Which grow lights for plants produce less heat?

When they are growing plants indoors, horticulturists face some unique challenges. Whereas growing plants outside exposes them to lots of air movement and cool nighttime temperatures, growing them indoors limits the amount of carbon dioxide present and maintains more or less a steady temperature. Why do we say that this is a challenge? Well, the ideal growing temperature for most plants ranges from 70-75°F. However, some high wattage grow lamps produce excess heat, and in a short time can raise the room temperature to over 85°F, the threshold when serious damage starts to occur in the plants. In this article, let’s have a look at which grow lights for plants produce less heat, and thus protect your plants.

As we mentioned in the introduction, when a grow lamp is rated for high wattage, a lot of the energy is wasted in the form of heat. So, the key to buying quality grow lights for plants is to look for efficient arrays that have lower energy consumption. LED grow lights fit perfectly into this category. Because they are more energy efficient, they produce less heat. What does that mean for the plant? LED grow lights for plants can be mounted without raising the plant’s temperature. This means that the plant will transpire (lose moisture) more slowly, which means that it won’t need to be watered as often.

Whengrow lights for plants consume a large amount of wattage, they raise the temperature of a growing area. This has to be counteracted. With most grow lamps (like High Pressure Sodium and Metal Halide lamps) the only solution is to purchase some sort of a cooling apparatus for the grow area. One family in Alaska who sells basil locally used to run a large air conditioner in order to keep their greenhouse at proper temperatures when they were using conventional grow lights¹. This added up to a significant expense for the farmers, and cut sharply into their profit margins. When they began using LED grow lights for plants, however, they saw an immediate stabilization of the temperature, and they no longer needed to have the air conditioner running in order to save their crops.

What’s more, using the proper grow lights for plants eliminates the unnecessary expenses of buying complicated cooling equipment and the cost of running it. That’s not all. The noise generated by these cooling mechanisms and the need to give them proper maintenance can really affect whether or not a grower enjoys what he does. LED grow lights for plants come with tiny built-in fans to keep the array itself cool, so that they will not overheat and burn out.

Using LED grow lights for plants is the best way to guarantee a high yield of your crop and to maintain an adequate temperature in your growing area. While all grow lights for plants promise results, only LED grow lights for plants get them. Try some today, and you will see how much easier they make your life and how much better your plants grow.