Your grow lights are an essential part of maintaining your indoor garden. They’re the light source that will mimic the sun in your grow tent or grow room in order to help your plants grow strong, healthy, and plentiful.
There are a lot of options to choose from when it comes to finding the best grow light for your garden. While the amount of variety available is great, it can also make for a difficult choice.
We’re here to help by breaking down two different types of grow lights for you: HPS grow lights and LED grow lights.
Table of Contents
- How Do HPS Grow Lights Work?
- What Are the Benefits of HPS Grow Lights?
- What Are the Challenges of HPS Grow Lights?
- How Do LED Grow Lights Work?
- What Are the Benefits of LED Grow Lights?
- What Are the Challenges of LED Grow Lights?
- So What’s the Best Grow Light Option?
- Best HPS Grow Lights for Growers
- HPS Grow Lights vs. LEDs: The Best Choice for Your Grow Room
After we’ve covered all the bases, we’ll give you a narrowed down list of some of the best grow lights on the market so that you can find one that’s sure to work in your grow room.
How Do HPS Grow Lights Work?
HPS lamps, or high pressure sodium lamps, are powered by ballasts that heat chemicals such as sodium, mercury, and xenon inside of the grow bulbs in order to give off light.
The chemicals in HPS grow lights are contained within a narrow arc tube with high pressure inside — hence the “high pressure” name. This arc tube is usually made of aluminum oxide ceramic in order to resist corrosion from the sodium.
The ballast is typically started with a pulse from an ignitor, sending high voltage energy through the arc tube. Xenon gives these lights some blue color, but they generally have low levels of this wavelength, so they’re not the best for vegetative growth. However, HPS lamps do offer a lot of yellow, red, and far-red in their spectrum, making them a great option for flowering plants.
What Are the Benefits of HPS Grow Lights?
There are many unique benefits to using HPS grow lights over LEDs.
- HPS Grow Light Cost: HPS lights are much less expensive than LEDs out of the gate. This can make them an especially good option for less experienced growers or beginners who don’t want to put down a lot of money to get started.
- HPS Lights Have Adjustable Light Intensity: HPS grow lights are typically also dimmable. This is definitely a plus when you consider the fact that dimmable LED lights are even more expensive than the regular kind.
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HPS Grow Light Reflectors: HPS lights also have a number of different reflectors available for various types of coverage, so there’s an option for nearly anything you’re looking for.
- Air Cooled Tube Reflector: An air cooled tube is small but powerful. Its compact size doesn’t change the fact that it gives you a wide range of coverage.
- Air Cool Hood Reflector: This is another great option. Air cool hoods have a domed design that gives maximum canopy penetration. And while it can reach high temperatures, it’s complete with a glass insert and 6-inch exhaust port — so you can use a duct fan to ensure your grow room stays cool.
- Air Cool Tube Hood Reflector: This type of grow light hood combines the power of a cool tube with the coverage of a cool hood. With an air cool tube hood reflector, your plants will get great light intensity over a wide area.
What Are the Challenges of HPS Grow Lights?
While both choices of grow lights come with their own benefits, they also offer some unique challenges. First, let’s take a look at some possible complications with HPS lights to keep in mind when you’re choosing the right option for your grow room.
- HPS Grow Light Heat: Like we mentioned earlier, one of the biggest risks that comes with using HPS grow lights is the fact that they run much hotter than LEDs. This puts your grow room at risk of overheating, so you’ll probably have to use grow room fans to increase airflow and regulate temperatures.
- HPS Grow Light Costs Over Time: Intense heat and additional cooling equipment mean higher power costs. So if you’re looking to save on your bills, HPS grow lights may not be the best option.
- HPS Lights Aren’t Ideal for Vegging: While HPS lights are more affordable than LEDs, you’ll also want to buy an MH grow bulb. HPS lights generally don’t have the best wavelengths for vegetation, so MHs help with vegging. If you’re really looking for the best and most effective spectrum for vegging and flowering, LED lamps might be the way to go — they’ll give you the exact spectrum you need in one bulb without sacrificing efficiency.
How Do LED Grow Lights Work?
LED (light emitting diode) lights are another option for indoor growers. LED grow lights are electronic-based.
These lights are made up of LED chips, which, when combined with the lenses that cover them, create the diodes. The chips are made of two different semiconductor materials:
- Electrons, which have a negative charge.
- Holes, which have a positive charge.
Once voltage is applied, an electric current flows through the light — that causes electrons and holes to collide in order to release energy (light).
The lenses of the diodes are what direct the light from the chips, and these lenses can be tinted to change the color of the light by determining how much of which colors pass through. LED lights also come in a range of wattages and styles.
- Traditional Panel LED: A traditional LED light is pretty compact compared to the other types. These typically feature small to medium wattage diodes.
- Spread Style LED: This type of grow light is a larger option and is made up of small LEDs that are spread over a wide area.
- COB LED: COB (chip on board) grow lights are made up of just a few (or sometimes just one) chip on board bulbs, which are made up of tiny chips covering a small area. These feature strong lenses that give plants great, direct maximum light.
Due to the range of lenses that control the color of their light, LED grow lights have a very flexible wavelength spectrum, which will vary from model to model. LEDs can offer a range of different color spectrums in the visible, infrared (IR), and ultraviolet (UV) ranges.
What Are the Benefits of LED Grow Lights?
Like HPS lights, LED grow lights offer their own set of unique benefits that make them great for many growers.
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LED Light Wavelengths: One of the biggest benefits of using LED lights is the fact that they’re very flexible when it comes to the types of wavelengths they offer.
- There are LED lamps that can cover every stage of the grow cycle, ranging from single colors (like all red, all blue, or all white) to combinations of wavelengths to make up the perfect recipe for your indoor garden. This is a variety that HPS can’t provide.
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LED Grow Light Temperatures: LED lights run cooler than HPS grow lights do, which means you’ll need less ventilation equipment overall — this is a big plus if you’re looking to save on your electric bill.
- Cooler-running lights will also help you avoid the risks and complications that excessive heat in your grow room can lead to. Dimmable LEDs are also available, though it’s worth mentioning that these are a bit pricier than other LEDs and HPS lights.
What Are the Challenges of LED Grow Lights?
Now let’s discuss some of the challenges you might encounter when growing with LEDs.
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Overwhelming LED Light Options: The fact that LEDs offer a range of different uses and light wavelengths can definitely be a benefit. That said, it can also make it really difficult to choose the right one.
- There are so many types of LEDs out there: traditional, COB, spread, multi-band, single-band, supplemental, and primary lights… the list goes on! Figuring out which LED grow light is right for you and your grow room will take a decent amount of research and effort.
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High Light Intensity: LEDs are much brighter and more intense than HPS lights when it comes to lumen output. While this can be a benefit, it also puts your plants at risk of bleaching. As such, you’ll have to hang these lights higher than HPS grow lights in order to avoid this issue.
- Raising your LEDs to avoid bleaching your plants can be tricky — if you hang them too high, your plants won't benefit from their light intensity, sacrificing growth. Though HPS lights run similar risks, their dimming features make them easier to work with. That said, an LED like the 600 Watt Advance Spectrum MAX LED Grow Light Bar, which has dimming options, will give you the intensity you need without risking hurting your grow.
So What’s the Best Grow Light Option?
At the end of the day, both HPS grow lights and LED grow lights will give you great results — especially if you have a good overall handle of your grow room.
Both types of grow room lights come with some give and take. That said, anyone with the knowledge and dedication to make their grow room succeed can get great yields using either HPS lights or LED lights.
Ultimately, though, HPS grow lights are generally the better choice for most growers.
- Although their sometimes intense heat may cause a rise in your power bill, their introductory price point and the great amount of light intensity they offer will make up for it — especially when you see the great, big yields they’ll give you!
- It's also worth noting that HPS lights helps plants in the flowering stage thrive.
- This is due to the wavelengths used by HPS grow lights that LEDs can't provide.
- Not to mention, if you're growing plants that benefit from warmer temperatures, the heat that HPS lights can give you make them the way to go.
- Studies have also shown that while MH bulbs are the optimal light for the vegging stage, HPS grow lights tend to have enough blue spectrum MH uses to grow plant just fine with a flowering bulb.
That's not to say you should dismiss LED grow lights altogether, though. LEDs offer plenty of benefits that make them excellent choices for any grow room.
- Full spectrum LED grow lights, for example, can give you identical- if not more beneficial- spectrums to HPS grow lights.
- For the most part, their yields aren't much different than what you'd get with an HPS light.
- Of course, there's the fact that they tend to save you money on electricity, which is beneficial to your wallet and your grow.
Just be aware that you will have to hang LED lights higher to avoid bleaching your plants. In addition, due to the fact that LEDs don't put off heat like HPS lights do, they're more susceptible to cold snaps. As such, if you're using LEDs, be sure to keep your grow tent or grow room well-insulated.
Best HPS Grow Lights for Growers
Now that you know why HPS grow lights are probably your best option, it’s time to figure out exactly which HPS light will work best for your grow room. Here’s a list of the top HPS grow lights to consider.
Editor’s Choice: Yield Lab 600w HPS Air Cool Hood Reflector Digital Grow Light Kit
The Yield Lab 600w HPS Air Cool Hood Reflector Digital Grow Light Kit is one of the best choices for most grow rooms and grow tents.
This HPS grow light is the number one most commonly used light in the business. It’s popular for good reason, too: This HPS grow light helps keep your grow room temperatures down even with the intense 600w HPS bulb.
By allowing passive air to flow through its hood, you won’t have to worry about your grow room reaching extreme temperatures. This also helps extend the life of the light itself, so it’s sure to last you a long time.
This HPS light also has a focused, intense footprint. That means the light that’s targeting your canopy will be intense enough to give you good yields but not too overwhelming for most plants.
HPS Grow Light Specs
- Wattage: 600w
- Lumen Output: 90,000 lumens
- Color Temperature: 2100k
- Coverage: 4 to 6 plants (4x4 grow tent or grow room)
Our Price: $199.95 | Click Here to Buy This HPS Grow Light
Biggest Footprint: Yield Lab 1000w HPS Cool Tube Hood Reflector Grow Light Kit
If you’re looking for an HPS grow light that’s got a lot of strength and a large light footprint, the Yield Lab 1000w HPS Cool Tube Hood Reflector Grow Light Kit is the way to go.
While most other grow lights have a limited footprint of about 3x3ft, this fantastic grow light will give you at least 5x5ft of light coverage. With that power, it’s sure to cover as much of your grow room as possible — and the light is as intense as ever.
The amount of strength and wide coverage this 1000w HPS grow light has to offer makes it a perfect option if you’re working with plants that need a lot of light.
HPS Grow Light Specs
- Wattage: 1000w
- Lumen Output: 130,000 lumens
- Color Temperature: 2100k
- Coverage: 6 to 10 plants (5x5 grow tent or grow room)
Our Price: $219.95 | Click Here to Buy This HPS Grow Light
Perfect for Beginners: Yield Lab 400w HPS Wing Reflector Digital Grow Light Kit
Just getting started on your growing journey, or looking to purchase your first grow light? The Yield Lab 400w HPS Wing Reflector Digital Grow Light Kit is a great option for beginners.
It’s super affordable, so it’ll go easy on your budget, and it’s also extremely easy to put together and use. So even if you know the bare minimum of maintaining a grow room, you’ll be able to easily use this grow light
This HPS is equipped with a wing reflector that will help reflect light onto your plants without being too overwhelming. That means they’ll get the perfect amount of light in a limited area.
It isn’t the strongest of lights, but this 400w HPS is a great one to consider if you’re just starting out. Most importantly, it’s sure to get the job done while you’re learning the ropes!
HPS Grow Light Specs
- Wattage: 400w
- Lumen Output: 55,000 lumens
- Color Temperature: 2100k
- Coverage: 2 to 4 plants (2x2 grow tent or grow room; 2.5x2.5 grow tent or grow room)
Our Price: $134.95 | Click Here to Buy This HPS Grow Light
Perfect for 2x4 Grow Tents: Yield Lab 400w HPS Cool Tube Reflector Digital Grow Light Kit
If you’re a more advanced grower and you’re looking for the best coverage for a small growing area, the Yield Lab 400w HPS Cool Tube Reflector Digital Grow Light Kit is the grow light for you.
The wings of the reflector will effectively spread light across your grow area without focusing too much and overwhelming your plants. The cool tube reflector helps keep your grow bulb and growing area from overheating. That means great light intensity and heat levels your plants and grow space can handle.
This 400w HPS grow light is perfect for an advanced, experienced grower with a 2x4 grow tent.
HPS Grow Light Specs
- Wattage: 400w
- Lumen Output: 55,000 lumens
- Color Temperature: 2100k
- Coverage: 3 to 4 plants (2x4 grow tent or grow room)
Our Price: $154.95 | Click Here to Buy This HPS Grow Light
Honorable Mention LED Grow Light: 600 Watt Advance Spectrum MAX LED Grow Light Bar
Okay, this one isn’t an HPS light — but we wanted to be fair to LED grow lights, too! If you still think an LED is the best option for you, the 600 Watt Advance Spectrum MAX LED Grow Light Bar is a great way to go.
This LED is super powerful — as strong as a 1000w HPS grow light, to be exact. It also offers a full spectrum of light, covering all the wavelengths you’ll need for optimal plant growth. This makes it highly flexible and great for all stages of the growth cycle.
This LED grow light is a solid option for larger grow rooms, as it can cover a good amount of plants at once. So if you need good coverage, or you’re just looking for a really good LED light for your grow room, you can’t go wrong with this one.
LED Grow Light Specs
- Wattage: 600w
- HID Equivalent: 1000w
- Lumen Output: ~85,000 lumens
- Coverage: 4 to 8 plants (5x5 for vegging; 3.5x3.5 for flowering)
Our Price: $779.95 | Click Here to Buy This LED Grow Light
HPS Grow Lights vs. LEDs: The Best Choice for Your Grow Room
We know choosing the perfect grow light for your grow room can be a difficult and overwhelming process. That said, we hope we’ve helped you at least narrow your options down.
Now that you know how HPS and LED grow lights work, along with all of their unique features, you’re well on your way to finding one that will be the best fit for your indoor garden’s needs!
Just remember: There’s really no wrong way to go so long as you follow the tips and guidelines provided in this article. Any of the grow lights listed above are sure to give you great results!