25 Best LED Grow Lights in 2022 for Indoor Growing – High Times

17. SPIDER FARMER SF-4000 LED Grow Light

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SPIDER FARMER SF-4000 LED Grow Light

$399.99

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• Dimension: 25.51″x 21.12“ x 2.32”
• Energy Efficiency: 2.7 uMols/J
• Spectrum: Full Spectrum
• Coverage Area: Vegetative coverage 6 x 6 ft, Flowering coverage 5 x 5 ft
• Hang Height: 22” during the vegetative phase, 12” during flowering
• LEDs: Samsung LM301B Diodes
• Power Supply: 450W
• Warranty: 3 years

Spider Farmer is a well-known name in the markets and offers the users with a high-performing grow light that operates with a very good energy efficiency. The SF-4000 LED grow light from Spider Farmer covers a large vegetative area of 6×6 ft and a flowering area of 5×5 ft, making it a really impressive choice for mid-scale indoor growers who plan on growing marijuana. 

This is a full-spectrum LED grow light that offers white, blue, red, and IR lighting, making it suitable for use during the vegetative phase as well as the flowering phase of the plant’s growth cycle. The light is also quite an energy-efficient as it operates at 2.7 umol/J. Talking of energy efficiency, the amount of power that this grow light consumes is only 450W, giving you a straight-up advantage of 50% less consumption than an old-school HPS grow light would consume. 

Samsung’s LM301B LED lights are used here to ensure that the grow light gets a very long life span. There’s another feature that is supported by this grow light from Spider Farmer is that of daisy-chaining, which allows you to connect one grow light to another and a third to the second one, creating a chain of interconnected grow lights operating out of a single power socket. 

This, too, like the Vivosun and Viparspectra grow lights that we have seen above, functions on a fanless design. However, one need not worry about heat-related problems because there aren’t any! It uses an aluminum board which is quite sturdy as well as ensures that all the heat gets dissipated off the surface and doesn’t accumulate. Safety has been kept in mind as all the cables used here are very well-covered, and the light also provides you with a fair amount of waterproofing, reducing the risk of water-related damage. 

All said and done, this product from Spider Farmer is one that growers must seriously consider if they intend to grow high-quality marijuana plants indoors. This is ideal for a 5×5 or a 6×6 grow tent-based setup. 

18. Carambola 3000W Led Grow Light – Sunlike Full Spectrum LED Grow Light

Carambola 3000W Led Grow Light

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• Dimension: 13.78 x 8.27 x 2.36 inches
• Wattage: 3400W
• Energy Efficiency: 1.80μmol/J
• Spectrum: Full-spectrum
• Coverage Area: 3×3 (flowering), 4×4 (vegetative)
• Hang Height: 16” (flowering), 20” (vegetative)
• LEDs: 576 SMD LEDs
• Power Supply: Approximately 320W
• Warranty: 2 years

Carambola is another of the lesser-known brands in the markets which punch way above their weight. The grow light costs just under $150 and is well suited for anyone who doesn’t want to spend too much but wants to get a good enough grow light. There are actually two variants here, this is the ‘sunlike’  full spectrum compared to the other one which is a traditional full-spectrum lighting. This one is better for your plants as it can emulate and recreate the natural light of the sun in a much better manner.

This is best suited to the needs of beginners who are growing their weed in grow tents ranging between 3×3 and 4×4 ft. You get a full-spectrum lighting experience here, which is great for your plants. There’s a flower-booster switch on the back which allows you to switch between the VEG and the BLOOM mode. In the regular mode, the kind of light that your plants get is very similar to a CMH grow light, while in the flowering phase, the kind of lighting that your plants get is similar to an HPS grow light, better suited for the flowering. 

The grow light makes use of 576 SMD LEDs and there’s no lens cover on these LEDs to ensure that no light is lost. When hung from 20” during the vegetative phase of your plant’s growth cycle, you can cover an area of about 4×4 ft, while flowering requires you to lower it to 16” where you can get a 3×3 coverage. 

Design-wise, you find nothing remotely impressive here as it is the classic box-like design, with even the switch placed on the back. There are fans located inside the boxed body, with vents on top and on the sides which allow the hot air to escape. Carambola does claim that these fans are ‘super quiet’, but we would recommend you to not get your hopes up as this is just a marketing gimmick. The fans are as loud or as quiet as any other grow light. 

Setting up this light is also quite an easy task, as it comes with all the required tools and equipment with it. While the lifespan of this grow light is not specified, we assume that it would at least last you about 50,000 hours. There’s also a two-year warranty period that you get with this grow light.

19. BLOOM PLUS LED Grow Light BP 4000W

BLOOM PLUS LED Grow Light BP 4000W

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• Dimension: 23.62×20.2×2.42 inches
• Wattage: 4000W
• Energy Efficiency: 2.7 umol/J
• Spectrum: Full-spectrum
• Coverage Area: Veg Coverage: 6 x 6 ft, Flower: 5 x 5 ft.
• Hang Height: 18 to 24 inches – vegetative, 12 to 18 inches – flowering
• LEDs: 1292packs Samsung Diodes
• Power Supply: 400W
• Warranty: 3 years

Bloom Plus is a manufacturer of some of the best LED grow lights that you can find when it comes to growing cannabis plants indoors. The BP4000W is no different. This grow light comes out into the markets using some really high-tech components and is truly the light that you should choose in 2022. There are a number of advantages associated with buying the light and let us take a detailed look at some of them:

One of the biggest benefits that you get when you buy the BP 4000W grow light is that it operates at rather low temperatures and there’s no risk of overheating, and there’s no risk of your plants getting damaged as well. This is a fanless grow light, as all the heat dissipation is handled by the heat sinks on the back. This is great for indoor growers because lights with fans tend to make a rather loud and buzzing noise. These operate in complete silence.

The light makes use of 1292 pieces of LED grow lights – which gives quite a bright lighting to your plants. These LEDs are made by Samsung, which gives them instant credibility as well as guarantees you of a great performance. When you use this grow light, you get a full-spectrum lighting experience, which is pretty similar to what you would otherwise expect under the natural light of the sun. It ensures that your plants are growing and flowering on time. 

The Bloom Plus BP4000W also offers you with a pretty large coverage area – giving you a maximum coverage of about 6×6 ft during the vegetative phase of growth, and about 5×5 ft during the flowering phase. This makes it an ideal grow light for grow tents up to 5×5 in size. In addition to all these things, there are IR lights included in this as well, which help give your flowers an extra boost during the flowering phase. 

The amount of power that is consumed here is only 400W while the output that you get here is equivalent of an 800W HID light. You can get a yield as high as 2.5 grams per watt, which is pretty impressive by itself. There’s a dimmable driver on the back which allows you to adjust the brightness based on the needs of the plants. You get a three-year warranty period and a 30-day money-back guarantee when you use this grow light.

20. MARS HYDRO TS 3000W LED Grow Light for Indoor Plants

MARS HYDRO TS 3000W LED Grow Light for Indoor Plants

$299.99

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• Dimension: ‎25.28 x 22.8 x 2.72 inches
• Wattage: 3000W
• Energy Efficiency: Unspecified
• Spectrum: Full-spectrum
• Coverage Area: 4×4 during flowering, 5×5 during vegetative
• Hang Height: Veg at 18”, Flowering at 14”
• LEDs: 1016 high-quality LEDs
• Power Supply: 300W
• Warranty: 3 years

Over the years, Mars Hydro has made some of the best LED grow lights – and their grow lights are popular for offering a high-quality performance without being a burden to your pocket. This grow light is a little on the expensive side when you compare it to other offerings from the company, but it gives you a very good output – perhaps the best product that they have in the markets.

This is just the perfect grow light for someone looking forward to growing marijauna plants indoors in a 4×4 grow tent. The flowering coverage that you get here is 4×4 ft, while the vegetative coverage is a little larger as the light is hung at 18” during the phase – 5×5 ft. The lighting that you get from this grow light is a full-spectrum lighting, as close to the natural light of the sun as one can get. The light used here is suitable for your plants both, in the vegetative phase of growth, as well as the flowering phase. In order to make sure that the reach is large and that no light is lost, there are aluminum reflectors used alongside the main panel.

In the case of grow lights that do not use a full-spectrum lighting setup, the lights need to be changed from time to time (blue lights during the vegetative phase and red lights during the flowering phase). Here, however, you do not need to change the lighting. The lights here have been engineered in a way that they suit the needs of indoor growers. 1016 LEDs are used here to provide you with a bright and powerful lighting experience. 

The TS3000W LED grow light from Mars Hydro functions on a fanless model and relies largely on heat sinks to dissipate the excess heat. However, while removing the fan eliminates all the noise associated with it, the light does get a little hot to touch – and while it does not burn your plants, there’s a chance that if this goes unchecked for too long, the light itself might suffer some damages. 

Lastly, another great thing about the Mars Hydro TS3000W grow light is that it comes with a dimmer on the back, which makes it easy for the growers to adjust the lighting. This is something that used to be a luxury back in the day – but in 2022, this has become an essential for almost all grow lights. You also get a 3 year warranty period on this grow light, and the customer support from Mars Hydro is actually pretty good!

21. FECiDA 2000W Dimmable LED Grow Light

FECiDA 2000W Dimmable LED Grow Light

$129.00

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• Dimension: ‎12.4 x 16.4 x 1.8 inches
• Wattage: 2000W
• Energy Efficiency: 2.2 μmol/J 
• Spectrum: Full-spectrum grow light
• Coverage Area: 4×4 during the vegetative phase, 3×3 during flowering
• Hang Height: Undefined
• LEDs: 1188 pieces of high-quality LEDs
• Power Supply: 250W
• Warranty: 2 years

In a market that is dominated by established names, Fecida (stylized FECiDA) is a rather unknown entrant. However, this is totally a name to watch out for in 2022 as we believe this is going to be quite a disruptor of a brand. The company has already impressed us with this 2000W LED grow light, and as they introduce more such products into the markets, growers are going to become more accepting of the brand.

One of the first things that strike us about the FECiDA GL-CR1200 grow light is that it comes with 1188 pieces of LED lights packed rather close to each other. This gives it a very unique look but gives you a very bright lighting experience. Using this grow light is totally going to give your plants a major boost in the growth as the concentrated light is going to be pretty bright. 

Another impressive thing here is that the grow light comes with a dimmable knob, which allows you to adjust the intensity of the lighting ranging all the way from 0 to 100. In addition to that, the manufacturers have made sure that you get a waterproof body as well. This is quite important because water damage is pretty common on many grow lights. The light also supports daisy-chaining, which allows you to plug one grow light onto another instead of plugging each of them individually to a power source. 

The FECiDA GL-CR1200 grow light, unlike many other grow lights that we see in 2022, comes with two fans on the back. Straight up, this is something that polarizes the growers. However, it is good to see a new-age brand acknowledging the fact that sometimes you do need to make use of fans to ensure the device remains cool, despite fanless lights being the new trend. The cooling mechanism used here is quite powerful and helps the lights operate at low temperatures. The grow light is also quite easy to set up and install – even if you have never really done this on your own in the past. 

Lastly, the grow light doesn’t really cost too much and is generally one that is preferred by people who don’t want to invest too heavily into their setup but want to make use of a good quality grow light. You get a two-year warranty on this grow light. We have high hopes from FECiDA going into 2022, it will be interesting to see the kind of products the brand introduces over the year.

22. VIPARSPECTRA XS4000 LED Grow Light

VIPARSPECTRA XS4000 LED Grow Light

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• Dimension: 40 x 12 x 3 inches
• Wattage: 4000W
• Energy Efficiency: Unspecified
• Spectrum: Full-spectrum lighting
• Coverage Area: 5×4 vegetative coverage, 5×3 flowering 
• Hang Height: 28” during veg. phase and 24” during the bloom phase
• LEDs: 1152 pieces of Samsung LM301B diodes
• Power Supply: 480W
• Warranty: 3 years

Viparspectra ranks in the top echelons of the world of grow lights. This is a company which has been around for a long time, and holds a commanding position in the grow light markets. The XS4000 is one of their latest grow lights, and one that gives you a very bright as well as effective lighting solution, making use of some of the most high-quality components in the markets.

To begin with, the grow light makes use of a full-spectrum lighting setup, featuring 3000K warm white, 5000K white, 660nm deep red, and 730nm IR light. The presence of IR light ensures that your flowers get an extra push during the blooming phase. This also makes sure that your yield per square foot remains high. Having full-spectrum lighting is always an advantage as that ensures your plants are getting a near-natural light. 

When hung from a height of about 28 inches, the XS4000 covers an area of about 5×4 ft, which is great for plants during the vegetative phase of growth. During the flowering phase, when you lower the grow light to about 24 inches, it covers an area of about 5×3 ft. All in all, this is a great grow light for a grow tent anywhere between 4×4 to 5×5 ft. Viparspectra XS4000 uses 1152 pieces of Samsung LM301B diodes, along with a MeanWell driver, which ensures a strong lighting performance, and is great on the dimmability front too. Since we are talking of that, the grow light is actually quite dimmable and allows you to adjust its brightness using a knob, ranging from 5% to 100%. 

Another thing that you need to know about the XS4000 from Viparspectra is that this is a finaless grow light! This gives quite a bit of relief to those growers who have lost countless hours of sleep due to the constant drone of the fans that tends to get quite loud at night. The grow light uses heat dissipation mechanisms such as heat vents to ensure low operating temperatures.

This grow light can easily replace a 1200W HID light, while consuming only 480W. It also provides up to 50% higher yield than these old-school lights and also consumes way less electricity. Lastly, one more advantage that you get here is that there is a 3-year warranty period, and the customer support that you get from Viparspectra is rather excellent!

Other Types of Grow Lights for Indoor Garden that you can consider

So, till now, we have only talked about SMD (Surface Mounted Diodes) Grow Lights for your indoor grow. But apart from SMD lights, there is also one popular alternative available in the market, i.e., COB (Chip on Board) LED light.

As the name suggests, COB Grow Light is the type of LED light where the multiple LED chips are mounted onto a substrate in close proximity to form a single module. As the numerous chips are packed together in a compact size to build a single module, COB lights are incredibly dense and powerful light sources for plants.

COB Grow Light vs. SMD LED Lights- Which one is better?

Many times, people get confused to pick between the COB grow light and SMD light. While the COB light is the type of LED packaging where multiple LEDs are packed in a dense way to form a single module, SMD lights are mounted individually to a surface and thus function as a single point of Light. 

COB light has both advantages and disadvantages over SMD lights due to its dense and compact design, which you must consider before making your decision.

 Advantages of COB light over SMD lights

1. Improved Light Density: Since COB light allows you to incorporate multiple LEDs together on a single substrate, the light density a COB light provides is much denser and uniform than SMD light, consisting of fewer LEDs.
2. Deep Canopy Penetration: Due to its compact design, COB light provides more focussed light and deep canopy penetration than SMD lights that generally disperse the light over a large coverage area.
3. More Energy Efficient: COB lights produce less heat because it contains minimal components to disperse light. As a result, it gives you more power per input with low heat dissipation than SMD lights.
4. Better Light Spread: When COB lights are evenly mounted on a large fixture, it provides more even and spread light coverage than SMD lights that are generally fixed on the small fixture to spread out from the center.

Despite having several advantages over SMD grow lights, COB lights still have some disadvantages that you should consider and pick the right LED grow light for your indoor space.

Disadvantages of COB Light over SMD lights:

1) Limited Colour Spectrum: Colour spectrum is a crucial aspect to consider while buying the grow lights for your indoor grow as it is responsible for the plant’s growth by contributing to the photosynthesis process. While most SMD lights have a full spectrum including White, RED, Blue, UV, and IR light wavelengths, COB light generally can have only limited color LEDs (white or red, or blue). If you pick a light made up of mostly red or blue color, it won’t work for you. Primarily the white ones COB lights work efficiently for indoor grow plants.

2) Performance will be impacted if one or more LEDs fail: Since COB light has multiple LEDs packed together in a single compact design, the failure of one or more LEDs will result in the loss of a large portion of light. While on the other hand, if one diode gets failed in SMD light, the performance will not be affected much.

You can consider COB lights for Cannabis cultivation due to their deep canopy penetration, more efficient performance, and more extended durability than SMD lights. Here are some of the best COB light suggestions available in the market you can consider for your indoor space.

Best COB LED Lights for your Indoor Garden

Preview	Product	Price
	CREE CXB3590 COB LED Grow Light Full Spectrum, CFGROW 100W Sunlike 3500K White LED Plant Growing...		Buy on Amazon
	Phlizon COB Series 2000W LED Plant Grow Light,with Thermometer Humidity Monitor,with Adjustable...		Buy on Amazon

1. CREE CXB3590 COB LED– Industry’s Best Full Spectrum Grow Light

CREE CXB3590 COB LED

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Specifications:

• Dimension: 200 x 200 x 90mm
• Wattage: 100 Watt
• Energy-Efficiency: 2876umol @ 8inch, 1378umol @12inch and 497umol @18inch
• Spectrum: Full spectrum with wavelength 380nm~780nm
• Coverage Area: 4 x 4 ft (veg) / 3 x 3 ft (flower)
• Hang Height: 0.3-0.6m (for flowering), 0.6-0.9m (vegetation)
• LEDs:  1Pc of 100W Sunlike 3500K white COB LED
• Power Supply: 120Vac/240VAC
• Warranty: 3 year

CREE CXB3590 is the most reliable COB light to opt for indoor hydroponic greenhouse plants due to its high efficiency and performance. The light consumes only about 100W to produce excellent PAR output, about 2876umol @ 8inch, 1378umol @12inch and 497umol @18inch, which makes this light highly suitable for all growth stages from seedlings to vegetation. This COB light can easily outperform the HPS 400 watts & fake 1200W Blurple grow lamp with its high efficiency.

We really liked its Full-Spectrum Build-Quality & coverage. This COB light has sunlight 3500K white COB to produce a full-spectrum covering 380nm~780nm, much like natural sunlight, and helps plants grow better in various stages.

Another great thing about this cob light is its dimmable Meanwell driver, which lets you adjust the light intensity as per your plant growth stage. Also, the light uses a high-quality 90-degree reflective lens to prevent light wastage and provide a 40% higher yield with the same power.

The best thing about CREE COB light is it produces excellent efficiency and cover great coverage area like 4 x 4 ft (vegetation), 5 x 5 ft (seedlings) and 3 x 3 ft (flowering), just by consuming only 100 watts and thus produce very minimal heat.

To avoid heat dissipation, the light is also equipped with a large heat sink without any cooling fan, making it noise-free and workable under low temperatures like 60C°. With so many features, this COB light is a great option for your indoor grow with 2 years of warranty.

2. Phlizon CREE Cob Series 2000W LED– Extremely Bright & High-Performance Grow Light

Phlizon CREE Cob Series 2000W LED

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Specifications:

• Dimension: 12.2 x 3.15 x 21.6″
• Wattage: 400 Watt
• Energy-Efficiency: 2161.4 umol/m²s
• Spectrum: Full spectrum containing 4pcs COB, 68pcs 630-660nm, 10pcs 470nm, 6pcs 6500k, 4pcs 3000K, 4pcs UV, 4pcs IR
• Coverage Area: 4 x 4 ft (veg) / 3 x 3 ft (flower)
• Hang Height: 3.9 x 3.9 ft (for flowering & vegetation), 4.1 x 4.1 ft (seedling)
• LEDs: Cree COB LEDs
• Power Supply: 100-265V
• Warranty: 2 year

If you are looking for the best readymade COB light with high density and excellent canopy penetration for your indoor garden, we will recommend you one of the most trusted COB light- the Phlizon CREE cob series. The first reason to choose this light is CREE COB LEDs, known for their high performance and dense light intensity (responsible for deep canopy penetration).

The light has extremely high PPFD, like 941 umol/m²s when hang on 18″ from the plants, using 400 watts of power only. Another thing we liked most about this light is its unique integrated design bead to form the full spectrum. It has lights of all wavelengths to ensure that your plant gets all the light cover in full-spectrum for their various growth stages.

At the hang height of 24″, the light gives you an excellent coverage area, i.e., 4 x4 ft. for both veg and bloom stages. This makes it more energy-efficient than HPS HID and MH. It is currently the best Budget COB grow light you can consider for your indoor space with 2 years of manufacturer warranty.

Other Grow Kit Accessories You Need for Your Indoor Space

1. Hygrometers and Thermometers

To keep proper track of the ambient conditions inside of your grow tent, you will require an excellent quality Hygrometer and Thermometer. The hygrometer measures the humidity level or amount of water vapor in the air to determine the best conditions for your grow light and plant growth. Some of the best hygrometers available in the market are:

• ThermoPro TP53 Hygrometer
• AcuRite 00613 Digital Hygrometer & Thermometer
• Cigar Oasis Analog Hygrometer
• AcuRite 02083M Home Temperature & Humidity Station

2. Sunglasses

If you think that what could be the need for Sunglasses in indoor space? The answer is that harmful UV rays emit from Full-Spectrum Grow lights can severely damage your eyesight. So to protect your eyes from bright and intense light rays, it is better to wear sunglasses during your indoor cultivation.

3. Grow Tent

A grow tent is an excellent option to consider for your indoor space to protect your plants from external humidity and other climate conditions. Especially if you are cultivating Marijuana, you might need some dark atmosphere for your plant growth, and grow tent is ideal for it. Also, it protects your plants from stray light sources.

LED Grow Lights with Fan vs Fanless LED Grow Lights: How to Keep Things Cool

When it comes to LED Grow lights in 2022 – you’ll find pretty much an equal split between lights that come with a fan and lights that operate on a fanless design. In the past, it was considered that lights that don’t have a fan tend to heat up a lot – but over time, this has improved, thanks partly due to the low-heat emitting LED lights, and partly due to better heat sinks placed on these lights. The big question among growers, however, still remains whether they should get lights that carry a fan. 

Let us consider the example of grow lights that come with a fan. The first and most obvious benefit of this is that these lights help push out all the heat and keep the operating temperatures really low. However, this is where the benefits end. These grow lights, over the years, have proven to be rather annoying due to the sound that they generate. This could still be quite tolerable in a very small-scale setup where you have one or two such lights. However, if you are growing in a larger scale where dozens of these lights are used, the sound is quite loud, and won’t let you sleep in most cases!

Other than the sound, the other major problem that these fans create in a grow light is that they increase the bulk of the light. Older LED grow lights are rather bulky and heavy in terms of the weight as well because of these fans. Most grow lights carry multiple fans inside them, which adds on to the weight. Once you remove the fans, not only do you reduce the weight, but you also get the scope to reduce the height of the light, making them look slimmer and more appealing. 

When buying a grow light in 2022, you need to take care of the fact that you are buying grow lights that come with LEDs that emit as little heat as possible. Most of the grow lights that use Samsung’s latest LM series of LED lights emit very little heat – and even that is easily dissipated using the heat vents on the back. These heat vents ensure that there is no heat that remains trapped in the body of the grow light, which might damage the circuits and cause the light to malfunction. 

In some cases, however, it is not possible to avoid using grow lights that come with built-in fans. This is in places where summers are extremely hot and the weather tends to be rather unforgiving. Here, even your best fanless grow lights will get a little hot, not because of a high operating temperature but because of the external weather conditions. In some rare cases, you might even have to take help of external cooling devices like a clip-on fan or an air conditioner. 

Clip-on fans are actually a good way to keep things cool as they can create an artificial breeze inside your grow tent. Not only does it help dissipate hot air, it also helps create a gentle breeze that causes the stems to sway a little and helps them get stronger and firmer. These fans are also beneficial for another major reason – they help you get the pests off your plants. There are some small insects, bugs, and pests which tend to stick to the leaves and stems and hide in places where they can avoid any repellents. Having a gentle breeze inside the grow tent can help you give them an extra push to get them off your plants.\

Air conditioners are another good option for some growers, especially if they are growing in a very large-scale setup. Then the additional cost of electricity will be divided among all plants and the overall overheads will actually reduce. Some growers prefer making use of mini air conditioners or mini air coolers to help them with this when growing in a small-scale setup. 

When you are providing an extra dose of airflow, always make sure that you have enough air vents in your grow tent. If you are using a grow room, you might want to keep your window slightly open so that the air is able to flow in and out naturally and isn’t trapped inside the room. This makes sure that your plants are getting fresh air. However, that allows for the smell to escape, so you might want to add on a carbon filter as well.

Summing up, fanless grow lights are a great option for most growers who are growing their marijuana plants in conditions which aren’t too extreme. However, in places where temperatures tend to cross 40C or 104F, we recommend making use of grow lights that come with fans. If possible, provide additional cooling devices such as clip-on fans, mini air conditioners, or air coolers for a better and enhanced cooling effect.

How to Maintain Your Grow Light for Long-Term Usage

When you are growing marijuana plants, grow lights are one of the most critical elements of your entire indoor setup. They play an important role because the light that comes from them acts as a replacement to the natural light of the sun. However, this light, unlike the natural sunlight, can be controlled and manipulated based on your needs. This is why it is essential for you to make sure that your grow light remains in top condition and lasts you for a long time. Having a good performing grow light gives you a direct benefit when growing weed.

Here are some tips that you can follow to ensure that your grow light remains well-maintained for a long-term period. 

• Avoid Excessive Daisy Chaining

One of the biggest mistakes that people often tend to make while using grow lights is that they go overboard with daisy chaining, especially when using them in a larger setup. Generally speaking, it is not advised to daisy chain more than 3 grow lights together. For the fourth one, we recommend using a separate, dedicated, plug point instead of having it connected to the other three lights. Sometimes, daisy-chaining can cause an overload on the power source and can even lead to short circuits or fire-related damage, which are dangerous situations!

• Ensure Proper Temperatures

Another thing that needs to be kept in mind is the temperature of the area that you are growing in. If you are growing in a hot place, we recommend you to make use of grow lights that emit very little heat (check out some 2022-build fanless LED grow lights for that). Besides the lights heating up, make sure you are using sufficient cooling mechanisms to keep the grow area cool because heat can often damage the lights and cause the circuits to melt – a damage that can take a long time to fix. If not treated in time, this can even result in damaging your plants as heat is bad for your plants as well. We recommend using air conditioning to ensure lower temperatures. 

• Keep Them Protected From Water

Just like you would with any other electronic item, make sure that your grow lights remain protected from water too. Water and electric devices don’t go together and water can be extremely damaging to them. Given that plants need a lot of water to grow, and nutrients are also provided to marijuana plants along with the water, you will need to be extra careful that you don’t accidentally spill over any water on them. You can find a number of waterproof grow lights in the markets, which are considerably safer to use vs regular grow lights that don’t have any such security measure.

• Keep Them Away From Dust

Dust is often the biggest enemy of most electronic items. The problem that dust causes is that it does not allow the heat to escape and can often damage (the often delicate) internal mechanics of the grow light. Dust traps heat inside the light and heat leads to a damage in the circuits. To ensure that your grow lights are remaining safe from dust, try cleaning them up with a brush from time to time, or just make sure you are using them in a dust-free environment. This is usually something that isn’t that big of a problem when you use grow tents, but if you are using lights outdoors, or in a grow room with open ventilation, you might have to watch out for dust. Make sure you’re cleaning your lights from time to time to avoid any dust-related damage.

• Don’t Move Them Around Too Much

Grow lights, especially the modern-day panel-based variants, aren’t the most durable ones. You have to move them around very carefully to ensure that they do not bump into something or accidentally fall down. This is a general practice that applies to pretty much any piece of electronic item that you are working with, try not to bang it around too hard and it will work just fine.

• Set UpSurge Protection

A fluctuating electric current can also damage grow lights, just like it does to most other electronic items. A surge in the voltage can lead to circuits being fried out which will lead to the grow light malfunctioning. Sometimes these surges can even cause fire-related accidents which you might want to keep an eye out for. Make sure you are taking sufficient measures to enforce a good quality surge protection while using grow lights.

• Make Sure You Hang Them Correctly

Grow lights, when used inside a grow tent, are hung from the top. Depending on the different phases of growth, you might need to raise them or lower them too. This is something that has to be done in a very precise and careful manner. If you don’t hang your lights correctly, the first impact will be on the plants that you are growing as some portions will have light come to them from a closer distance while others will have it come from farther away. The bigger threat is that a poorly balanced light can topple over and fall any day – and can get damaged due to the impact of the fall. Hence, make sure you’re hanging your grow lights in the right way.

• Service Them Every Few Seasons

Try and get your grow lights serviced every few seasons. We’d recommend using the light for two growth cycles, and then sending it over to the technicians/company experts who can clean it up, tighten up things, and ensure that it is working as intended.

• Dim Only When Need Be

Dimming the light too much, especially if you are using older models, can cause the ballasts to go bust. Hence, make sure you are dimming the lights based only on your need and you aren’t doing it very frequently. Dimming is great to provide the plants a natural lighting environment, but make sure you are doing it gradually and not in a way that is too frequent as it might have an adverse effect on the ballast, which is generally considered a very delicate part of the grow light.

Do note that these are only some tips and recommendations that we find are the best way to ensure that your grow light lasts long. This is not a definitive list and there are some external factors that can still cause things to go wrong. However, these are among some of the best practices that make sure your light continues to perform well. Do let us know if you’ve got any tips or practices that ensure that your grow lights last long and we will make sure to have them included in this list. 

Best LED Grow Lights Buying Guide- Things to take care of while buying the right light.

Before buying the suitable LED grow light for your indoor garden, you must consider the following factors to get the ideal one:

1. Spectrum Type: 

As we have mentioned above, different wavelengths of lights are responsible for the various growth stages of the plant. Depending upon the type of harvest you want to cultivate in your indoor garden, you should opt for specific grow light with a suitable wavelength.  

Suppose you have multiple plants at different growth stages. In that case, it is advisable to go for an adjustable LED grow light that can tune to different wavelengths depending upon the plant requirement. So, always check the light spectrum and its wavelength range before buying the one for your plants.

2. Heat Output: 

It is a crucial factor to consider while buying the top LED grow light for your indoor garden. Grow lights are generally mounted close to the plants, and thus, these LEDs mustn’t produce overheat as they can damage the plant’s growth. 

LED with heat sinks or cooling fans are suitable for vertical gardens or indoor plants as they have no adverse effects on plants and can be placed even closer to them. An ideal Grow light must produce low heat to be the last longer, and you don’t have to replace it soon.

3. Grow Space Size vs. Light Coverage Area:

Depending upon the grow space size, you decide how many lights of how many watts will be sufficient enough for various plants’ growth. First, you should determine the size of the garden and then consider the area each light needs to illuminate.

Different plants require different voltage for their proper growth. For example, if you want to grow tomatoes, 32 watts of LED light per square foot will be suitable for it. But if you’re going to produce light harvests like Lettuce or anything, 11-18 watt per square foot is sufficient for that.

4. Efficiency:

The efficiency of the Grow Lights is one of the critical aspects you must check. An ideal grow light must be operated at a high level to produce high energy with a low maintenance cost.

So, before jumping to the suggestions of the best LED grow lights, you must consider all these aspects, make your calculation and then choose which one is ideal for you according to your requirements.

5. Real Wattage vs. Theoretical Wattage

Most of the LED lights have two wattages: Real Wattage and Theoretical Wattage displayed on their packaging. Theoretical Wattage is the potential wattage on which an LED light could run when LED chips run at full power. For example, A 1000W LED light can have theoretical wattage of around 600Watt. But LED lights never run on full power as it will shorten their life.

So, LED lights always run at 50-60% of their theoretical wattage, known as their real wattage. It is the amount of light LEDs actually consume to perform. So, a 1000W LED light generally has real wattage of around 300-400 Watt, and you must consider both these wattages before buying a grow light.

6. Cooling System

Large LED lights emit more heat while providing intense light to your plants for their growth, and thus they must be equipped with a proper heat sinking system and cooling fans for heat dissipation. 

In the absence of both these things, the life span of LED light will shorten, and performance will decline. Also, the overheating won’t be good for your plants as well. So always give attention to the cooling system of LED grow light before buying one.

FAQs

1. How long should LED grow lights be on?

The duration of keeping Grow lights on vary according to your crop type and its growth stage. But as a general thumb of rule, you should not keep LED lights ON for more than 12-16 hours if your plants are at the flowering stage. The reason behind it is that darkness is also essential for the plant’s growth, and thus, every plant must get the darkness for about eight hours for its proper growth.

2. How much light do plants need?

Different types of plants require different levels of light to grow. For example, shady plants require a low level of light, while veggy and other flowering plants require a high level of light to grow. For high light level plants, 800-1000 uMols is a considerable range for the flowering and vegetation stage. For low-light-level plants, 400-500 uMols will work fine.

3. How safe is Grow LED lights to use for indoor grow?

Grow LED Lights are safe for plants if you are buying certified ones. Always check for the certifications and warranty while buying the Grow light for your indoor space to avoid any damage to your crops or tent space. An ideal grow LED light must be CSA, or UL certified. Also, take care of a few things while using the grow light to avoid any damage:

• There must not be any humidity or moisture around your LED light to prevent damage.
• Never overload the circuit as it will shorten your light lifespan and decline its performance.
• Use eye protection like sunglasses while operating LED lights to avoid harmful UV rays.

4. Which are the best LED Grow lights to consider Under $200?

Many great LED grow lights are available online to choose from, depending upon your budget and requirements. Here are some best LED grow lights under $200 you should consider:

• BESTVA 1000W Full Spectrum LED light
• Spider Farmer SF-1000 LED
• King Plus 1000W Dual Chip Light
• Mars Hydro SF-150W Light

We have reviewed some best LED lights for indoor grow in our above article, which you can consider according to your grow space and other requirements.

5. How much power does a grow light consume?

There is no definite answer to that as it depends on the grow light you are using. If you have a powerful grow light, then it consumes a lot of electricity. The total power consumed by your grow light can be calculated based on the wattage of the light and the number of hours it is on.

6. What is the ideal spot to install grow lights?

You should place your grow lights directly over your plants to mimic natural sunlight. The general rule states that incandescent light bulbs should be about 24 inches over your plants. On the other hand, LED and fluorescent lights have can be placed 6 and 12 inches over plants respectively. That’s because they have a lower heat signature.

7. Can I use LED grow lights outdoors?

While LED grow lights are more effective indoors, you can actually make use of them outdoors too in some cases. This is particularly done when you want to extend the daylight hours. Outdoor LED grow lights can also be used when you want them for a specific purpose such as boosting flower growth during the flowering phase. Some people (especially those who grow large-scale) prefer to use LED grow lights to provide lighting to the lower portions of the plants which might not have as good an access to natural sunlight because of the dense foliage on top.

8. Where to buy the best LED grow lights from?

The best place to buy LED grow lights is a web store such as Amazon. However, you can also buy these grow lights directly from the manufacturer’s web store. Many companies such as Bestva provide you direct access to shop online. In addition to that, you can always walk into your local gardening stores and purchase these lights. However, Amazon remains the best platform for buying LED grow lights because you get fast deliveries, easy returns, and often big discounts as well! 

9. How many grow lights can you daisy chain to each other?

While you can theoretically loop in an infinite amount of lights to each other, in practice you should never go beyond connecting more than three to each other. This is generally done to avoid electric mishaps and short circuits. Most manufacturers will let you know on the packaging as to how many devices you can chain to it, but in case it doesn’t, don’t go beyond 3. 

10. Are fanless LED grow lights safe to use?

A large number of lights coming out in 2022 and beyond are fanless these days. Gone are the days of the bulky fan-filled grow lights. These new-age grow lights make use of large heat sinks which ensure that all the heat gets dissipated via these openings. However, a large number of growers actually prefer using fanless LED grow lights because they operate at cooler temperatures and they do not create that loud drone and a buzz which is generally associated with the noise of the fan.

11. What kind of light is good for plants at an early stage?

When your plants are in an early stage of growth (seedlings, plantlings, etc), you need to provide them with lights on the bluer end of the spectrum. These lights need to be switched on for longer hours and need to be placed closer to the plants. Plants at this phase need up to 22 hours of lighting. However, as plants mature and enter the flowering and pre-flowering phase, you’ll need to provide them with lights towards the redder end of the spectrum.

Conclusion

Grow LED lights can be highly beneficial for your indoor grow if you buy the right one after examining the various aspects like coverage area, efficiency, PAR value, heat emission, etc. We hope that our detailed buying guide on LED Grow lights will help you choose the best LED light for commercial spaces and small rooms. 

All the links we have mentioned in this article are genuine and authentic. We have included the top suggestions in this article as per the latest market availability, and we will be updating our list of the top LED grow lights time-to-time for you guys. Stay tuned with us for more gadget suggestions and updates. Happy gardening!