Are There any Drawbacks of LED Grow Lights?
LED Grow Lights are not perfect and of course have a few cons. The major disadvantages of LED grow lights are primarily cost, but also can include replacement troublesome and growth results.
High Initial or Upfront Cost
One of the most painful disadvantages of led grow lights is the huge initial investment of buying the lights. At the moment, high quality LEDs are pretty expensive when compared to the traditional HPS and HID lamps. You would still have to use the same wattage of LEDs in your indoor garden to grow, which can get pretty pricey. You may be better off buying a complete HPS or HID kit and cooling equipment for about the same price of an equivalent wattage LED grow light. However, as technology develops (which, by the way, doubles every two years. The lights will become increasingly cheaper, so it might be wise to become an expert in LED growing technology now, because it will be the standard in the near future.
Replacing Bulbs
Another one of the disadvantages of LED grow lights is changing out the LEDs. Depending on what type of LED grow kit you buy, changing the inevitable dead bulbs may be a hassle. Unlike HPS or HID grow lights, LED grow lights do not always come as one solid bulb. Thus, if one LED goes out on your strip of LEDs, it will be inconvenient to have to change that single one out. However, since LEDs have an incredible lifetime, this is something you do not really have to stress any time soon after you buy your led grow light.
Plant Growth Results
I am listing this as the last of the drawbacks of LED grow lights, but it is not really a bad one. It is more of a misunderstanding among growers. On lots of blogs, grow journals, and forums, people complain about the lackluster grow results from using LED grow lights, especially in comparison to High Pressure Sodium, High-Intensity Discharge, and even CFLs. However, the reason that they are having poor results is because they are not using equivalent wattage. Some LED manufactures will claim that a 300w LED system is equivalent to say a 600w or even 1000w HID setup, of course this will not grow well. You still need to use the same amount of wattage, so do not believe any bogus claims of LED wattage being stronger or needing less. Please, visit thereviewgurus.com to check out the reviews with great details now.
