subject: Why Your Garden Should Be Powered By Led Lights [print this page] Whats the deal with LEDs? Whats the deal with LEDs?
LEDs seem to be the newest thing in lighting, with lots of people buzzing about how great they are. Light Emitting Diode bulbs really are nothing new, though. The technology has been around for nearly a century. The bulbs really began to see use in the 1960s and have been utilised for many applications, from digital clocks on microwaves and stoves to alarm clocks, lights in the dashboards of cars and more recently as home and garden lighting.
What is an LED, anyway?
The latter two uses for LED lights are fairly new, which is why there is so much chatter about them. To understand why LED lights are so wonderfully useful, it might help to know a little more about how they work. The standard incandescent bulb, which has been in use for many years, uses a filament to conduct electricity and create light. An LED is a semiconductor diode that emits light when an electric current is passed through it.
LED bulbs do not have a filament. Instead, light is created when unidirectional electricity causes positively charged electrons in one chemical to gravitate away from negatively charged electrons in a second chemical. Gaps in the electron chain become positively charged places on the semiconductor, producing light in a narrow spectrum. The colour of the LED light depends on the substance sandwiched in between the positively and negatively charged chemicals.
Why are LED lights best?
Whether discussing lighting for your home or grow bulbs for your indoor garden, LED bulbs offer many advantages over other types of light bulbs.
Unlike florescent lights, which are the most common type of bulbs currently in use, LED bulbs do not contain mercury. Mercury is harmful to most living organisms, including humans.
LED bulbs have a much longer useful life than other bulbs, even Compact Florescent bulbs. Most packaging and user reviews cite a 10-to-20-year lifespan for LED lights.
LED bulbs waste only 20% of their energy as heat, unlike incandescent bulbs which waste 80% of their energy as heat. Thus, LED bulbs are much more cost-effective to run and much cooler to the touch. This makes them safer for both plants and people.
Because of their much lower running temperature, LED bulbs do not present nearly the fire hazard that hotter bulbs do.
LED grow bulbs produce light in the colour spectrums necessary for every stage of plant growth, without wasting light in spectrums plants dont need.
LEDs are available in a wide range of configurations, from directional flood and grow bulbs to tiny accent lights and everything in between. This makes it much easier to direct light exactly where you want it to shine.
