ChilLED Tech Growcraft X3–330W VS UPDAYDAY UD-4000 Dimmable LED Grow Light Reviews 2021

Getting LED grow lights for indoor plants can be a bit intimidating as you have a lot of technical information to digest. You might rather just let your plants outside in the sun instead of reading up on wavelengths, light colors, and temperatures.

What light is needed to grow plants?
Any type of light that provides the full wavelength intensity for the right duration at the desired angle of a plant can help you grow plants in your grow room. Sunlight is ideal in having the full spectrum of light with rainbow colors. Any light that possesses the wavelength similar to that of sunlight is capable to allow plants to grow under it successfully. The plants take advantage of full-spectrum for their growth whatever the source may be. Generally, any light that holds a full spectrum from 380nm to 780nm is ideal to grow any type of plants under it.

ChilLED Tech Growcraft X3–330W

Pros:

GC-3K full phase spectrum light
Working life of up to 54,000 hours
3-year warranty
Can be used with Growers Choice Master Controller for large scale grows
IP65 Waterproof Rating
Cons:

You’ll need to dish out extra cash for the Master Controller

UPDAYDAY UD-4000 Dimmable LED Grow Light

Pros:

Affordable
Effective design in a small package
2-year warranty
Cons:

Not waterproof rated
240V power cord is sold separately
What to Look for in LED Grow Lights?

The LED Chip
You always want to look for chips that are at least 3W, any less than that won’t give your plants enough consistent light coverage. This means each chip needs to be 3W, not 3 lights of 1W LEDS, so look out for that when reading the description. The 3W chip offers the best quality in whites, blues and reds.

The Output
This is also important; you want to read product descriptions for total output. How many units does the lamp claim to have? This can be 300W, 400, 600 or even 1000. Always check for the output and look for at least 300W. Also, there are 480W LED grow light can be your choice.

Understand that when it comes to LEDs you can’t always get 100% power so you usually end up with slightly less wattage than what the recommended is, and chips will always burn out, no matter what the quality, so the higher a wattage the more you can compensate for wattage loss.

The Spectrum
Remember that it is the red blues, IR and UV that also counts when growing your marijuana crop, so you want to stick to the ideal PAR values. Look for blues that have a range from 440–470nm, with rends in the 640 to 660nm.

Cooling Aspects
These lamps stay on for the better part of the day, often 15 hours at a time, so you want to make sure they have internal fans that protect the lamp but also those that protect the plants. If it gets too hot in there you could damage your plants.

LED lights run cooler than HPS bulbs as they only let off about 15 to 25 % of the energy as heat, but the heat occurs behind the bulb in LEDS, and that area needs to be protected. A good quality lamp will have a thick aluminum heat sink attached to the back exterior or interior area which forces the heat away from the chips.

The Lens
Good quality lamps will have an optical lens that magnifies the light giving about 25% more penetration of nutrients for the plants. This makes for a more expensive lamp but certainly worth the price.

Materials
The LEDs should have a warranty, preferably one of 5 to 10 years. In fact, LEDs of this nature are supposed to have a life span of about 10 years, especially in some of the more expensive panels. Look for panels that are sturdily built with aluminum, steel or materials that won’t easily break.

The Guarantee
Look for lamps with more than a one year guarantee, as I mentioned before, LEDs are made to last up to 10 years, so I am somewhat suspicious of manufacturers who only offer a one year guarantee, as this is an indication of a cheaply made housing or cabling system. I usually look for a 3 year guarantee on parts.

The parts guarantee is better anyway because the lamp will continue to work regardless of the part that needs replacing. You can easily replace the missing part yourself when it arrives, and in the meantime your plants still get the nutrients they need.

Why Choose Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights?
Here, let us take a closer look at what full spectrum LED grow lights are and the reasons as to why they are great for you if you plan to grow marijuana indoors. We also take a closer look at some of the advantages of making use of full spectrum LED grow lights.

A common grow light is basically made up of lights of two spectrums — red and blue. You can figure that out by looking at these lights as they emit a reddish-blueish hue and while many of them offer a fair mix of the two, you can figure out the dominant color in these lights if you look long enough. The process of photosynthesis happens perfectly between these two light spectrums and this is why most lights come with reds and blues. However, there’s more to plants than just photosynthesis and there’s more to grow lights than just the reds and blues. This is where full spectrum LED grow lights come into the picture! A full-spectrum LED grow light consists of all wavelengths including infrared and ultraviolet lights. Basically, the final output of the light here would be a white light.

In the simplest of terms, using a full spectrum LED light allow you to imitate the light of the sun in the closest possible manner which is good for the growth of your plant allows photosynthesis to happen in the best possible manner as well as boosts the generation of all the various types of pigments that the plant needs for a healthy growth. Furthermore, the concentration of light and heat can allow you to tweak the flavor of your plant as well which is something that weed growers love to do! Let us now take a look at what are some of the advantages of using a full spectrum LED grow light as opposed to a regular LED grow light.

Compared to the LED grow lights that function only on a mix of red and blue lights, full spectrum lights tend to generate more quantity of photons which are great for the growth of the plants.
This is the closest you can get to replicating natural sunlight in a controlled environment and the plants can benefit a lot from the various wavelengths.
These lights are cooler in comparison to traditional lights and you do not require to set up extra heat dissipation systems such as additional fans.
Reds and Blues are for specific phases of growth but a full spectrum grow light is basically your one-stop solution to all growth phases of your cannabis plant.
These lights neither flicker nor do they require a stabilizer and are hence a great option for anyone looking forward to grow weed indoors as they provide a consistent and constant light.

Final thoughts

If you’re thinking about starting an indoor garden this year, you need to get the best advice possible. We recommend signing up for a forum.

You’ll find plenty of experienced growers willing to give you some advice. Get recommendations on the best equipment brands and avoid making the same mistake novice gardeners make in their first season.

There are dozens of best LED grow lights for sale out there to choose from. However, only a select few provide the best light for your garden. Make sure you select a device that suits your gardening needs and your budget.