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Best LED Grow Lights for Your Greenhouse
LED grow lights may be used to provide supplemental light for window gardens and houseplants or replace natural sunlight for plants raised entirely indoors. Each of these applications comes with their own requirements, and that’s why a grow light to help your window herb garden grow faster is not necessarily the best choice for a grow-tent garden. Here are our recommendations for the best led grow lights for greenhouse use.
01.Bestva 4000w LED Grow Light
This 4000 watt LED grow light offers industrial strength light in a single light panel. It uses hundreds of 10 watt dual chip LEDs to put out as much light as a 2000 watt HPS light. Note that this is well below the 4000 watt rating the manufacturer gives it. Yet it only pulls 600 to 650 watts, well less than a 2000 watt HPS light.
We’d say this is a good led grow light for greenhouse use when you’re providing supplemental light to sun-loving plants in the spring and fall, not trying to raise sun-loving plants indoors. It can also improve the yield of plants in a greenhouse.
The Bestva grow light produces true broad spectrum light. It has a mix of red and blue LEDs. More importantly, you can switch from red light to blue light as well as have full spectrum grow light. Use the veg setting for growing plants and the bloom setting to maximize flowering.
This grow light covers a nearly eight foot by eight foot growing area if hanging 24 inches above the plants. The LED grow lights have a 120 degree angle, so it isn’t going to give you full coverage at the extremes of a grow tent. Instead, it covers a roughly 4 foot by 3 foot rectangular area in light enough to beat natural sunlight, if you’re locating the plants directly in the brightest area.
Bestva’s grow light is noteworthy for the fact they include a number of supporting items you’d otherwise have to buy elsewhere. For example, they provide the hanging kit, power cable and protective sunglasses. Do not ever look directly into the lights. It doesn’t need additional ballast, and this simplifies its setup. It can be controlled by a timer, but no timer comes with it. This grow light does not have hardware to daisy chain it because you cannot safely connect it in sequence with other lights.
The grow light has a working temperature of 70 to 104 degrees F. Only use it where you have good ventilation, because it will start to burn out if it gets too hot. It isn’t water-proof, so don’t let it get sprayed by your misters. Note that this is a common limitation of LED grow lights. If there is a defective bulb, the manufacturer may ship it to you for free if it is within the warranty period, but replacing burned out bulbs is a challenge.
The LED grow lights are rated to last 100,000 hours. Unfortunately, it isn’t uncommon for some of the LEDs to burn out after just two or three months of continual use. Because they are LED chip sets, one light burning out increase the odds you’ll lose an entire row of lights. An issue peculiar to this model is that the red LEDs may fade to orange after a few months, reducing the red light output even though the lights are still running.
Pros:
- Low energy consumption
- Replaces natural light
- Works with timers
- Comes with everything you need
Cons:
- Lights sometimes burn out, in part or in full
- Not as bright as promised
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02.Viperspectra 1200w LED Grow Light
Viperspectra is one of the best known brands of LED lights. This Viparspectra grow light is listed as a 1200 watt LED grow light. However, its light output is closer to an 800 watt HPS grow light. It is very energy-efficient. It only consumes 500 to 550 watts of electricity.
The Viperspectra grow light covers a 3.5 foot by 3.5 foot area if you want to support flowering plants. It can provide basic broad spectrum light for growing leafy plants over a 4.5 foot by 4.5 foot growing area. The manufacturer specifically says you should hang it lower during the fruiting and flowering stage. This makes the grow light a better choice for starting seedlings, not trying to grow leafy plants to maturity.
However, it does an excellent job of accelerating the growth of vegetation that gets some sunlight through a window. That makes this the best led grow light for greenhouse applications where the grow light supplements natural light. The grow light lets you switch between vegetative and blooming light spectrums with the flick of a switch.
The grow light comes with a power cable and hanging kit. It doesn’t come with safety glasses or extra cables. You do need protective glasses to work around this grow light.
It has a sturdy case and durable cables. You don’t have to worry about it getting damaged when shipped.
This grow light is Underwriter’s Laboratory certified, making it one of the safety grow lights on the market. It may run hot, but it won’t pose a fire hazard. When LEDs burn out, they don’t create shorts and rarely take out a whole row of lights. However, you can’t replace the lights easily. The diodes often flicker before they die.
You want to use this light with the fans on, and additional ventilation in your grow tent is recommended. Note that the fans on this grow light are loud, though they’re only really needed when it is in the bloom mode. However, that doesn’t matter if it is running 18 hours a day in a greenhouse instead of a grow tent in your bedroom closet.
Pros:
- Safer than average
- Energy-efficient
- Easy to use controls
Cons:
- Loud fans
- Runs hot
- Must adjust light coverage area to meet needs of plants
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03. Roleadro 1500w Led Grow Light – B07NXX3HW9
This Roleandro brand grow light is part of the Galaxyhydro series. It puts out a full spectrum light. It puts out both blue light for strong stem growth and red light for glowering and leaf growth. However, it puts out mostly red light, not blue light.
This grow light can be daisy-chained. That makes it the best greenhouse led grow light for large-scale growing operations. The grow light comes with a power cord to plug in and a hanging kit.
The dual fans keep the grow light cool, so it won’t make a grow tent or green house too hot. Be very careful of the light’s location, because it can burn plants too close to it. That makes this grow light better for seedlings and stem growth than encouraging vegetation growth. The fans are noisy.
An interesting feature of this grow light is that it has beads and zeners. This means that when one LED burns out, it won’t affect the other LEDs. This reduces the odds of cascading failures that result in one LED burning out causing an entire row of LEDs to burn out. Unfortunately, the control board and other parts can cause the entire thing to die after six to twelve months of continual use, especially in hot or humid environments. In these cases, either half or all the grow lights burn out.
The LED chips in this grow light reduce its energy needs. However, the grow light is not equivalent to a 1500 watt light. Its output is really equal to a 175 watt HPS light or 250 watt vapor lamp. This contributes to the many complaints that the light isn’t bright enough, when the real issue is that it is a good grow light for smaller growing areas or providing supplemental light.
The reflectors built into the grow light increase the odds it will burn the top layer of foliage, so this grow light is a better choice for starting plants or short ones, not tall plants.
Pros:
- Energy efficient
- Full spectrum grow light
- Can be daisy chained
Cons:
- Limited operational life
- Can burn plants and burns out faster in hot houses
- Not as bright as advertised
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04. Aglex 3000w Led Grow Light – B07VPY4Z21
Aglex is one of the premium grow lights. This 3000 watt grow light is designed for indoor and greenhouse use. It puts out full spectrum grow light, and it contains a mix of red, blue and white LEDs. There are a few ultraviolet and infrared light bulbs in the mix. This grow light can support vegetation growth, herb growth and blooming. You can use the switches to put out entirely red or blue light. The controls for this are easy to use.
You don’t get as much supporting hardware with this grow light as some units. For example, you may only get the lights themselves, not even a hanging kit or power cord. It is supposed to ship with hanging hooks and a power cord. Some of the higher end growing kits give you protective eye glasses. Note that you should not work with this light without protective glasses.
If this grow light is hanging 24 inches above the plants, it has a 4.5 foot by 5 foot growing area. At that height, it has a photosynthetic photon flux density or PPFD output of 1855 umol per square meter.
This grow light is described as a 3000 watt grow light. In reality, it matches the light output of a 600 watt HPS light. It has similar power consumption, since it draws about 650 watts. The grow light can use both 120 and 240 volt power input.
Theoretically, it can provide supplemental light for a six foot by seven foot area. In reality, it provides full light for a four foot by four foot growing area. Be careful about putting this grow light over tall plants, because the reflectors built into it result in burning for anything too close to the LEDs.
While the chip on board design reduces energy requirements, this results in all of the blue or red lights in an area burning out once one LED burns out. Nor can you really replace the burned out lights. Sometimes you get all lights burning out in one section of the board, blue and red.
The unit isn’t water proof or even water-resistant, though that’s not unusual for LED grow lights.
Pros:
- Energy efficiency
- Bright, full spectrum grow light
Cons:
- Doesn’t have supporting hardware out of the box
- Subject to major failures when they occur
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05. King plus 3000w Led Grow Light – B07DXJW7X5
The King Plus grow light by KingLED is listed as a 3000 watt, full-spectrum grow light. The manufacturer says it is equivalent to a 2000 watt HPS grow light. It draws 600 to 700 watts, and its light output is closer to a 1200 watt HPS light. This model is unusual for having more white LEDs than average, so you have better visibility when it is in just red or blue light mode.
One point in favor of this grow light is that it comes with everything you need. You don’t just get the grow light. It also comes with protective glasses, hanging hardware and power cables. It doesn’t always ship with the user manual. We’ll say this is the best greenhouse led grow light for those who want to have everything they need in one package.
This grow light has quieter fans than average, yet it does a decent job of distributing heat. It also has far lower heat output in general, as long as you don’t run it more than 12 hours in a row. More than that, and it will get physically hot. You also increase the odds light bulbs will burn out.
The manufacturer says the grow lights will last 50,000 lights. Unfortunately, the LEDs won’t last that long. It may last a year or two of heavy use. Like other COB or chip on board models, it is prone to cascading failures. Once one LED goes out, you’ll lose an entire row in short order. And it isn’t really repairable.
Pros:
- Everything you need in one grow light kit
- Quiet fans
- Unlikely to damage plants, if you get the lights right
Cons:
- Lower lumens output than expected
- Can’t run 16 hours a day
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Summary
The best led grow light for greenhouse use will cover your growing area in light that supplements natural light and maximizes plant yield. It should sip power while being easy to use and easier to maintain. Understand your needs so that you can choose the right grow light for your growing plants.