How to Choose an True Wattage LED Grow Lights 2021 Update (2024)

What are the benefits of LED grow lights?

Boosted growth, density, and resin production; tighter internodal spacing
Long bulb life; 50,000-100,000 hours (5 to 10+ years of consecutive use)
Energy efficient (30-50% more efficient than traditional lighting)
Lower heat-load / Reduced HVAC costs
No ballasts or reflectors, additional cooling equipment, or bulbs to replace
Spectrum, dimming, timing control (some fixtures)
Low profile (ideal for tiered racking systems)
Easy 'Plug-and-Play' setup
Safe to operate; No mercury

Wattage & Power Draw

How many watts of LED power do I need compared to HID lighting?

Generally, 30-50% less wattage is needed depending on the efficiency of the LED grow light. More efficient grow lights exude more light while using less watts. Remember, that this is actual LED wattage, also known as wall wattage, not the advertised LED wattage that might be found in the title of the LED grow light. For example, an amazon advertised '1200W' LED grow light might only draw 500W at the wall

How Much Power You Need

To grow marijuana,you wantbetween 30 and40 watts per square foot of grow space.Of course, more wattage will give you larger yields (within reason) and less wattage will result in smaller yields.

NOTE:We are using the actual power here (and also in our table below), not the rated power. LED diodes are never run at full power, as this would considerably shorten their life. A 3-watt chip for example, will only run at approximately 60% of full power.

So if a fixture has two hundred 3-watt diodes, it is technically capable of producing 600 watts of power, but it will actually only draw about 300 to 400. Most manufacturers will list the rated power (600 watts), but this is obviously a bit misleading.

So, continuing the example from above, you need between480W led grow light (16 sq ft x 30 watts) and 640W led grow light (16 sq ft x 40 watts) of actual LED power.

Your best bet in this case is to go with a light that draws at around 600 watts of actual power for this grow area. In terms of listed wattage, that equates toaround 1000 watts.

The table below showsthe wattage needed for common grow area sizes. Naturally, most grow areas are far larger. Use the values below to calculate your requirement.

For example, a 1000 square foot space would need 30,000 to 40,000 watts in total.

You get this value by first calculating how many 100 sq ft areas are contained in one 1000 square foot area (1000 divided by 100 = 10).

A 1000 square foot area contains ten 100 square foot areas. This means it would need ten times the wattage.

From the table, a 100 square foot area needs 3000 to 4000 watts. Thus, a 1000 square foot area needs 10 times that, or 30,000 to 40,000 total watts.

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