Are you having difficulty selecting the right light for your room for the plants? Numerous lights are available in the market. Don’t worry about the countless growing lights in front of you; we are here to help you choose the right light for your tent by reducing the number of possibilities for selecting lights.
HID and LED lights are the two leading lights that most growers use when they have to choose the appropriate lights for the plants.
This blog will examine how these lights are built differently and highlight their unique benefits, helping you easily decide which light is best for your room. We will also provide a list of top HID and LED grow lights to simplify your decision-making process further.
What are LED Lights?
LED stands for light-emitting diode. Many chips make LEDs as a whole, known as diodes. Two different types of light use LEDs. The first is light with distinct hues within a precise, narrow color spectrum, including white. The second is light that contains white and different temperature colors, e.g., cool and warm white.
The light bulbs used in most places are an example of a second type of LED light. Humans can see different colors when combining its chips. In the modern world, the white chips of LEDs are combined with other colors (so far, red or blue is used for combination), and people use that light.
LED intensity is lower than HID, and a high-intensity discharge light for growing plants is equivalent to a few LED intensities. You can also place the LED lights close to the plants for a certain intensity. LED lights are still famous for their efficiency and use less energy than HID lights.
What are HID Grow Lights?
HID is a light with a higher intensity than other lights used for growing plants. It provides more brightness; people use it most when plants grow in certain situations. HID can be used for personal and commercial purposes.
The HID grow bulb is a typical example of HID light. The bulb uses two electrodes and a gas to give intense light. The electricity passes from one conductor to another through a gas vapor to produce such light. There are two kinds of HID grow bulbs used for plants:
1. Metal Halide Bulbs
This bulb discharges a combination of blue-tinged and white light, similar to natural light, such as sunlight. During the growing stage, this bulb is mainly used to promote growth.
2. High-Pressure Sodium Bulbs
This bulb discharges light with a mixture of red and orange tinge. It is perfect for the flowering stage and is mainly used to develop excellent and healthy buds.
These two bulbs contain high-intensity discharge lights for growing plants. They both have the same purpose but are used at different stages of plants. The MH bulb is beneficial in the vegetative stage, while the HPS bulb is beneficial in the flowering stage.
Check out our Nutrient Shot for the plant growth process
HID Bulbs vs LED Bulbs: Pros and Cons
Determining the best way to grow light objectively takes work and effort. Determining the best light depends upon your subjectivity. Each person has different preferences, which leads to their subjectivity.
We can choose the best light subjectively according to their pros and cons. HID bulbs vs LED bulbs based on their pros and cons are mentioned below:
Pros of LED Grow Lights
The following are the benefits of LED lights:
Discharge Less Amount of Heat
Cultivators who utilize HID lights explore the increase in power bills because of the fans added to maintain temperature. Due to excessive heating by HID, farmers face a loss of crops. Experts suggest using LED grow lights when growing plants for the first time.
Good for Small Spaces
LED growing lights prevent the plants from consuming excessive heat. LED lights allow you to easily check and test different plants without harming them. Developing healthy plant growth in a small space using HID lights is hard. For this situation, LEDs are perfect as they do not have high intensity to ruin the plants.
Less Electricity Bills Consumption
Studies found that high-intensity discharge light consumes three times the electricity LED consumes. A farmer who ultimately grows the plant within twelve weeks spends less money on power bills when using LEDs.
Cons of LED Grow Lights
The following are the drawbacks of LED lights:
Harmful for Eyes
LEDs are suitable for plants, but they harm the retina’s function. This light decreases a person’s clear eyesight and causes cloudiness in the eye. Wearing goggles is the best solution to avoid these problems, especially in a grow room illuminated by LEDs. The best part is that they are cheap, and some sellers don’t charge you.
Pros of HID Grow Lights
The following are the benefits of HID lights:
Affordability
This light costs around 50 to 70 percent less than the cost of LED light. This cost makes it more affordable to use on plants for personal and commercial purposes.
Useful in Winter
Plants need heat from the sun for healthy growth. Without heat, plants can’t grow and are likely to die in the winter. HID light can solve the problems by providing high heat to keep indoor plants alive this season. HID light emits more heat than the heat emitted by LED light.
Cons of HID Grow Lights
The following are the drawbacks of HID lights:
Unsuitable in Summer Season
In the summer season, HID light providing high, constant illumination to the plants can have adverse effects, such as rotten plants and mold infestation.
Difficulty in Cleaning HID Lights
It’s harder to clean a grow room with HID lights than a grow room with LED lights. You must be careful when cleaning such bulbs, as it takes time. These kinds of grow lights contain a large metal reflector that reflects full light straight at the plants. These additional parts increase the amount of work and boring tasks compared to using LED grow lights.
Should I Use an HID or LED Grow Light in My Grow Room?
If you search for LED or HID lights, there are many ways to select lights for your plants. The best part for the beginner is that these two lights can’t harm your plants. After you have experienced your plants with these two lights, you can tell which is suitable for your plant’s growth and grow tent.
Just remember these two important points:
- LED lights are likely your best choice if you are searching for specific light spectrums and flexibility.
- HID light is recommended if you want a bright light that provides healthy growth to plants without using money.
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Conclusion
As discussed above, the debate of HID lights vs LED lights for growing indoor plants has pros and cons. Choosing the best and most suitable light depends on subjectivity because everyone has different preferences and needs.
There is no objectivity for this purpose. Both growing lights are good, but you have to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of both lights to choose the best light according to your opinion.
