Are LED lights worth it for Hydroponics?

If you are starting to buy equipment for a hydroponics project, you may be looking at different kinds of grow lighting to help your plants produce healthy harvests. You know that you'll need a specific light spectrum for vegetative and flowering phases, but what about the type of light bulbs that you use?

Light emitting diode or LED lights are new types of lighting technology that have begun to dominate many parts of lighting market, for example, the market for outdoor and indoor decorations. They are also very popular for hydroponics. Here's why.

LED and Energy Use

Compared to traditional bulbs with the same numbers of lumens and brilliance, LED lights tend to last much longer. They draw a lot less electricity, and they also last a lot longer before burning out. That's why even homeowners who are tired of installing new light bulbs every few months may invest in a slightly more expensive LED bulb that they won't have to touch for a long time.

In terms of hydroponic gardening, this means you save money on your crop cycles, and it can also lead to less labor and maintenance over time.

Heat and Fire

Another big reason to go with LED is that the design of these bulbs means they simply don't produce the kind of heat that traditional lighting does.

One issue here is burning plants -- lots of grow lights that are relatively high heat end up burning the plants that are closest to them. You might see symptoms of this in dried or withered leaf tips or yellowing leaves. LED lights are less likely to do this, simply because they don’t throw out heat in major quantities.

The lower heat of LEDs also lowers fire risk. This is another big plus for hydroponic gardeners and everyone else who may leave these lights out when they're not around. Hydroponics requires dedicated light/dark cycles, and many growers do leave hydroponic grow lighting unsupervised. Having a much lower fire risk is one of those less tangible benefits that can end up being pretty valuable in terms of insurance and investment in a property.

Think about all of your options to get the best hydroponics equipment for your garden in grow lighting, reservoir and pump materials, sterile plant media and much more.