TaoTronics
There’s something a little bit exciting about setting out to begin your own personal indoor growing operation. It’s nice to be able to grow your own vegetables for the family and if you can do that year round, why not? Fresh vegetables from the garden just can’t be beat, and with all the technology available to us these days you can grow them year-round no matter what type of climate you live in. When you’re growing for personal use you don’t need an expensive and elaborate setup – you just need basic equipment that will help you get the job done and ensure that the plants you grow are healthy enough to produce crops with an abundant enough yield for the whole family.
A lighting system that can be used in any standard socket is the TaoTronics 24w Led Grow light Bulb. It has the potential to transform any light outlet into a tool in your grow operation. It really doesn’t look a whole lot different from other bulbs you might screw into a lamp, except it includes 12 mini LED bulbs within its frame. You can purchase one of these lights for less than $100.
3 Bands for Growth
While this little bulb doesn’t offer full spectrum light coverage for your plants it does include both the red and blue parts of the spectrum, which means it’s appropriate for both the vegetative and blooming stages of growth. There are actually two shades of red used in this light fixture designed to offer the light you need right from the seed stage all the way to the end of your plants’ growth cycle. It’s only a 24W light, but if used at the right distance from your plants it can still be quite effective – you will have to think long and hard about where you want to place it, though.
Aircraft Grade Aluminum
Aircraft are specifically designed to withstand excessive heat. The materials that are often used for protecting airplanes from heat include aircraft grade aluminum. This light fixture by TaoTronics also includes aircraft grade aluminum in its design to help it resist the possibility of overheating. LED lights give off a lot less heat to begin with, but it’s comforting to know that you have this added protection built right into the fixture.
Light That Lasts a Long Time
As you’re probably already aware if you’ve read any of the other reviews on this site, LED bulbs will last a long time before they need to be replaced. This one in particular is good for about 50,000 hours, which is about average for an LED light. There are some LED lights which are good for up to 100,000 hours, but this one’s still pretty long-lasting and you should be able to get your money’s worth during that period.
Minimize the Heat
The great thing about an LED light like this is that it’s an extremely efficient light source. On average you can expect this light to be up to 80% more efficient than other lights such as fluorescents. The reason normal bulbs are so inefficient is because they lose so much energy to the environment in the form of heat, and that simply isn’t a problem with LED bulbs like this.
Any Socket Will Do
In my opinion one of the coolest features of the TaoTronics 24w Led Grow light Bulb is the fact that it can be plugged into any light socket. You can plug it into a lamp, you can plug it into a wall fixture, and you can even plug it into a ceiling fixture if that’s what you want to do. It’s great to have options, but you also have to keep in mind that you need to place it somewhere that it will be the most effective in providing your plants with the light they need to help them to grow.
But Can You Get it Close Enough to your Plants?
The problem with putting the system into a ceiling fixture, or even a wall fixture for that matter, is that it will be difficult to get your plants close enough to it to get the light they need. If you’re going to use this type of LED light bulb for growing plants you’re probably best to use it in a lamp of some sort that you can place near the plants in order to provide them with the most light possible. I would think that a light you can direct, such as a desk lamp, might be your best choice, but you certainly have options with this bulb.
Not Enough Watts
There’s one major problem with this little mini grow light and that’s the fact that its actual output is much less than advertised. According to more than one customer this light doesn’t even provide the 24W that it’s supposed to and, in fact, one customer claimed that they tested the light and found that it only offered about 16W which, is about 62% less than advertised. 16W is not enough output for growing plants indoors and you’re likely to produce plants with less than ideal yields if you try.
An Interesting Idea
While I like the concept of this LED grow light that you can simply plug into any socket that’s convenient for you, its power output is simply too disappointing. If it even provided the 24W that it’s supposed to I would be inclined to give it a chance, but with it’s a real output being so much less than advertised it’s probably not worthwhile in its current form.