With the update in technology and the investment of LED in recent years, LED grows lights have become a necessary investment project for indoor planting. However, some people still use traditional lamps because they do not trust LEDs. Many people are curious, are LED grow light bars sure that will help us save a lot of electricity on a daily basis?
The answer is yes. If you are a commercial grower with thousands of plants to care for, it can incur huge electricity costs. For the average indoor gardener, the monthly electricity bill for running a single light of moderate power is not too high.
Although growing indoors with supplemental LED grow lights consume more electricity than outdoor plants, they use much less power than HID and CFL lights. Primarily, high energy efficiency LEDs deliver the highest performance with less heat, more electricity, and more monetary benefits.
Keep reading until the end of the article to learn about the operating costs of LED grow lights.
How does the LED grow lights affect the electricity bill?
We all know that light is a nutrient for plants and that they can’t live without it. The more light you provide, the healthier your plants will be in return. To determine the cost of putting a plant grow light on, please refer to the following 6 factors.
Type
Not all LED grow lights are the same. If you are not sure which type of plant light to choose, you can search by grow light type freestanding, grow light bulb, LED grow light bars, quantum board grow light, grow tent light, or other criteria. It is global, so you can find plant grow lights in the US, Canada, the UK, China, and other countries/regions.
Wattage
We do not use wattage as a measure of output, but rather as a simple measure of the amount of energy consumed by a plant light, i.e. how much energy it takes for a light to light up.
The higher wattage means we consumed more power. When choosing an LED grow light, it is not better to have a higher wattage but to choose a plant light that matches the light intensity of the plant’s photosynthesis.
Number
This depends on how many potted plants you have and how large an area you need to cover. If you need a lot, you will pay more than if you only use one or a few grow lights.
Working Time
This depends largely on whether you use the LED veg grow lights as supplement to natural light or as a complete replacement for it. If you are completely replacing natural light, the grow lights should run for about 8 to 16 hours per day, but if you are just supplementing natural light, a few hours will be sufficient. The longer the light runs, the more you will obviously pay.
Daily Light Requirements of Plants
Each plant requires a different amount of light, and the amount of light required varies from period to period.
Lettuce: Most leafy greens grow well in at least 5 hours of direct light per day.
Strawberries: You can provide your strawberries with 17-18 hours of light and 6-7 hours of darkness per day.
Tomatoes: Tomatoes need at least 8 hours of sunlight per day to produce fruit, but aim to provide 12 -16 hours of light for optimal growth.
Tortoiseshell: direct exposure to 6 hours (or more) of sunlight
Orchids: should receive 12 to 14 hours of light per day throughout the year
Local Energy Costs
What is the cost of electricity for your home? Prices will vary depending on your country and the electric company you use (in the United States, you can usually choose between several companies).
For example, my electric bill is $0.16 per kilowatt hour (kWh). This means that I pay $0.16 per hour per KW used. Since 1KW is 1,000 watts, this means I pay $0.16 per hour for every 1,000 watts I use.
How can I reduce the cost of LED grow lights?
If you only grow a few houseplants, you may not even notice the difference in your electricity bill. But if you have a lot of light-loving plants to care for, you’ll start thinking of ways to reduce your expenses.
- Switching to more efficient LED grow lights will reduce your energy consumption. They can reduce electricity consumption by 24% to 30%.
- Get a more affordable power company. Check which one is more affordable and make changes if there are multiple power suppliers in your country/state.
- Keep your LED veg grow lights on during the cheapest part of the day. If in Serbia, electricity is several times cheaper at night than during the day.
- Reduce the hours of operation of your lights. Suppose you would have had to leave your tortoise bamboo under the plant grow lights for 16 hours instead of 12 hours. Maybe your tortoise bamboo would be just as happy? Observe the plant’s response over a month or two. If the leaves continue to grow larger and open the windows more, then you can safely reduce the time you use LED grow lights.
- Use available natural light whenever possible. When the sun is shining, move your plants next to a window to absorb natural light. In this case, you can turn off your plant lights, even if it’s only for a few hours.
Summary
Supplemental LED grow lights have changed the way we do indoor plant cultivation around the world. While the initial investment for older fixtures is low, they need to be replaced frequently. LEDs are expensive to purchase but prove to be more convenient and energy efficient, and it has low routine maintenance costs.
Don’t let a lack of natural light stop you from growing your favorite houseplants. With energy-efficient LED grow lights, you can save money while getting plenty of growing power for your indoor plants.
