What are important things I should consider before buying LED grow lights?
Chris Walker replied:
I'm going to assume that you are asking about selecting lights for a large, commercial facility.
Here is a checklist of questions for you to filter out appropriate LED lights:
1. Does the unit provide an ample amount of light over an appropriate amount of space? This is a simplified question to a fairly complex eqution. Familiarize yourself with the terms PPFD, PPF and PAR. Understand the uniformity of the light being thrown from the unit. Not all lamps are the same. Some high efficiency lamps do not provide a full spectrum array of light. Understand the different light spectrums being built into lamps and ask the company for references to other successful installations using their lights.
2. What is the Photon Efficiency of the unit? This is the unit's conversion of electricity into usable light. Often, LED light manufacturers tout high wattage units, but this is only one side of the story.
3. Can the company selling the light support a large installation? This is an often overlooked qulaity that only a small handful of companies can support. Specifically, understand the failure rate of lights being prodcued in bulk, understand the ability of the company to manufacture and deliver a large quanity of units, understnad where the company begins and ends in terms of service provided (is the company simply dropping off lights or is there a level of support being provided for your installation). Has the company provided you with a well thought out light plan? What amount of assemble is required once the lamps have been delivered? Who assembles the lamp? What is the cost to assemble mutiple lamps?
4. How well will the units integrate into your build out? Are the units each individually, manually controlled or is there a software package that allows for wide spread networking of lights. Are the lights compatible with the control units that you are using? How easy will it be for your employees to work around the lamps? How much lowering and raising of the lamps is neded to achieve your desired results?
This is a great blog post that we just published on the subject:
https://www.heliospectra.com/blog/growing-medicinal-marijuana-choose-your-led-grow-light-two-steps
This is hardly a comprehensive list, but it should get you started. Please feel free to reach out to myself or another Heliosepctra employee for more information.
Thanks, Chris
Chris Walker
VP of Cannabis Business Development
520-971-1031
chris.walker@heliospectra.com
www.heliospectra.com
Here is a checklist of questions for you to filter out appropriate LED lights:
1. Does the unit provide an ample amount of light over an appropriate amount of space? This is a simplified question to a fairly complex eqution. Familiarize yourself with the terms PPFD, PPF and PAR. Understand the uniformity of the light being thrown from the unit. Not all lamps are the same. Some high efficiency lamps do not provide a full spectrum array of light. Understand the different light spectrums being built into lamps and ask the company for references to other successful installations using their lights.
2. What is the Photon Efficiency of the unit? This is the unit's conversion of electricity into usable light. Often, LED light manufacturers tout high wattage units, but this is only one side of the story.
3. Can the company selling the light support a large installation? This is an often overlooked qulaity that only a small handful of companies can support. Specifically, understand the failure rate of lights being prodcued in bulk, understand the ability of the company to manufacture and deliver a large quanity of units, understnad where the company begins and ends in terms of service provided (is the company simply dropping off lights or is there a level of support being provided for your installation). Has the company provided you with a well thought out light plan? What amount of assemble is required once the lamps have been delivered? Who assembles the lamp? What is the cost to assemble mutiple lamps?
4. How well will the units integrate into your build out? Are the units each individually, manually controlled or is there a software package that allows for wide spread networking of lights. Are the lights compatible with the control units that you are using? How easy will it be for your employees to work around the lamps? How much lowering and raising of the lamps is neded to achieve your desired results?
This is a great blog post that we just published on the subject:
https://www.heliospectra.com/blog/growing-medicinal-marijuana-choose-your-led-grow-light-two-steps
This is hardly a comprehensive list, but it should get you started. Please feel free to reach out to myself or another Heliosepctra employee for more information.
Thanks, Chris
Chris Walker
VP of Cannabis Business Development
520-971-1031
chris.walker@heliospectra.com
www.heliospectra.com