LEDtronics Introduces
LED Plant Light Bars for Plant Growth
How do plants capture
and use light? This question has been studied and
researched for decades, and researchers have long
known that plants use different frequencies of light,
or different colors of light, for different purposes.
Some colors of light make plants grow and bloom,
while others promote compact growth, and some are
not really used much at all. For example, the leaves
of plants look green because they reflect green
light. If a plant reflects a color of light instead
of absorbing it, that color isn’t used to
help a plant grow.
Scientists used this knowledge to develop lamps
that would let them raise plants without sunlight.
Their new “grow lights” weren’t
developed from scratch. They took existing lamps,
the same ones used to light our homes and factories,
and modified them to produce more of the colors
of light that are used efficiently for plant growth
Scientists used this knowledge to develop lamps
that would let them raise plants without sunlight.
Their new “grow lights” weren’t
developed from scratch. They took existing lamps,
the same ones used to light our homes and factories,
and modified them to produce more of the colors
of light that are used efficiently for plant growth.
And they were successful.
Today we have many lamps that can be used to help
grow plants without sunlight. They range from incandescent
bulbs to fluorescent tubes, to the very powerful
metallic vapor lamps, such as metal halide and high-pressure
sodium lamps. These lamps can all be used to grow
plants indoors. And they all have the same problem:
they produce a lot of light that plants can’t
use efficiently.
The lamps we use in our homes generate a lot of
light in the green and yellow part of the visible
light spectrum, because the human eye is very sensitive
to those colors of light. Plants, on the other hand,
prefer light of other colors, colors people don’t
see very well. So while old-fashioned grow lights
will let you grow plants indoor, they waste a lot
of energy making light plants can’t use efficiently.
But they sure do look bright, don’t they?
The LEDtronics
PlantLED Difference:
Our grow lights are designed from the ground up,
optimized for plant growth, not human vision. Using
light emitting diodes, or LEDs, they selected the
colors of light plants use most efficiently for
vigorous growth and health. The result is a plant
grow light that uses very little energy yet provides
all the light your plants need to thrive indoors.
They also used their specialized knowledge of LEDs
to make sure each bulb operates optimally, providing
maximum light output and maximum bulb life.
Our patent pending technology offers other advantages
over conventional artificial plant grow lighting.
Low Energy Use: LEDs are more efficient at producing
light than conventional glass-envelope bulbs. Depending
on configuration, a typical LED-PlantBar uses less
than 2 watts of power, an important fact as energy
costs continue to rise.
Targeted Light Output: Unlike “broad spectrum”
plant grow lights, which produce a lot of light
plants can’t use efficiently, PlantLED products
only deliver the light colors plants want most for
vigorous, healthy growth. By leaving out light plants
don’t need, we provide still more energy savings
over conventional plant grow lights.
No “White Light” Glare: Other plant
grow lights use technologies generally used to light
rooms and buildings, which makes them very bright
to the human eye. PlantLED products deliver light
that is very bright to plants, but relatively dim
to people. Your plants get what they need without
the “white light” glare you don’t
need.
Low Heat: Conventional grow lights are very hot,
running from several hundred degrees to over fourteen
hundred degrees Fahrenheit at the bulb’s surface.
Our LED grow lights are merely warm to the touch,
even after operating for hours, and are safe around
both children and animals. This low heat is also
safer for your plants, allowing you to place the
lights as close to your plant’s foliage as
you like, for maximum effectiveness, without fear
of burning their leaves. Delicate blooms don’t
fade or burn at the edges, and last longer. Lower
radiated heat also means a savings in room cooling
costs.
Low Voltage: Our LED grow lights are low voltage
devices, running typically on less than twenty volts
of electricity, making them an ideal choice for
homes with children or pets.
Long Life: Typical LED lifetime is 100,000 hours.
This is ten to fifty times longer than typical glass
grow light bulb life expectations. Replacing glass
bulbs every year adds a lot to the expense of a
growing system.
No Ballast: LED-PlantBars weigh just ounces, far
less than conventional fluorescent and metallic
vapor systems, which typically need a ballast weighing
up to fifty pounds. Some manufacturers build their
ballasts right into the light fixture, making the
light hard to hang in your home or office. Ballasts
also burn out eventually, requiring another expensive
component replacement not needed with LED-PlantBars.
No Reflector: Conventional glass envelope grow lights
emit light in all directions. In order to use as
much of this light for plant growth as possible,
these lights are generally fitted with bulky, unattractive
reflectors to direct light back toward the plants.
With LEDs the reflectors are built right into the
LEDs themselves, so no secondary reflector is needed.
Almost all of the light generated by the LEDs in
the LED-PlantBars is directed straight at your plants.
LED-PlantBar is 21 inches long and 2.5 inches wide.
The optimum distance from the plant for this product
is 12”-18”. However the distance may
vary based on the needs of the grower. For seedlings
the distance should be no closer than 3”.
A full-grown plant that is just being maintained
inside a house or office may be as far away as 24”-36”.
The white light equivalent output of one LED Plant
Light-Bar is approximately 100-watts. This is a
good rule-of-thumb to follow when sizing up how
many bars will be needed to grow plants that have
been growing under traditional white light sources,
e.g. high pressure sodium (HPS) or metal halide
(MH) type lights. The approximation for fluorescent
grow lights is about one bar per 250-watts. LED
based grow lights present a challenge when replacing
traditional grow lights. LEDs are low energy devices
(like fluorescent lights), this means that they
must be closer to the plants than high energy sources
(like HPS or MH lights).
But there’s a tradeoff between closeness and
coverage. Because LEDs output a “cone”
of light, closer means a decrease in coverage. So
a balance must be attained between desired energy
at the plant and coverage in square feet. Some plants
require higher energy (plant closer to bar) and
thus for coverage you’ll need to use more
bars in an offset stagger multiple bar configuration
to increase coverage. Some plants require low energy
to grow; so fewer bars at a greater distance are
possible. PlantLED may also be hung vertically within
the foliage of a dense plant for additional energy
(a big selling point as traditional lights cannot
do this).
Founded in 1983, LEDtronics® leads where others
only follow when it comes to designing, manufacturing
and packaging state-of-the-art LEDs to meet the
world’s constantly changing lighting needs.
Our inventive product line encompasses an array
of direct incandescent lamp replacement Based LEDs,
low-cost snap-in and relampable Panel Mount LEDs,
high intensity sunlight-visible Discrete LEDs, PCB
LEDs circuit board status indicators, surface mount
diodes SMT LEDs, full-spectrum rainbow RGB LEDs,
Ultraviolet (UV) and Infra-Red (IR) LEDs.
Pricing for one PlantLED and one 120 volt Ac to
12 volt DC power plug is $159.95 each, quantity
discounts and larger 2, 4 and 8 LED plant bar systems
are available. Contact LEDtronics toll free at 1-800-579-4875,
telephone 310-534-1505, fax at 310-534-1424 or mail
at LEDtronics Inc., 23105 Kashiwa Court, Torrance,
CA 90505. Visit our website at www.ledtronics.com.
The direct web link to the on-line datasheet is
as follows:
www.ledtronics.com/ds/plantled/default.asp
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
