There are many differences in LED and HID technology for plant growth. Arguably, the largest difference facing growers is up-front cost because LED systems are much more expensive to purchase than HID systems. On the contrary, maintenance of an LED system is minimal as you do not need to regularly change out lamps to maintain…
There are many electrical metrics by which the performance of an LED grow light system can be measured. Three of the more important characteristics growers should pay attention to are efficacy, LED life and driver life. In addition, growing measurements should also be taken into consideration such as spectrum, PPFD and PBFD. The combination of…
Many growers who are switching from HID to LED think it’s just a matter of taking out the HID system and replacing it with LED. Those growers soon find lower yields or damaged plants and blame the lighting. So how are some growers experiencing good results with LED? Because they took steps to rebalance their…
LED Spectrums Because of the ability to pick specific nanometer wavelengths, LED spectrums can be finely tuned to a desired output. This gives the ability to create a spectrum for specific stages of plant growth. Unfortunately, that means an LED spectrum can also be manipulated in a negative way. For example, an LED system could…
LEDs inherently emit light as a “blob.” An optic can be added to focus the light into a desired shape or pattern. In doing so, the optics will absorb some of the light. However, not all LED systems will require an optic. Use of them depends on whether precise control is needed based on the…
The heat sink is a material in the LED system that absorbs and disperses heat produced by an LED. The material is typically a metal, most often aluminum, but can sometimes be made from a durable polymer or plastic. Aluminum has become the industry standard for heat sink material due to its high thermal conductive…
A driver is an electrical device used for LED lighting that converts the AC power from a wall plug to DC power needed by the LEDs. It also controls the amount of power supplied to the LEDs. Most LED systems have an integrated driver that can accept an input voltage from 120-277V or 347-480V.
Types of LEDs There are two types of LEDs: surface mount and chip-on-board. Surface-mount LEDs are a single semiconductor diode, or multiple semiconductor diodes, that are soldered to a surface. They are commonly referred to as LED chips. These are typically put together along an electrical circuit and soldered onto a metal board in order…
LED stands for light-emitting diode. The LED is the light-producing component to an LED system, which consists of a semiconductor diode that emits light when a voltage is applied to it. When people say LED in the growing world, they are referring to the entire LED system which includes the LEDs, driver, heat sink, electrical…
LED – the light-emitting portion of the LED system. There are three main diode types: mid-power, hi-power and chip-on-board (COB). All three can be found in LED grow light systems, though mid-power is the most common due to their low cost and high efficacy. Driver – converts the AC power from a wall plug to…
English
Spanish
French