LEDs – The Good, The Bad, The Awesome

LED lights have really taken a leap! But how do you sort the good from the bad? When’s the right time to use them? Here’s what you need to know.

Check out our range of led grow lights. Choose from a number of lighting brands - Telos, Gavita, Maxibright and more.

As with everything, it’s horses for courses. The two big reasons growers use them are:

There are different types of heat – radiant and convected.

HPS lights emit a lot of infrared light, which creates radiant heat to warm plants and your grow room.

LEDs emit much less infrared light, but plenty of convected heat, which rises above the unit.

• Convected heat from LEDs can easily be extracted
• Radiant heat isn’t as easily removed

The thing is, radiant heat from HPS lights isn’t a bad thing.

In summer it’s a problem. But in the cooler months all that radiant heat keeps plants warm and drives water uptake.

If, however, you struggle in summer, an LED could be just the thing. You can also get them much closer to your canopy if you have a low ceiling tent.

LED lights do cost more to buy. BUT when they last so long, you can justify it.

You get 10 years out of the Telos 0008 – break it down, and you’re paying just £42 a year. What an investment.

It depends on your wattage.

You can’t replace a 600W HID light with a single 240W LED and expect to get the same amount of light.

You won't - your wattage just isn’t as high.

That doesn’t mean LEDs aren’t as good. You just need more of them to cover the same area.

Make sure you sort the good from the bad.

The cost is a dead giveaway.

You could get an LED light for £60. But there’s always a reason why they’re so cheap. We’ve heard some real horror stories.

The most common problem people get is with their spectrum. Some LED’s just don’t emit enough PAR light. You get nutrient deficiencies, growth is stunted – all kinds of things can go wrong.

When push comes to shove, it’s really not worth penny pinching.

Of course, you’ll always get your bargains - we managed to sniff out the Telos 0008! It’s a hell of a light for the price - about half the cost of similar LED’s.

Here’s what we love about it:

LED technology is improving all the time. And 10 years is a long time to be tied down to a light! One of the best things about the Telos 0008 is that it that you can replace & upgrade your CREE LEDs and Meanwell drivers.

CREE are the market leaders – the Telos 0008 uses their latest XP-G3 (photo-red) and X-E (white) LED transmitters.

This is the first LED we’ve found that’s worth the cost. It’s about twice the wattage of similarly priced systems. In a multi-light set up, you’ll really see the benefit.

Everything about this light screams quality. From the components used, to the metalwork. Since it’s waterproof & dustproof, the Telos 0008 will easily cope with the humidity of your grow room.

Your intensity will be nice and even, across your coverage area. You’ve got the holographic diffusers that sit just under the LED transmitters to thank for that. They spread light evenly to prevent hot spots. No other LED lights have this diffuser.

Most LED lights use noisy fans to cool. Not this one. There’s a large heat sink just above the LEDs. This creates a wide surface, through which heat can escape passively. As a result, no fan Is needed, and your unit lasts longer!

That’s the same output per Watt as out 930 Agro CDM lamp.

For a long, long time we chose not to sell LEDs because the only decent ones cost far too much.

That was always going to change. It was just a matter of when.

Now, we’ve finally found the right LED, for the right price – Grownorthern’s Telos 008. It’s already a huge hit – anyone who uses it will tell you why.