Plants require light to live. Light is the food they need to thrive, but balancing the right amount of natural light, water and nutrients, while keeping away from the winter’s harsh weather is a tricky thing you can tackle with only the best grow lights.
Top grow lights should provide the right amount of energy that will help plants grow, without burning them or hurting them in any way. Without light, there is no photosynthesis, thus there is no life.
Rest assured, we’ve got you covered. Whether you’ve just started growing your favorite plants and flowers or you’ve been doing this for years, these top rated grow lights will do the job for you.
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Comparison of 7 Best Grow Lights in 2020
| IMAGE | NAME | FEATURES | PRICE |
|---|---|---|---|
 | King Plus LED Grow Light by KingLED |
| Check Price |
 | VIPARSPECTRA LED Grow Light |
| Check Price |
 | BESTVA DC Series LED Grow Light |
| Check Price |
 | Roleadro LED Grow Light |
| Check Price |
 | MARS HYDRO TS LED Grow Light |
| Check Price |
 | PlatinumLED Grow Lights |
| Check Price |
 | Phlizon Newest LED Plant Grow Light |
| Check Price |
Top 7 Best Grow Lights Review in 2020
As usual, we’ve compiled a list of the best products on the market right now, from the best budget grow lights to best LED grow light for the money. We’ve even selected the best cheapest grow lights for those moments when you are on a tight budget, but still want to stick to your passion.
1. King Plus LED Grow Light by KingLED
King Plus might be a new player on the market, but they do produce some of the best grow lights out there right now. This one product here is a great model. Overall, it has a great design and high PAR value.
This King Plus features 10W Double Chips. This means more efficiency and brightness than the traditional 3W LEDs. It works perfectly in grow tents, rooms, or even greenhouses. It is relatively easy to install since you get all the tools in the package, from carabiners to cords and all the necessary hangers.
High PAR and low wattage are the dream and this King Plus looks like it is up for the job, with its one-hundred 10-watt LEDs built-in and its board holes and extra fans for efficient cooling.
- It provides full-spectrum lighting from 380 nm to 780 nm (including UV + IR)
- It consumes only 243w of electricity
- 3 years of professional service and free return period of 90 days
- The cooling fans might prove to be a little bit too noisy
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2. VIPARSPECTRA UL Certified LED Grow Light
On the less expensive spectrum of grow lights, you will find this Viparspectra product which pulls only about 269 watts from the outlet. However, it manages to provide a decent PAR value, close to the 600W HPS/MH mark.
This makes this product one of the best budget grow lights on the market at the moment. Moreover, it boasts a sturdy build, with fire-resistant iron housing and suitable VEG and BLOOM switches for each growing phase.
These lights are really good for the veg cycle and the results will not be long in coming. This grows light offers 12 bands of light, with two each for IR and UV. The PAR is maximized through the optical lens for an overall better energy-for-money value.
- Energy efficiency
- Full-spectrum lighting
- It doesn’t offer a great coverage area
3. BESTVA DC Series LED Grow Light
If the best grow lights are what you’re looking for, then you might miss on this BESTVA 3000W, and that would be a shame. Why? Well, simply because these grow lights offer some of the best bangs for the buck out there.
They’re not on the expensive side of things, but would light up your grow tent and spread the light like no other. For maximum flowering performance, specialists recommend that you limit the use of this light to a specific 4×4 area.
Moreover, it comes with a veg/flower switch, and a 3mm thick aluminum plate radiator for efficient heat dissipation. It comes with a 3-year- warranty and you get a 90-day return-back-guarantee from the manufacturer.
- Easy to install
- It features dual-chip 10W LEDs
- It can be controlled by Timer
- No extra ballast is needed
- It can only be used indoors
4. Roleadro LED Grow Light
This Roleadro product is a full-spectrum grow light with 75W LEDs that can support plants at almost any stage of growth, from seedling to vegetative or flowering.
Its low heat output, aluminum housing improving safety, and its 117 red bulbs combined with the 52 blue bulbs make it one of the best indoor grow lights on the market, at the moment. The PAR value for these lights is reported somewhere around 94 and 205, depending on the distance from the plant.
Although you can use it to grow almost anything from microgreens and herbs to beautiful flowers, we would advise you to use it only for smaller green vegetation for its maximum efficiency. If you want to use it to grow fruit-bearing plants, for example, you might need more than one.
- Good overall brightness while keeping the heat under control
- It features an aluminum housing which enables you to keep the plants close without burning
- It comes with a 30-month warranty
- It works best for a few small plants; don’t try it for a full greenhouse or indoor garden
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5. MARS HYDRO TS LED Grow Light
The Mars Hydro Reflector 1000W is known to be one of the best led grow lights for the money right now. It is not utterly brilliant, but it is not awful either, it is somewhere in the middle, especially if you don’t want to spend a fortune on your first grow light.
The brand is quite well-known in the field. The installation process is fairly easy, and the manufacturer claims a high energy efficiency. Unfortunately, it does not have a switch, you cannot toggle between modes and you will have to pull the cord to turn it off.
However, it is a full-spectrum grow light and works best for the veg and flowering stages. It has 342 LEDs, and it consumes only 150W. That’s pretty impressive. If you want to know more of the “technicalities”, the auto-sensing power supply works on both 120VAC and 240VAC and 277VAC.
- It is quite silent
- Great power
- Good energy efficiency
- It doesn’t come with a switch to change between veg and flowering stages
6. PlatinumLED Grow Lights
The Advanced Platinum Series P300 is one of the best grow lights you can find at the moment, delivering good performance without digging a hole in your pocket.
It’s got coverage of about 4.5 feet by 3.8 at an 18-inch height if you want all the technical details. It is most efficient in compact grow areas; try not to use it in big spaces.
It uses around 180 watts of power delivering the equivalent of a 400W HPS light, so that’s some top-notch performance. The manufacturer claims it’s got the highest PAR/Lumen output per watt, and double the intensity of any LED grow light on the market right now.
This is due to its 12 band spectrum 3W LEDs light chips you can replace anytime they stop working. The most outstanding thing though is its 5-year warranty and 90-day satisfaction-or-return guarantee that comes with the product. How about that?
- Superior 12-band full spectrum from UV to IR
- The cooling is provided by high-speed quiet fans
- It boasts 90-degree secondary focusing lenses for deeper penetration
- It comes with a 5-year warranty and 90-day satisfaction-or-return guarantee
- It might burn your seedling if you keep it too close and at full strength; be careful!
7. Phlizon Newest LED Plant Grow Light
This versatile grow light does not use any kind of led reflector, so any safety issues regarding the reflector overheating and melting are out of the question. The actual power of these top-rated grow lights from Phlizon is 240-150 watt.
The manufacturer recommends it to be used for a 3×3 ft growing area at around 24’’ height and claims that the double cooling fans can considerably extend the lights life. The product also comes with a double switch, one for Veg and the other for Bloom. They have different functions.
These grow lights are full spectrum, they include universal blue red IR UV and in combination with the white LEDs, they can provide all the light the plants need from natural sunlight. They offer a 2-year warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you’re not satisfied with the product.
- Well-built unit and durable quality
- It features two switches, for Veg and Bloom
- 2-year warranty and 30-day money-back guarantee
- You might find it difficult to work the thermometer that comes with the product
- No heatsink
Also Read: Best Reef LED Light of 2020 – Top Rated Lights Compared
How to Make Sure You Pick One of the Best Grow Lights
We have identified 5 main things to take into consideration before making the purchase decision on the best grow lights. The first thing first is the range and space you need to have it covered, the light spectrum, the electrical efficiency, and the light controls. All these features can make all the difference between a quality product and a fluke.
Range and Space
All grow lights have a specifically designated space they can cover, and prove efficiency in doing so. It is important to comprehend the space in your greenhouse or tent down to every last centimeter because that can make all the difference.
Usually, you will find this information in detail provided by the grow lights manufacturers. If you don’t and have nowhere else to look, it’s better to check another grow light.
Understand the Spectrum
As you have already read in the product descriptions above, some grow lights feature a full spectrum. This means that they can mimic natural light to some degree. Full-spectrum grow lights could produce red and blue light, as well as infrared, or ultraviolet.
Moreover, LED grow lights are always stronger than conventional bulbs; however, they will get hot very easily and need additional fans to keep them going in their normal parameters. This will translate into bigger electricity bills and maybe you don’t need that.
LED is the future here, and they are exciting, especially with the wide range of colors they can emit, including UV light.
Electricity Consumption
Grow lights are notorious for making electricity bills as big as Gandalf’s beard, or even bigger than that. Taking into consideration that they need to function non-stop for 10-12 hours a day, that’s understandable.
So, the more energy you can save, the better. Always make sure you check the energy consumption before making that top grow light purchase. Ensure you understand the total output of your grow lights.
A Plant’s Need for Lighting is Different in Each Growing Cycle
Healthy plants need a different type of light for each growing cycle. To deliver an “almost” natural light environment for them, you need to know what kind of light they require during each season.
For example, during summer and spring, plants receive a lot of bright blue and white light because the sun is at its strongest point. During the fall, the sun will produce more red and orange light. As a result of evolution, plants have an inherent “knowledge” of these light cycles engrained in their DNA.
They know that when they are receiving a lot of white and blue lights, they should grow as big as possible, sprout bushes and new leaves because the sun is strong and there is enough power to help them develop.
When the plant senses the light spectrum changes towards more red and orange, then it knows that winter is coming and it should produce fruit or seed to ensure its survival. So, if you want, say, to influence more flowering or seedling, then you should provide your plants with more orange-red warm lights.
Only the Best Grow Lights for Your Favorite Green Friends
A plant can become a friend. It is breathing being providing you with everything from wonder and the miracle of bloom to the beauty of flowers and the prosperity of fruit. So, it is only natural to offer it the best you can offer and nourish her lighting needs.
Also, do not forget about proper ventilation if you grow plants indoor! That is another aspect that could make all the difference in the long term. So, what is the best grow light for your little green friends?
