The conventional growing and agriculture industry has been drastically affected by technology and innovation in the last decades. The introduction of LED grow lights though, suggests to revolutionize the entire way we think about and grow our plants.

Why LED Grow Lights?

Before looking at the bright future of the field, let’s focus on the features of the LED grow lights that make them the best indoor growing option now.

Higher Yield

The first and maybe biggest advantage of the LED grow lights is the high yield. In normal conditions, as far as you have electricity, there is nothing that can stop the lights from working and the plants from growing. This exclusion of the “natural” factor assures a stable yield and higher predictability.

Lower Heat Output

While LED lights are not the only grow lights available on the market, they are among the best due to their low heat output. Normally, the bulbs used in this type of lights do not emit that much heat. Thus, you don’t need to create a complex cooling system so that you can start growing indoors.

Reasonable Costs

While the LED grow lights themselves are not very cheap, they have low maintenance costs, they are energy saving and do not generate huge electricity bills, and they will last for a long time. This means that you are making one bigger investment now, assuring yourself a stable yield in the long-run.

Why LED Grow Lights Are the Future?

As LED grow lights entered the growing industry just recently, how can we be sure that they will be the future and can they still be improved?

Year-Round Growing

With LED grow lights growing can be done without any limitation. There is no weather or country requirement. This means that you can grow a lot more and are not required to wait for another season or for another rain. What researchers claim is that in the long-run this may be one of the most efficient solutions of the growing demand for food in the world and the countries where food production is an issue.

Faster Growing

Not only can one grow year-round with the LED lights, but the entire process could happen a lot faster. While the sunshine could be limited or obstructed, the LED lights could provide stable source of light for 24 hours per day.

Vertical Growing

The last potential issue the LED grow lights are eliminating is the lack of space. Of course, you will still need some space, but the vertical growing makes space an abstract term and you can grow much more plants in the same space you could not even think of with natural lighting.

How to Find the Best LED Grow Lights?

Once you know LED grow lights have a bright future, you may ask yourself which ones are the best.

Your Needs

First, you need to start with what you want to grow and what space you can devote to growing. Having these initial requirements in mind, you will know what type of light you need.

The PAR Values

PAR denotes the photosynthetically active radiation, which also means that plants can use for growing only this spectrum of light that is provided by natural sunlight. Having realized that, people produce LED lights that have high PAR values and emit a lot of this “good” light, without dispersing any light that will remain unabsorbed by the plants. Thus, it is very important for the LED light not only to be full spectrum, but to have high PAR.

The Cooling

Because of the bulbs LED lights are using, normally they have a lower heat output. In the same time, they still need to be cooled down. There are two types of cooling systems: active and passive. The active cooling system consists of fans that are attached to the lights. While taking care of the heat, those fans could accumulate dirt and generate noise. The fanless LED grow lights do not have this issue. They have passive cooling and most often heat sinks that absorb the excess heat and makes sure it will not reach the diodes. The type of cooling system is crucial when picking a LED grow light.

The Water Resistance

Lastly, when you are choosing and buying a LED grow light, you may want the latest tech and the best features. Some of the newer lights are now certified to be water resistant. This is one more useful advantage that makes their work smoother even in humid conditions and they are easier to maintain. Those LED grow lights are also much safer to use and are more flexible in their application. With LED grow lights you can not only create vertical systems, but also aquaponics. Thus, when purchasing the light you can be sure you will have a lot of options in the future.

Author’s Bio:

Name: Luis Rivera



Luis has 20+ years of experience in global market expansion, business development, mergers and acquisitions, business re-engineering, finance and investor relations of software companies. He is passionate about technology, spectral science, indoor farming, food production, automation, and more. Since 2015 he is the president of Advanced LED Lights, a leading LED grow lights manufacturer based in Hiwasse, Arkansas. When not at work, Luis enjoys swimming, yoga, as well as growing grapes and flowers in Sonoma, California.