At Advanced LED we always strive to educate our customers and provide them with the most relevant information regarding our products. It is important for us that you understand the higher value in our products but also that you make an informed decision when purchasing. There are many myths regarding full spectrum LED grow lights which are based on the wrong interpretation of facts and insufficient knowledge about the way they function. This article is aimed at remedying this misunderstanding. (Especially when it comes to the claim that LED grow lights get very hot, which in turn makes them inefficient!)

Why LEDs Produce Heat?
The primary reason that LEDs produce heat is slight imperfections in the crystal structure of the diode. The electricity that passes through the diode that doesn’t get turned into light gets turned into heat.

The second reason LEDs produce heat is internal reflection within the diode. For extremely efficient LEDs, about 80% of the electricity gets turned into light and about 80% of that light makes it out of the diode (leaving a total of roughly 60% of the light to exit the diode). The light that doesn’t make it out gets turned into heat when it is re-absorbed by the diode.

How LED Grow Lights Create Heat?
Firstly, even LEDs can convert only around 80% of electricity into light (though the best are exceeding that). And usually only about 80% of that light leaves the grow lamp. The rest of that energy becomes heat.

Fortunately, heatsinks in LED grow lights channel most of that heat up and away from the plants. And the rest is spread too diffusely to cause your plants any real problems. Nonetheless, heat could still impair the performance and lifespan of the diodes…

But in addition to heatsinks many LED grow lights have internal fans to keep the diodes cool. And the best eliminate moving parts (and extra electricity consumption) by simply using good materials and clever design.

It’s the second way LED grow lights create heat that’s more relevant to your plants…

Energy in a closed system can neither be created nor destroyed, only change form. Your grow room is a closed system and light is energy. Much of the light your grow lamps produce is transformed into chemical energy and stored by your plants, but any light not used is absorbed by objects within the grow space and becomes heat.

The great advantage with LED grow lights is that most of the light they produce is in wavelengths that cannabis plants can easily absorb.

G8LED C3 Enhanced Full Spectrum LED Grow Light

The G8LED Commercial Series C3 Enhanced Full Spectrum Grow Light grows indoor crop with Samsung 3000K and 4000K diodes Also, this LED Grow Light happens to have a targeted spectrum blend of 380nm-740nm which includes ultraviolet and infrared. The C3 light covers a 5-foot x 5-foot grow space from seedling through harvest, growing healthier plants with increased trichomes and potency. The Built-In Flower Boosters are turned on during the flowering phase to magnify flowering and increase the yield. The C3 has a powerful growing capability of 1700 mMol/s (PPF).

The six diode bars connect onto the main driver box via an easy slide installation and attached power cables. The dimmer button can reduce the light to zero, for customizable light intensity. Each C3 light covers a 5-foot by 5-foot grow space during vegetative growth AND during flowering. The Flower Booster switch magnifies the red, far-red, and hyper-red diodes and increases the power from 550 watts during veg to 680 watts for flowering.

LEX Grow Mini 300W Commercial LED Grow Light

The Mini covers a 4 ft x 4 ft flower footprint and a 5 ft x 5 ft veg footprint. This LED unit is backed by Lex Commercials 5 year warranty allowing you to increase yields while decreasing expenses for years to come.

The Lex Grow Mini is designed to meet the needs of home growers. We understand excessive power consumption, bulb replacements and heat are the biggest problems indoor growers face. The Lex Grow line alleviates all of those issues. Coming in at over 2.5 PPF/Watt, the Lex Grow is the most efficient full spectrum LED, period.

Lex Grow Mini Full Spectrum provides the same sun-like qualities plants love without the negatives of high energy requirements and high heat. Using Lex Grow’s Full Spectrum you will see faster growth and most importantly increased production overall.

LUXX Lighting 645w LED Pro

Like the entire line of Luxx products, the new 645 LED Pro was built on the principle of design, test & repeat. It has been developed by assessing SMD (Surface Mount Device) chips and drivers from leading manufacturers in controlled test applications and cultivation facilities for 3+ years.

The LUXX 645 LED PRO is made up of Samsung horticulture whites and Osram reds. The respective companies lead the field in LED R&D, delivering high efficiency, reliability & diode performance. The LUXX 645 LED PRO deploys a lens angle of 120 degrees, from a 6 bar design, with a total of 2,226 diodes.

Final thoughts

In short, yes, LED grow lights do create heat.

But so much less than any other form of grow lighting.

The reason for keeping them at a sensible distance from your plants is much more about sheer brightness and intensity than any real danger of overheating your plants. As you lower them towards your plants, the intensity of light will cause problems long before the heat emitted ever does.

So just follow the manufacturer recommendations, make any necessary adjustments for the specific strain you’re growing, monitor heat and humidity in your grow space (as usual) and you’ll have no problems with your LEDs.