iSpirix iCann1700X Grow Light VS Yearld Pro 640W LED Grow Light

A lot of growers wrote in saying they didn’t want to read through each review and just wanted me to tell them which LED grow light is best. That’s why I added this short section.

Best Overall
The best overall LED grow light is one of the HLG quantum board series of lights. They make a number of wattages, with the HLG 600 RSPEC being the most popular.

HLG is the only company on this list that manufactures in the US (Advanced Platinum is also a US brand, but they manufacture in China). What really sets them apart is the efficiency of their lights. They deliver an incredible output considering the wattage they consume.

Best Value
The best value LED grow lights are the Spider Farmer quantum board fixtures. They are very similar to the HLG lights, but cost considerably less.

The reason they cost less is that SF is a Chinese brand. They are not as reliable as HLG and do not provide the same excellent customer service. However, they are still far better than most Chinese brands, which is why we consider them the best value currently available.

Three criteria to look for on a LED grow light:
The samsung LED grow lights emit a full spectrum, sufficient light intensity (PPFD), and cover your entire grow space with that intense light. When selecting the best LED grow light, you need to ensure each of these criteria are met in order to grow the highest yielding plants.

The first criteria, full spectrum light, can be achieved preferably with a white light spectrum, although a red and blue spectrum works too.

The second criteria, sufficient light intensity, is about ensuring your grow light is strong enough to provide enough light over the course of the entire day. You can read my whole article about light intensity here.

The third criteria, the grow light coverage area, can be determined by checking that the light intensity is sufficient enough at every point on your grow space. I also cover this in the above article on light intensity.

Here, let us take a closer look at what full spectrum LED grow lights are and the reasons as to why they are great for you if you plan to grow marijuana indoors. We also take a closer look at some of the advantages of making use of full spectrum LED grow lights.

A common grow light is basically made up of lights of two spectrums – red and blue. You can figure that out by looking at these lights as they emit a reddish-blueish hue and while many of them offer a fair mix of the two, you can figure out the dominant color in these lights if you look long enough. The process of photosynthesis happens perfectly between these two light spectrums and this is why most lights come with reds and blues. However, there’s more to plants than just photosynthesis and there’s more to grow lights than just the reds and blues. This is where full spectrum LED grow lights come into the picture! A full-spectrum LED grow light consists of all wavelengths including infrared and ultraviolet lights. Basically, the final output of the light here would be a white light.

In the simplest of terms, using a full spectrum LED light allow you to imitate the light of the sun in the closest possible manner which is good for the growth of your plant allows photosynthesis to happen in the best possible manner as well as boosts the generation of all the various types of pigments that the plant needs for a healthy growth. Furthermore, the concentration of light and heat can allow you to tweak the flavor of your plant as well which is something that weed growers love to do! Let us now take a look at what are some of the advantages of using a full spectrum LED grow light as opposed to a regular LED grow light.

• Compared to the LED grow lights that function only on  a mix of red and blue lights, full spectrum lights tend to generate more quantity of photons which are great for the growth of the plants.


• This is the closest you can get to replicating natural sunlight in a controlled environment and the plants can benefit a lot from the various wavelengths.


• These lights are cooler in comparison to traditional lights and you do not require to set up extra heat dissipation systems such as additional fans.


• Reds and Blues are for specific phases of growth but a full spectrum grow light is basically your one-stop solution to all growth phases of your cannabis plant.


• These lights neither flicker nor do they require a stabilizer and are hence a great option for anyone looking forward to grow weed indoors as they provide a consistent and constant light.

iSpirix iCann1700X LED Grow Light

PROS:

High-quality construction; Made in the USA

Super-efficient diodes

Still cool to the touch after 24 hours

Covers 24 square feet

Expected lifespan of 50,000 hours or 15 years

CONS:

Higher cost of investment but will be worth the money for serious growers

Yearld Pro 640W LED Grow Light

PROS:

Runs quiet and cool

Extremely energy efficient

Sleek design allows it to sit higher above plants

Easy setup and programming

Convenient handheld remote

CONS:

Power cord is short (only 6ft)

No PAR data for comparison purposes

Now that you know what the different types of LED grow lights are and which are some of the best LED lights in the markets, let us take a closer look at some of the things that you must always keep in mind before you buy your grow lights. These are important because grow lights are quite an investment and one needs to ensure that they are getting what they pay for!

Here are some of the factors that you need to look at before you make the purchase:

• Electricity Consumption: One of the best reasons as to why you should be purchasing an LED lights is that they do not consume electricity as much as the older types of lights do. Most non-LED grow lights consume as much as 30% more electricity than their LED counterparts. However, you must always take a closer look at the electricity consumption and the wattage of the light that you are buying! Given that the LED grow lights that you are going to buy have to run for about 8 to 10 hours every day, you need to make sure they don’t cost you a bomb in electricity costs.


• Spectrum: Plants need ‘light’ to grow. This light can be of any type and can come from any source. However, there’s a difference between just light and optimal light. In order for the process of photosynthesis to happen at an ideal pace and rate, one needs to ensure that the lights that they are using are full spectrum LED grow lights, which can actually replicate the natural light of the sun. Plants need not only the red and blue spectrum lights, but also infrared and ultraviolet rays. Hence, it is essential that for a good growth of your plants, you get a full-spectrum LED grow light.


• Heat Output: A pro-tip for those looking forward to buying new LED lights for growing marijuana indoors is that you must always look for lights which provide a low heat output. While heat is critical for the growth of your plants, you must not forget that too much of heat is the easiest way to kill your plant too! Even lights which have a low heat output need to be placed at an appropriate distance from the plants so that they do not provide too much heat. Lastly, a low heat output is good because lights with a higher heat output have a smaller lifetime as they ‘burn out’ rather quickly.


• The Semiconductor Chips: Semiconductor chips form a critical part of LED grow lights. While their basic job is to convert electricity into light, they form the core of what provides the light to the plants and hence you need to ensure that the semiconductor chips that your LED panel is using is of a good quality. Brands such as Samsung can always be trusted to provide a long-lasting product which will not be easily burnt-out. Light panels that feature a chipset of at least 3 watts should be the minimum that you must aim for otherwise the light will be too weak for a suitable growth.


• Growing Space: Another thing that you need to keep in mind before you purchase  your LED grow lights is the actual grow space that you are going to make use of. If your grow space is large and your plants are well spread out, you would require a larger number of lights, or you would need lights which can cover a larger area – you also need to keep in mind that the larger the area a light covers, the lesser the heat it will provide to the plants – hence, all three things including the area your plants are spread in, the amount of light that the LED can provide and the heat need to be considered. A basic mathematical calculation here is that you require 32 watts of power per square foot of growing area for high-light plants.


• Ease of Use: One of the most important things that people often do not consider is the ease of use! Especially the first-time growers need to ensure that the lights that they are buying are simple and easy to use. First-timers don’t need much more than a light which is as basic as plug-and-play and offers essential features like daisy chaining where you can plug one light on to another. You also need to ensure that your lights are flexible in terms of use and you can adjust the intensity of the lights so that it is easy for you to manage the different growth stages.


• Durability: One of the biggest problems with older types of lights is that of durability. For those who have grown in the older setup, it used to be a common problem that the lights (especially the cheaper ones) would tend to burn out and sometimes even the glass would just burst because of voltage related fluctuations causing the chemical vapors to go unstable. However, an LED lamp built using good quality materials can last you for as many as 10 years! Another important thing that we need to talk about here is the lifespan of the lights – a good quality LED light can offer you anywhere between 40,000 to 50,000 hours of light. 50,000 hours is basically continuous usage for 5.7 years – and considering that most growers don’t need more than 12 hours a day, it would mean the lights can last your for as many as 10 years! This is a huge benefit over the older types of lights which used to burn out in as few as 8,000 to 15,000 hours.


• Brand: While there’s an old adage in the markets that ‘the brand doesn’t matter’, that is actually incorrect because the brand does matter. It is not just the quality and durability of the lights but also the after-sales service and supports and companies which have a good reputation in the markets are usually better when it comes to repairing your lights in time and offering you proper refunds and replacements as opposed to a random company which you’ve seen off Amazon with like 2 good reviews!


• Price: The money that you are going to invest is obviously important. A good LED grow light can set you back by a couple of hundred dollars but when you look at the fact that you need multiple such lights in order to cover your entire growing operation, you need to give it a serious thought that are the lights worth it – or would you rather work on traditional old-fashioned lights. However, the one thing that comes in the favor of these LED grow lights is the fact that they basically pay for themselves in terms of the savings that they make you when it comes to electricity costs when compared to older lights.


• Warranty: Last but not the least, warranty services are pretty important and they are something that you must keep in mind before you purchase an LED grow light for growing marijuana indoors. The warranty is an essential element of after sales services and you need to ensure you get the most out of your brand with regards to this!

Plants just like humans need some vital things to survive, but getting the best of what you need can only result in better quality. In other words, if you provide plants with the best LED grow lights that cover every aspect of lighting a plant needs then your crop can and will be the best it can be. We hope these top rated grow lights will help your indoor garden.

Every grow room is different and certain aspects of an LED grow light might not be perfect. Consider the variables of your grow room, plant, and soil and you can easily determine which LED grow light is right for you and more specifically your plants.