You may have possibly heard about LED grow lights and their efficiency in power consumption.
Nothing can be further from the truth as these lights are even more power-saving than laid-back grow lights like fluorescent bulbs and HIDs.
So, if you are worried about your marijuana growth, you stand a better chance by leveraging LED grow lights.
Your focus should only be finding high-quality bulbs that evenly distribute enough photons of light on your marijuana.
Energy Consumption; LED Grow Lights vs. Traditional Grow Lights
One simple fact about power consumption with LED grow lights is that they use less energy.
They are designed to consume less power than the typical HID grow lights and also preserve energy.
This means you’ll enjoy lower power costs to get the same results with marijuana growth week by week and grab the best autoflowering seeds available online.
LED grow lights also consume less power because they’re engineered relying on plant knowledge and science.
Here are other factors that make them more power-saving.
1. They Have a Direct Light Beam
LED grow lights are designed to shine straight down onto your plant canopy. Unlike other grow lights that force light out in all directions, these will direct all their light at your cannabis plants.
This leaves them less power-consuming than most grow lights.
Besides, the lights don’t require any power-consuming hoods or reflectors to redirect the beams to where they are needed most.
All that’s necessary is to get a suitable LED grow light that can focus enough light on your photon-hungry cannabis leaves.
2. No Ventilation and Cooling Costs
Talking of power consumption, HID grow lights are famed for infrared radiation. This represents the portion of the energy they turn into heat radiation.
This energy also translates to photons your marijuana will not use for photosynthesis.
Heat radiation represents energy waste, which is where LED grow lights come in.
While you still require supplemental heating when using them, LED grow lights save a lot of power by not radiating heat at all.
Their operating temperatures are much lower and energy-saving than the typical traditional grow lights.
3. Their Power Consumption is Low from the Onset
After working on your indoor garden set-up, power remains one of the biggest headaches. So, the choice of your grow light will highly determine all the expenses you’ll have to incur.
However, you can always rely on the early power-cost efficiencies of LED grow bulbs.
These bulbs only consume a little more power when approaching their end of life.
When compared to most traditional grow lights, you’ll find them more cost-effective on electricity consumption. This is regardless of their efficiency and longer bulb life.
Standard grow bulbs often lose efficiency and end up dim with the same power consumption rate.
Their actual power costs rise sharply, contrary to what you’ll experience with LED grow lights.
4. Their Energy Conversion is Efficient
LED grow lights are all about maximum energy utilization.
They edge out other traditional grow lights in that a more significant amount of electrical energy they consume is converted to light photons.
That is, they are designed focusing on one efficiency– converting electricity into light.
However, different LED types come with varying efficiencies. Some of them don’t convert 100% of the electricity to light.
If anything, a good LED grows light that will serve well on your cannabis plants should be about 80% efficient.
Efficiency also borrows much from the quality of the LED grow light available. Each manufacturer has different quality standards. So, you only get what you can afford.
How to Save More Power Using LED Grow Lights
The benefits of using LEDs as your leading grow lights are more profound than ever.
But it’s their efficient utilization that’ll help you get the most out of their energy-saving capabilities.
If you’re thinking of saving costs on your marijuana garden, here’s how to leverage LED grow lights.
1. Save More Water Bills
Overwatering is inevitable when using traditional grow bulbs. LED grow lights generate very little heat, helping you save on water usage.
2. Mount Them at the Right Height
LED grow lights run cooler than most grow lights. This means the height with which you mount them will affect your yields.
There are many factors to guide this decision. For instance, the available natural sunlight should guide you on the number of bulbs to mount.
What’s important is to ensure an even distribution of light to your cannabis plants.
3. LED Bulbs Are Not Equal Though
As a customer, you have a limited understanding of the best LED grow lights in the market. This is still the case, even considering not all LED bulbs are of equal quality.
For instance, it’s possible to have four different LED lights with varying performance capabilities.
However, LED Lights are still effective in electricity consumption and last longer than traditional lighting solutions.
They are also smaller than other grow lights bearing only a few inches in height. So, they’re easier to mount in your indoor garden.
The Bottom Line
The availability of LED grow lights is a testament that technology has caught up with most of our dreams.
Their efficiency, convenience, and cost-effectiveness place them above most of the traditional grow lights.
If you’re a cannabis farmer, LED grow lights could be that one perfect lighting solution available to try.