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Best LED Grow Lights for 2022

Best LED Grow Lights for 2022

Best LED grow lights for cannabis

LED grow lights have quickly become a favorite options for growers who want to grow indoors and save energy while still boosting yields and quality.

Can an LED really do all of those things?

Yes!

The main reason that LED grow lights weren’t as popular until recently was mainly due to quality and cost. There is no shortage of cheap LED lights, and there’s just as many that are very expensive.

So which LED grow lights really give the most bang for your buck? Which lights are worth the cost while still delivering a higher standard of quality compared to HPS and CMH lighting?

Here are the top 4 best LED grow lights that you should consider trying in 2022.

Growers Choice ROI E-720 LED

Growers Choice ROI E-720 LED grow light

The Growers Choice ROI E-720 LED grow light has become one of the top selling LEDs over the last year. That’s for good reason.

The ROI-E720 LED grow light was designed with commercial growing operations in mind, but the light can be just as impactful in a small scale setting. The ROI can also be used in the BOOST mode to increase its PPF of 1870 umol/s to 2050 umol/s (approximately 10%).

This light comes in on the higher side of cost compared to your standard 1000w HPS grow light. However the efficiency and energy saving capabilities of the ROI E-720 LED can pay itself in just one cycle.

Luxx 860w LED Pro XR

Luxx 860w LED Pro XR Grow Light

Building off the progress of the 645w LED platform, the Luxx 860w LED Pro XR grow light is the next evolution of LED grow light technology.

It features two additional 100W LED bars to increase total light output and maintain PPFD uniformity over a larger area ensuring consistent growth across 5-6ft tray widths. This light maxes out at 103 degrees Fahrenheit, which is extremely low for the amount of light output the Luxx 860w LED produces.

The 860w can cover a 5×5 or 6×6 area with a 120 degree lens angle for better canopy penetration. This light can replace a 1000w HPS fixture, with better results.

Last but certainly not least, the Luxx 860w LED Pro XR can fold into a 4-bar setup while still running at 860w and can even be dimmed down up to 40%!

Gavita Pro 1700e LED

Gavita Pro 1700e LED grow light

The Gavita Pro 1700e LED is a 645w LED grow light designed by one of the top grow light brands in the world.

Operating with an output of 1700 µmol s-1 PAR, the Pro 1700e delivers broad, intense light coverage with its 8 passively cooled LED bars allowing you to use it in low rooms, vertical racks, over benches, or even in tents.

Gavita is known for their high quality lights that maximize efficiency for their cost. Built with premium Philips drivers, Samsung white LEDs and Osram deep-red LEDs, this fixture uses only the highest-quality components.

Gavita’s master controllers also give you more control over the Pro 1700e LED, from controlling output and dimming the fixture up to 50%, to setting timers and more.

Photobio MX 680w LED

Phantom Photobio 680w LED grow light

The Photobio 680w LED by Phantom took a radical approach to the design of their LED grow light. Phantom looked at the other LEDs on the market and decided to take a different direction.

The result is a 680W fixture delivering 15% more light to your canopy while using 35% less power than a 1000W DE fixture. The Photobio 680w LED abandons the bar style concept of many competitors in favor of a more efficient contiguous circuit board. This difference helps deliver unparalleled PPFD uniformity to the canopy.

The 680w LED’s design is multilayer rack centric, providing the ability to double or triple your canopy square footage within your existing structures footprint. This light is ideal for any grower that is interested in reducing power consumption while simultaneously improving crop performance and yield.

Honorable Mention – Sun System RS 1850 LED

Sun System RS 1850 LED Grow Light

The Sun System RS 1850 LED is a 720w fixture operating at 1850 μmol/s. This 6-rail foldable LED grow light is a great option for anybody looking to get their feet wet with LEDs.

The RS 1850 LED can cover up to a 5’x5′ footprint, but is most efficient in a 4’x4′ configuration. It is DLC listed, IP65 wet-rated and comes complete with a manual digital dimming button and an internal embedded smart controller that is compatible with the Gavita e-Series Controller.

With the controllers, the Sun System RS 1850 LED can daisy-chain up to 500 lights, making it ideal for commercial operations.

The History of Grow Lights and the Rise of LEDs

The History of Grow Lights and the Rise of LEDs

led lights for cannabis

Lighting for indoor plant cultivation has evolved exponentially over the last twenty years.

A focus on creating the most cost-effective grow light has led to new technology and lighting applications that boost yields and produce way higher quality plants. 

As long as electricity has existed, people have likely tried growing plants indoors. However most had no luck, as the power of lights back then was so minute compared to the power of the sun that growing indoors didn’t make any sense to the average farmer.

Jump ahead a couple hundred years and into the 20th century, and everything began changing. Cultivation techniques advanced, and so did technology.

The History of Grow Lights

The first patent for the next evolution of grow lights would be for the Metal Halide bulb, patented all the way back in 1912! But it wouldn’t be until the 1960s that this invention saw more practical, widespread use for cultivation. At this same time in 1962, LED lights would be invented. Remember this for later.

The metal halide bulb would act as the catalyst for the beginning of grow-light technology innovations, with High Pressure Sodium lights coming into the fray only four years after Metal Halide. With a higher wattage capability and stronger light spectrum, HPS lighting became the industry standard for decades.

However at this point, most growers were still just hanging bulbs from their ceilings. Also, the only bulbs available were 600 Watts or 1,000 Watts.

More innovation followed the introduction of HPS lights, like ballasts and reflective hoods to increase coverage and power and Ceramic Metal Halide bulbs in 1994, but in 2010 everything changed.

Gavita Lighting International invented the Double Ended Light Fixture in 2010, followed by the first Double Ended 750 Watt HPS Bulbs in 2013. This innovation completely revolutionized the way people could grow indoors, multiplying yields and quality exponentially.

Through all this innovation and technological advancement, LED Lights were slowly gaining steam in the background. Used primarily for home or commercial lighting, over the last decade LED lights slowly began breaking into the agricultural industry.

With more developments in LED tech over the last ten years, fixtures have been created that are now viable for commercial scale indoor cultivation. As innovators in the lighting industry, Gavita released their state of the art LED grow light in 2019 to revolutionize indoor cultivation yet again.

We are now entering what some would say is an infancy stage for LED grow lights. They are growing in popularity among home growers, but commercial and large scale growers are slower to see the appeal. Pair that with a high price point for quality LED lights and its easy to understand why they aren’t widespread quite yet.

Are LEDs Worth the Price?

While LED lights for cultivation are becoming more mainstream and effective, they definitely aren’t the cheapest option. CMH and HPS lighting have been the industry standard, which means more companies have produced economical options for growers at all levels.

Because LEDs have yet to become commonplace, the two options for growers are well-made lights that are proven to work from companies like Gavita for a higher price tag, or cheap, low quality LEDs typically produced in China. For the indoor grower with just a few plants, a cheaper light can get the job done, and it won’t break the bank when you need a new one after it inevitably breaks or malfunctions.

While a large scale grower can greatly benefit from using LED lights and they may even pay themselves off in time, a lot of cultivators can’t justify the high price point when HPS and CMH lights can do a great job for cheap in comparison. Over time the prices of LEDs will drop just like HPS did, and in a few years they will be just as common for growers, hopefully!