by James
(Oregon, US)
The indoor growers often find themselves scratching their head over making a decision to choose between LED and HPS (High Pressure Sodium) lights. This confusion is rightly justified. Choosing the best option for your grow room is really a tough task.
This is where advertisements add to the complexity of the situation by promoting one product over the other. They try to show a particular product in a good light but ultimately they leave the user more and more perplexed. If the choice of the light becomes a weak link in the matter of indoor growing, then it would ruin all your efforts.
This is where an article of this sort comes to the rescue. Let’s look into the finer details of this topic and unravel the mystery that rests before us.
Importance of Proper Lighting
A proper lighting system is very important for the proper growth of plants. It is necessary to supply the plants with the much-required light and help them carry out the process of photosynthesis. In the absence of proper lighting system, plants won’t be able to make their food and that will lead to their stagnant growth. Well, there could be other factors which may affect the growth of the plants such as the soil, manure used etc. You could refer this guide for getting more info about it.
Choices Available
There are a plethora of options in the market over the type of lights. But the most important amongst these are fluorescent lamps, HPS lights and LED lights. After a bit more research and hours of reading the indoor growing articles, one would be able to narrow down to HPS and LED lights. Further choosing the best among them calls for a little research. A further insight into the pros and cons of each of these two lights is required to choose the best among them.
Market Scenario
When the LED lights first stepped foot into the market, they had to face the stiff competition against the HPS lights.
The HPS light was already famous among the conventional growers. Although, soon LED lights took over the indoor growing market because of its features and long life.
Pros of HPS Light
HPS light is economically feasible and affordable and they don’t seem to burn a hole in the pockets of the consumer. The intensity of HPS light is very strong. They are good to be used in a cold weather when the outside environment is dry and the temperature is low. The setup as well is very easy and could be implemented with very little resources and budget.
Cons of HPS Light
HPS lights are bulky. As the HPS lights produce more heat and light, they consume more power i.e. their power consumption is commensurate with the quantity of heat and light that emanates from these lights. This adds to the electricity bill.
Also, HPS lights produce a huge quantity of heat. The excess heat is actually very harmful to the plants and it tends to burn them if not moderated. Thus, you would also need to install external exhaust fans in your grow room to dissipate the extra heat so as to maintain a proper temperature that suits indoor growing.
Pros of LED Light
LED lights are highly budget friendly. They make use of sophisticated technology to provide the plants with optimal heat and light to help in their proper growth.
They don’t require an additional ventilation system as required in the case of HPS lights. This makes the LED light a little more compact than their counterpart. Also, as they produce optimal heat and light they end up consuming less power than the HPS lights.
They save a lot on the electricity bill in the long run.
Also, good LED lights carry a separate switch to switch states between the bloom and the vegetative stages. This functionality can’t be easily found in the HPS lights. More than that, a standard branded LED would offer you a warranty of at least 2 years. This means that you shall save a major chunk of your money on the maintenance. You can read this guide to get more insights on choosing the best LED grow lights for your growing needs.
Cons of LED light
Going for higher watt LED grow lights, they may be slightly costlier when compared to the HPS lights.
Conclusion:
Through this detailed analysis of the pros and cons of each of the two light, one might safely conclude that LED lights outperform HPS lights on numerous fronts.
Both LED and HPS lights offer a wide variety of features to the customers. When we make a comparison on the grounds of the level of sophistication in the technology used, the kind of service provided, the total lifespan of the light, and the warranty period provided by the manufacturers of the light, LED does stand out among the rest.
Still, we leave the final decision to you. Please share your views in the comments section below. We would be happy to clarify all your doubts.
This article was submitted by James. More on his website; Best LED Grow Lights Reviews For You.
