Finding the right grow light setup for your indoor garden seems easy.
But it’s not. It can be a bit complicated. There are so many different lights on the market and so many different customers with unique needs. Farmers, horticulturists, gardeners, and medical herb growers all need different features and they have a very broad selection of options to choose from.
What is LED or HPS?
LED grow lights are luminaires utilizing LED chips in a modern and efficient way to produce light for growing plants.
While HPS lights are a more efficient type of HID lighting than metal halides. HPS bulbs emit light in the yellow/red visible light as well as small portions of all other visible light.
Compared with HPS lights, LED lights are relatively new in the horticultural and many people are not yet familiar with their benefits and drawbacks. However, LED lighting has been used in the industry for many years and has been the system of choice for indoor gardeners.
Benefits of LED Grow Lights
Here are some of the main benefits of using LED lights for your garden.
- Operational costs: Good LEDs cost up to 80% less to operate than an equivalent HID bulbs.
- Complete Package: LED fixtures are ready to start growing immediately. You just have to hang them, plug them in and that’s it. You don’t need to purchase any additional components.
- Higher quality yields: Because LED fixtures provide a spectrum of light perfectly tuned for plants, they end up producing better yields. This is especially true of fixtures with added UV light and IR light, like these top flowering LEDs.
- Environmental Advantages: LED lights do not require as much power. They also don’t require you to dispose of harmful mercury and they don’t need new bulbs to be produced every year.
Why We Suggest LED Grow Light?
One of the deciding factors in choosing between LED grow lights and HID lights is that LEDs were typically cost-efficient than the HPS lights.
For many, this is the only factor that matters and this is the main reason LED lighting continues to enjoy huge popularity. That said, a select few companies are now making good lights that cost very little. But the initial cost of the light(s) is not the only cost you need to take into consideration. You need to take into account the complete cost. LEDs have become hugely popular and one of the most demanding lights which will not dig your pocket.
Another reason is LED grow lights use far less energy to generate the same amount of usable light as an HPS or an MH bulb. This drastically reduces operating costs and means that they turn out to be more affordable in the long run.
Furthermore, LEDs have a much longer lifespan than HID bulbs. Finally, the heat output matters. HID bulbs emit an enormous amount of heat, which will have to be dealt with. Cooling equipment is not cheap and neither is running it. Since LED lights run much cooler than HPS or MH lights, you save even more in operating costs. On the flip side, if you are using LED plant lights, you may actually have to heat your garden in the winter months, if you live in an area with a cold climate. But once you settle the garden the LED-grown light will do its job and within a few months, your plants will grow naturally.
There is a reason LED technology is often mentioned in the same sentence as alternative sources of power like solar: they are much better for the environment than traditional forms of lighting.
Conclusion
Overall, Viparspectra LED grow light is one of the best choices for plant growers. They offer LED lights at an affordable price point, partially because the manufacturer themselves are selling these lights instead of going through a wholesaler or distributor.
On top of that, they offer a 3-year warranty and a 30-day exchange, money back, or repair policy for any lights that stop working in 30 days, which gives a buyer a lot of flexibility on a dud light.
While there are objectively better LED grow lights on the market, Viparspectra themselves state that they aim to be mid-market for hobbyists and intermediate growers, and I think they occupy that space well. They’re a solid pick if you’re getting started with indoor growing.