LED Grow Light Comparison: How can I compare different led grow lights? (Review 2020)
With so many indoor grow light options, especially in the LED market, it has become really confusing to figure out which grow light to buy.
And when it comes to buying a full spectrum LED grow light, not all LEDs are built the same way. You need to pay attention to both the quality and quantity of light a fixture produces if you want to understand real power that LED grow lights can deliver to your canopy.
The Wavelength Output
No matter what type of grow lights you will be using, you need to understand the wavelength output and the way it can be measured and analyzed. However, choosing and buying a LED grow light based on PAR alone is not the best idea.
What Is PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation)?
PAR or Photosynthetically Active Radiation denotes the usable light that the plants will absorb. The rest of the light emitted will be reflected from the plants. Thus, the PAR does not measure all the light coming from the source, but the wavelengths the plants will use is perhaps the most important metric when buying an LED grow light, though it could be misleading.
Don’t use lumens to compare grow lights
This one’s easy to explain. A lumen is a rating of how bright a light appears to the human eye. However, since human vision is not correlated to photosynthetic grow rates, total lumens is a dead metric. As a rule, if someone is trying to promote lumens for a horticulture lighting system, they should not be selling horticulture lighting systems.
A Note about UV Light
UV light — in high intensity or long exposure — can be harmful to people. It’s recommended that you wear eye protection and long sleeves when working under lights with UV output.
LED Grow Light Comparison
Enlite Hera 660W Full-cycle Grow Light
The Hera 660 watt LED grow light is designed as a primary top-light for indoor cultivation or as a supplemental top-light solution in greenhouses for higher crop yields and better crop quality.
The Hera 660 watt fixture is only 3.2” wide and creates a very small shadow effect in thegreenhouse, yet it has 120° wide beam optics to provide excellent light distribution in a large area.
MarsHydro Reflector 480W LED Grow Light
This is an excellent LED grow light for the money. It has gone through rigorous testing and experimentation before its release, possessing a compact and effective design that you can rely on. This light can easily replace a 250 W HPS light and is accompanied by a switch for veg and bloom. The light can be used to fully develop your plant throughout all stages.
This LED draws only 190 watts of wattage and is ETL certified. It also comes with pluggable VDE and UL certified wires. It is accompanied by a two-year warranty and can coverage about 3.5 x 2 ft of coverage. It is compact and effective yet has amazing output for the size and price.
Why do LED lights have different prices?
It’s all about the emerging new technology and increased market competition that different manufacturers offer different prices in the open market to show their worth. The companies having strong research and development wings offer more prices in comparison to the small manufacturers without such facilities. Be sure while purchasing that a LED grow light for sale doesn’t mean low quality at all but it is due to a downward trend in prices, internationally. This downward trend has even compelled a few manufacturers to stop their manufacturing of LED while once they were the industry leader in the technology.