large grows. HPS lights provide quality intense light and the versatility to swap bulbs with MH to change spectrum.

Low up-front investment. HPS is cheaper today but the cost of high-quality LEDs is dropping every day.

What to consider when purchasing the LED Grow Lights from our reviews?

You can find the various LED’s on the market ranging from about $70 up to several thousand dollars. How do you know which light is going to suit you? We help you find the best grow lights for the money and value.

Here is a list of questions you need to answer when considering your choice.

1. What is the power draw for the unit? The power the light draws each minute it’s operational is money spent, getting more efficient LED lights?
2. Does the unit use top bin Diodes? (there are quality tiers for LEDs get top bin for more power).
3. What PAR does the LED produce? (PAR or Photo-synthetically active radiation) is the spectrum of light the unit can produce in the electromagnetic spectrum between 400nm and 700 nm which is beneficial for photosynthesis.
4. Lens optics can increase the power and spread of LED energy but increase the cost of a unit.
5. Do you want extra features like dimmable, spectrum control, timers, these will bring the cost of your grow unit up?
6. How long of a warranty do you want? Better quality units generally have a longer warranty period because the build quality is much better. Try for a 3 to 5-year warranty so you are guaranteed your investment will pay for itself over the years you run it.
7. What’s your budget? Whatever your budget is you should try to stretch it as far as you can to buy the best LED grow lights possible. There is a massive difference between simple Chinese grow panels and highly developed and engineered units.

Here’s a quick wattage chart to keep in mind:

Watts

1 x 1 square ft	32 watts
2 x 2 square ft	128 watts
3 x 3 square ft	288 watts
4 x 4 square ft	512 watts
6 x 6 square ft	1152 watts

Distance chart:

LED Wattage	HID-Equivalent Wattage	Distance from top of the canopy
250 W	150 W	12 – 24 inches
450 W	270 W	14 – 30 inches
600 W	360 W	14 – 36 inches
900 W	540 W	24 – 36 inches
1500 W +	1000 W +	36 – 52 inches

How Do LED Grow Lights Work?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do tiny LEDs produce enough usable energy to supply cannabis plants with enough photons to support photosynthesis? Can LED’s produce healthy plants and even more importantly can it provide the energy needed for these plants to flower?

Why Use LEDs

• • Use no hazardous materials
  • Produce little heat
  • Last for thousands of hours
  • Ten times more efficient than an incandescent light bulb

LED Grow Light Reviews To Grow Your Cannabis Plants

In the past, we used HPS lights (high-pressure sodium) to provide the energy required to feed cannabis plants. That energy usage was measured in Watts because the electricity input was directly related to the total intensity output. LED has made this measurement obsolete even though many makers of LED’s continue to use Watts in their marketing literature.

The accurate term of measurement for an LED grow lights intensity is now known as PAR. PAR stands for photo-synthetically active radiation which is light emitted in the electromagnetic spectrum between 400 and 700 nm. (Nano Meters)

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a two-lead semiconductor light source. It is a p–n (positive/negative) junction diode that emits light when activated. When enough voltage is applied to the leads, electrons can recombine with electron holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons.

LED grow lights use a combination of light colors to provide plants with the needed usable energy to vegetate and bloom. While lighting containing more blue wavelengths support better vegetative growth the introduction of red wavelengths supports blooming and flowering. In addition to red light IR (infrared) are used to greatly increase the flowering of plants.

Multi-Wave (Full Spectrum) PAR Value

Higher quality modern LEDs are now able to provide most of the known useful wavelengths for plant growth with the flip of a switch. This is achieved by adding red LED’s to the Vegetative blue lights this also increases the light intensity which fuels faster cell division in plant matter which leads to increased growth and higher yields.

The key to LED light is intensity. The light intensity is called PPFD which stands for Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density. This is a direct relationship of how much of the generated light reaches your plants each second, or more technically it is the number of photo-synthetically photons that fall on a surface each second.

Light intensity is responsible for healthy photosynthesis in plants there for more light intensity equals more photosynthesis which means the plants produce more energy for cell division which leads to growth.

To ensure healthy growth we recommend a LED grow light with a wide range of wavelength options, this will allow you to adjust the light according to the needs of your plants. The amount of photosynthesis taking place in your plants can be directly affected by, the amount of light, the type of light, type of plants, the Lumen per Square Foot, light wavelength and the distance from the plant to the light.

Advances in LED grow lights Have Maximized PAR Value and Light Coverage

With the advances in LED grow lights, the time has come for this option of grow light. LED has transformed the way smaller growers can produce increased amounts of cannabis in smaller spaces. HPS lighting required more space due to the massive heat generated and required a proper ventilation system to dissipate all that heat.

That’s no longer true for those using LED lighting.

LED’s can function in a wide area of the light spectrum which means that your plants receive more usable energy from the light generated. LED is able to be adjusted to match the needs of your plants during the different life cycles of your grow.

The greatest change in LED lighting is that you will use less than 50% of the energy required to grow your cannabis while providing your plants with a better usable wavelength that promote better faster growth.

Watts don’t measure LED grow lights True Power Draw

A lot of manufacturers offer a watt value for the energy produced by their LED grow lights. Unfortunately, the measurement watts really have nothing to do with the measurement of light generated by a LED. For that, you need to understand PAR or photo-synthetically active radiation. Par refers to the number of wavelengths that your cannabis plants can use to achieve photosynthesis.

This is where it gets complicated. Par is measured in two ways:

PPF or photosynthetic photon flux and Photosynthetic Flux Density.

The next measure is PPF or photosynthetic photon flux. This measurement tells you what spectrum’s of photosynthetically active light is emitted from your unit.

PPFD, stands for Photosynthetic Flux Density. This is an even more important measure because it specifies not just how much PAR is emitted by your grow unit, but how much of that light falls on the plant. The numbers you’ll see are in micromoles per square meter per second (μmol/m²/s).

Remember that these light measurements are spot measured and that manufacturers list their PAR rating in the hot spot created in the center of every LED fixture. PAR values also change the farther the canopy is away from the light the less power that strikes the plants.

How many plants you can grow under a unit is tied to these factors:

1. How many square feet the light can “veg” healthy plants?
2. How many square feet can the light “bloom”?
3. What type of plant, Indica or Sativa?
4. Auto plants?

Does Your LED Grow Light Provide a High PAR Value Rating?

Pay close attention to manufacturers’ recommended growing areas or you will run into trouble. In my tents I like to provide 3 square feet of space between each plant, that’s more than the average of 2 square feet. That means for every 36” square area I use for a plant the unit needs to be able to bloom and “veg” the same space.

You can “veg” a lot more plants under a light, but you need to be able to flower those plants and grow lights produce the most power directly under the unit. The actual blooming footprint is normally 20 to 25% smaller than the “Veg” footprint.

To grow and flower cannabis correctly you should provide the plant with 30 to 40 watts of light per square foot. So if your LED is 250 Watts you can have about 6 plants under it. This is a very simple way of looking at this situation since LED light isn’t really measured in Watts but in Par. Since lights are packaged with Watt ratings instead of PAR in most cases I choose to break it down this way for the readers.

Brand/Budget/Price: The more I test LED grow lights the more I’m surprised by the results I get from different manufacturers and price points. I recently tested a high-end brand light worth $799 USD against what most people would consider a cheap consumer-level brand that cost just $249 USD and the cheap brand kicked the big brand’s ass all the way around my grow tent.

You need to look at more than the price and the brand to determine the best LED grow light. You need to test it in a closed environment, growing cannabis to term and that’s just not possible for most people. That’s why you need to read professional reviews to know your way around.

Just don’t ever believe the hype unless it’s coming from actual users or professional independent reviews. Anything the manufacturer tells you will be incorrect and just marketing spin.

There are amazing lights that beginners can afford to start out with and there are high-end units that are worth every dollar you invest in them. Don’t get caught up in brand loyalty or thinking you must spend heavy to grow at home.

Light Spectrum: The kind of light a LED produces can be very different from one unit or maker to another. First off when we talk about the spectrum, we are talking about the light spectrums between 280 nm (UV) and 1200 nm (infrared). Each LED grow light is different but one thing they all have in common is that they all cover at least a small portion of the usable light spectrum.

Generally, cheaper lights produce fewer light spectrums. For example, the Mars Hydro II Pro which is a cheaper unit produces light between 390 nm and 690 nm and peaks in the blue and red spectrums. This is what gives the familiar purple haze that people are used to seeing.

More expensive units produce more light spectrums and intensity and, in many cases, produce much more product due to the inclusion of more plant usable light. These wideband lights produce light in every spectrum including UR and IR which are both helpful to the growth of cannabis plants.

Electricity Usage and Efficiency: LEDs or light-emitting diodes are 40% more efficient at converting electricity into usable energy than a traditional incandescent bulb. Bulbs are very wasteful and much of the energy is wasted as heat.

LED’s run much cooler then any HID light because they are efficient at converting power to light. What does this mean to you? It means that with each grow you saves 40% of your hydro bill, again and again. That’s why LED makes sense not to mention that it has an operational life of over 100,000 hours.

Light Control: Believe it or not there are many ways you can control your LED. When growing cannabis photoperiods are very important to the plants in determining when they begin to flower. Generally, I run my lights 24/7 in “veg” and then switch to 12/12 via a plugin timer.

Many traditional LED panels tend to provide a “veg” switch and a “bloom” switch which not only can control the time of photo exposure but also change the light spectrum to a more suitable mixture of light.

The last option is LEDs that contain a built-in timer. This is a nice to have feature but is easily replicated with a cheap plug timer.

Some final words on growing cannabis, weed or hemp. Our reports provide you with a great look at the full spectrum led grow lights that are available on the market. Some of the criteria you should examine before purchasing an LED grow light are:

1. Number of AMP
2. Number of feet between cannabis and LED
3. What PAR level is falling on your plants
4. Is the Unit Full Spectrum
5. Watts conversion to UMOL
6. Number of weed plants growing

LED Grow Light FAQ

1. Which grow light is better- HPS or LED?

Answer. We get this question every day! There are those who still believe HPS is better but I’m a LED convert and have experienced better cannabis grows with LED over HPS. LED is great for efficiency, durability, usable lifetime, Spectrum but you might lose a little bud size.

2. Which LED Grow light is better for a small grow room of 3-5 plants?

Answer. If you are growing in a closet or small tent, I would be looking at something along the lines of a Mars Hydro Pro II or a the Viparspectra Reflectroseries. Both these units will grow exceptional cannabis at a low price.

3. What is the difference between LED /Full Spectrum lights? Which one is better?

Answer. The grow light spectrum represents the bands of light between ultraviolet and infrared that are readily absorbed by cannabis plants. Many brands offer full-spectrum solutions these days, including the newer Widebands. The more usable light spectrums provided by an LED the better your plants will grow.

4. Why so much confusion over power output when it comes to LEDs?

Answer. The extremely confusing and convoluted way manufacturers advertise their lights is a sticking point for many thinking about moving over from HPS. It’s true that these numbers are really made up marketing mumbo-jumbo. For example, and Advanced Model 900 doesn’t generate 900 watts of power or consume 900 watts of electricity. Say what?

Think of these numbers as loose guidelines only because LED grow light is measured in PAR and PPFD, not watts. Watts is only used when describing the power consumption and output of an incandescent bulb, LED’s are much more efficient at generating light with less power.

5. What lighting schedule do I follow?

Answer. Depending on the strain I’m growing I’ll run 24/7 for “veg” if it’s a hearty strain, 18/6 for a normal strain. Then Off time is either zero or 6 hours until Blooming time when I switch to 12/12.

6. Do LED lights make great grow lights?

Answer. The best LED grow lights are better than HPS lights when you look at the facts. HPS might grow .5G/Watt more than LED but LED uses 30 to 40% please electricity to produce buds that are just slightly smaller.

7. Can I grow Cannabis with just any old LED light?

Answer. Yes and no. The basic concept of LEDs whether it be for grow lights or just lighting is fundamentally the same. The only differences are the number of light spectrums and the intensity of the light. You will be able to grow seedlings and even “veg” a plant, with a regular LED, but you aren’t going to get much in the way of bud without more spectrums and power.

8. How many Watts of power do I need per 1×1 SF area?

Answer. The average calculation for LED light per square foot is 32 to 40 watts in the flowering stage.

9. Which color light is good for plant growth?

Answer. Cannabis and all plants are affected by the color of light that is provided to them. For example, green is not absorbed very much and therefore won’t support healthy plant life. During the “Veg” stage of your cannabis grow; the blue spectrum is more important and in the Bloom Phase red.

10. Do LED grow light reviews help?

Answer. Yes, our led grow light reviews are based on real-world cannabis growing. 

Reviews and articles by Bud Durden Master Grower and writer.

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