2022 Best Small LED Grow Lights For Indoor Plants
When you realize that your plants aren’t getting all the natural light they need, considering the various grow light options that are out there is a good first step. From there, it probably won’t take long until you find out about the existence of LED grow lights, as there’s a reason they’re the most popular type of grow light. But surely they’re the same as the LED lights you already have at home, just more expensive?
After all, what is the difference between LED lights and LED grow lights? Can’t any LED light be used as a grow light?
Well, not quite. When your goal is to ensure your houseplants grow thicker or start to bloom, it’s important to be aware of not only the different types of grow lights out there, but how they differ to their more standard variations. And as you’ll see, while it’s true that an LED grow light may cost slightly more than a regular light bulb, the benefits more than make it worthwhile.
Advantages of LED Grow Lights
In the early days, technology was impractical and cost-inefficient. But in recent times, the newest technology has increased production, due to which it has become cost-effective. These are energy-efficient plant growth lamps and come with a shorter life span. However, as a result, it makes them costlier in the long run. Sometimes, the heat emitted by HPS lamps is lucrative in greenhouse settings, but these can make them useless for vertical farms or growth chambers.
On the other hand, these are more compact and faster switching, making them ideal for the environment. Moreover, these release less incandescent heat, affecting plants’ moisture and nutrition requirements. Compared to the conventional HPS models, the benefits of the revolutionary models are as follows:
Economic Electricity Consumption:
The LED grow lights for indoor plants use up 50% of the energy used by HPS systems. According to a few experts, they anticipate higher LEDs efficiency shortly.
More Extended Lifespan/Lamp Durability:
They are more long-lasting than the HPS ones. When it comes to HPS lamps, the lifespan is usually one year, whereas, for LEDs, the lifespan is up to 8 years or about 50 000 hours of use.
Smaller Spaces Convenience:
You can set them closer to the plants. However, the growing space should not be extremely high or wide.
Energy Efficiency:
Using them, you can optimize the spectrum while concentrating energy on the wavelengths. These are lucrative for every application and plant. Moreover, the decreased heat production lets you put LED fixtures near plants, ensuring that you have lost less light elsewhere.
Fire Safety:
You can use them safely as these don’t become warm as the conventional HPS lamps.
Dimming:
Mostly, HPS lamps use the full light intensity, whereas these dim. It is possible with a remote control or via an app. As a result, you can handle it easily apart from consuming less power.
Better Crops:
LED grow lights for seedlings can generate better crops to get bigger plants and allow them to grow fast than the HPS ones. In addition, these consist of a spectrum aimed at a specific goal, including anthocyanin accumulation, flowering inhibition, enhanced rooting, etc.
More Environment Safety:
These emit less heat. Besides, you can add UV light to these lamps, reducing bacteria and mold formation probability. It indicates that you will have fewer pesticides and less environmental pollution.
ECO Farm FLD 200W Full Spectrum Dimmable LED Grow Light
Features:
When compared to other led grow lights, ECO Farm LED grow light uses 800 LED chips that consume only 200W, with perfect coverage for 2x3ft. Don’t settle for cheaper, weaker indoor plant lights. This full spectrum grow light have been used by customers for their beautiful indoor plants. Yield Max spectrum with SMD leds spectrum is white 3000K leds, white 5000K leds, 660nm red leds and 740nm IR leds, Speed up Blooming & Fruiting, Perfect for Density Buds. ECO Farm Indoor Grow Light is a Scalable Solution for Commercial, Home, Grow Tent, Grow room, Hydroponic, Soil full-cycle growing. The first choice for beginners and professional growers, Easy to Install, Ideal for High PPFD Cultivation with Single or multi-tier racking. Yield Max Spectrum and Secondary Optic Reflective Bars, Increase Your Yields & Profits 50% Without Any Extra Energy Costs.
Features:
Operating at just 240W, the GrowPros LED Grow Light is an LED rack lighting solution designed for commercial indoor and greenhouse applications that controls the plant cycle and is especially optimized for plant growth stages. The HM240 series has a crop yield of 1.8 grams per watt (dry). High PPFD and PAR indicate high efficiency, or light output per unit of power consumption. Compared to traditional HID and HPS light sources, the HM240 saves about 50% energy, and you can save a lot of energy over time. Thanks to the passive cooling thermal management system, the HM240 series systems run cooler, meaning your lighting system will last longer while maintaining high light output levels.
BESTVA BAT W200 Dimmable LED Grow Light
Features:
BESTVA grow light provides highly efficient full spectrum with a healthy red-to-blue ratio to drive photo synthesis. Light energy between 500–599nm, previously thought wasted, penetrates deeper into the plant canopy promoting photo morphogenic responses. High color rendering “white” light aids to rapidly identify potential threats to your crop and provides superior working conditions and safety for personnel. Ideal for both flowering and vegetative production. Bar light design and aluminium material on the back contribute to better airflow and great heat dissipation. This growing light comes with a detachable driver and long power cord, thereby reducing ambient heat in your growing space for extended lifespan. With the waterproof circuit board, worry free of the moist environment. Easy installation.
How to Choose the Best Full-Spectrum Grow Lights?
Purchasing grow lights is not always a walk in the park. If you want more information on growth light specifications, you’ve come to the right place. The following buying guide covers everything you need to know before you set out to find grow lights for your operation.
Light Strength
Before you can begin shopping, you will need to know your target growth light intensity.
Consider the Light’s PPF Rating
The PPF, or photosynthetic photon flux, is the number of light photons that are produced by a light fixture each second. PPF is measured using a PAR, or photosynthetic active radiation, meter. The measurement is then expressed in umols per square meter per second. An ideal PPF rating ranges from 400 to 700 nanometers.
Check the PAR Findings
PAR, or photosynthetic active radiation, is the wavelength of light within the visible range. This figure starts at 400 nanometers and ends at 700 nanometers. Your target PAR depends on the type of plants you are growing as well as the distance of your lights from your plants.
Common vegetables, including tomatoes and lettuce, require 400 to 500 umols/m2/sec. Meanwhile, the recommended PAR level for indoor plants is 300 to 400 umols/m2/sec.
Few plants require more than 1,000 µmols/m2/sec of PAR. In most cases, a light that offers 500 to 1,000 umols should be sufficient. You can usually get away with lower PAR ranges during early growth stages. Meanwhile, more powerful PAR ranges are needed during flower and fruiting.
Analyze the PPFD
PPFD, or photosynthetic photon flux, is a unit of measurement used to describe light intensity in a specific area. Or, in other words, it is the amount of light that falls on the PAR region of your growing area every second. As we already know, plants need 500 to 1,000 umols of PAR per square foot per second.
PPFD is sometimes confused with PPF. However, PPFD is the amount of light that actually impacts plants. Whereas, PPF is the amount of light produced by a fixture.
Spectrum
Light spectrum is yet another key factor concept that you need to understand before you select the right grow light. A qualifying light needs to offer a full spectrum of light colors to promote photosynthesis (chlorophyll absorption). Most growing experts recommend a full-spectrum fixture that offers a ratio of blue and red light as well as some UB and far-right radiation (photomorphogenesis. This spectrum usually covers the full photosynthetically active radiation range (PAR) or 400 to 700 nanometers.
Virtually every stage of the plant life cycle is dependent on targeted light wavelengths. This includes fruiting potential, flowering yield, vegetation growth, root growth, harvest characteristics, and harvest yield.
Blue light, which also falls within the 100 to 400-nanometer range, can determine the vegetation development, root development, and flower development of plants grown indoors. Meanwhile, red light (600 to 700 nanometers) improves plants’ photosynthesis and biomass. The UV wavelength, which ranges from 100 to 400 nanometers, is responsible for flavor and photosynthesis.
Most plants come with a recommended blue to red ratio. For example, lettuce fairs best with a 35:65 blue to red ratio. Meanwhile, tomatoes turn out best when they are exposed to a 5:1 ratio of red and blue.
Some growers think of light spectrum ratios as an element of plant design. When you understand the impact of light spectrum ratios on your plants, you can easily make changes to determine the outcome of your harvests.
Wattage
One of a grow light’s most important performance specs happens to be power consumption. This is the amount of wattage that your fixture draws from the outlet. The diodes that are built into LED lights are capable of producing intense light with small amounts of electricity.
Of course, wattage is also used to measure the amount of power that a fixture produces. Oftentimes, a manufacturer’s reported light output is higher than its reported wattage draw. When it comes to LEDs, there is often an exaggerated difference between these numbers. For example, the KingLED Reflector Series LED Grow Light mentioned above is described as having a 3,000-watt output and a 615-watt draw.
While you might be eager to save a buck on your electricity bill, LED lights with low electricity consumption are not always as promising as they appear. Oftentimes the lower power equates to lower production. If your fixture isn’t capable of producing enough PPFD, then it’s not going to help grow plants efficiently.
Most growers like to have a good idea of how many watts of electricity they’re using per square foot of grow space. This helps them to calculate their overall electricity expenditure. A draw of 20 to 50 watts per square foot is standard. You can use this calculator to determine how many watts of power your lights will use per square foot.
Understand Driver/Chip Compatibility
LED grow lights consist of corresponding chips and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The chips transmit messages, such as light settings and timer settings. When these elements synchronously, growers can alter their lights’ PAR spectrum to better suit each plant growth stage.
Coverage
Another essential consideration is growing space coverage. You need to be able to calculate the amount of growing space that your fixture can support. This number varies from grower to grower. After all, some people are managing large warehouses, while others boast 4-by-4 grow tents.
Generally speaking, lights with higher wattages are capable of covering larger areas. You will need to consider a light’s wattage, coverage area, and distance from plants before you can determine how many lights you need for your growing space.
Take into account that you may need to raise or lower your lights during different growing spaces. Raising and lowering plants alters a light’s overall PAR per square foot.
Cooling
While LED grows lights do not get nearly as hot as traditional light fixtures, they still produce excess heat. Most lights have a combination of onboard heat sinks, radiators, and fans that help them to maintain a reasonable temperature.
Without a reliable grow system, you risk exposing your plants to excess heat and dryness. The heat that is produced by LEDs has nowhere to go inside a grow room or tent. As such, it is automatically absorbed by the plants and other objects in a growing area. Grow rooms should be well ventilated. The temperature inside the room should fall somewhere between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit when the lights are on.
You can calculate a grow light’s estimated heat production by multiplying the number of watts used by 3.41. This gives you the fixture’s heat production in BTUs (British thermal units.) You can also check out this online calculator to determine the total BTUs of cooling needed for an LED light.
Controls
Lights with built-in or remote controls give you the freedom of programming. You may be able to set a timer, adjust the red, blue ratio of your light, or alter a light’s intensity to better suit your growing needs at any given time.
Included Accessories
If you’re setting up a grow room for the first time, you’re going to need a good amount of accessories to complete your installation. Consider it a bonus if a manufacturer includes ratchets, hooks, and/or other hardware with their grow lights.
Warranty
Most LEDs have promising lifespans, with many ranging between 20,000 and 100,000 hours of estimated runtime. While most LEDs live up to their promises, we still like to see companies stand behind their claims. Three-year warranties are commonplace for LED grow lights. A lengthy protection plan guarantees that you are covered even in the rare chance something goes from with your fixture.
Price
The cost of LED lights is yet another essential consideration. Most fixtures average in the hundreds, but professional models can cost much as $2,000 per unit. When you purchase an LED light, you’re making an upfront investment. You’ll reap the benefits of your investment so long as the fixture’s lifespan and light intensity live up to the manufacturer’s promise. Hopefully, you’ll opt for a model that also boasts a lengthy and worry-free warranty.
If you’re shopping with a limited budget, you’ll want to pay careful attention to the light intensity, spectrum, and coverage offered by your chosen light. The right light should present energy savings alongside healthy plant growth.
Conclusion
After reviewing all the best LED grow lights for indoor plants, we cannot declare a clear winner because every grow light has its distinctive features. Now it all boils down to your personal preference. If you’re running low on budget you can choose a budget-friendly option otherwise you can go for a premium model. Look for a light system that is best for a range of different plants and boasts blue and red spectrum. You also need to go for an adjustable timer ranging.
So which one of these LED lights have you used for your indoor plants! Please share your experience with us by leaving a comment below!
