What the Sun Can Do With LED Grow Lights

Leonardo Da Vinci predicted a solar industrialization as far back as 1447.  As we speak, Australia  plans to build the world’s largest space-age solar power station.  It will power 45,000 homes, cost about 420 million dollars, and save the earth from 400,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year.  Here in the US, Bush’s proposed 2007 budget includes a Solar America Initiative that promises to make solar technologies more affordable by 2015.

The advantages are clear.  Solar energy can be used without the emission of pollutants, is unlimited in supply, and can be stored and used to do just about anything.  Thanks to the engineering genius of Solar Oasis, that now includes solar powered plant lighting.The low power requirement of LGM led grow lights simplify the conversion to a solar energy system.  A solar “photo-voltaic” panel/battery system of 324 watts @24Vdc will supply ample power for a 56 Gro-Bar light grid layout, alowing the lights to operate continuously, 24 hours a day.  A solar system of this size has an estimated cost of under $3,000 per planting bed, for 100% power grid independence while maximizing grow chamber utilization.  The implication for a solar community is food, grown anywhere, using the least amount of water, regarless of the availability of farmland.  Go Sun, and go SolarOasis!

Take It Easy

I come from a family of farmers and carpenters. I was raised on the adage there is no substitute for hard work. But increasingly, I’m finding that actually, there is. Technology seems to be advancing far faster than work ethic.  ”Go mow the lawn.”  is no longer an afternoon sweating in the hot sun.  Now kids can hit the button in the garage that activates their automatic mulching lawn mower.  It parks and turns itself off when the job is done. “Go water the garden.”  Well, it is on a timer.  ”Bring in the firewood.”  Forget about it- all propane.  It seems that these days, even the very lazy can get things done.
You would think that in a time when our children’s lego set can be programmed to bring you a glass of water, that we could just spend our days relaxing with a glass of wine in a hammock somewhere.  But somehow the
average American still finds 34 hours of work a week on top of their household chores.  Could it be so wrong to take the easy way?  Are dishes really cleaner when you wash them by hand?  Does dinner really taste better when you cook it yourself?  I’m not so sure.
What does this have to do with LED’s you say? The answer is this. When some people are inserting provided screws into the proper disc holes (A or B) and threading screws into the correct cylinder holes (1,2,3, or 4) while mounting their high voltage 50 pound ballast and glass bulb, I will plug in my LED Grow Master bar and mount it over my plants with two tacks and some dental floss and spend my evening drinking wine in the hammock. Cheers to living easy!

LED grow lights

The Real Cost of Electricity

Efficient Lighting

 

     According to the Department of Energy, 85% of the electricity used in the U.S. Is generated by fossil fuels.  Of the largest 1000 fossil fuel-fired power plants in the U.S., 77% are not subject to air pollution controls under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review requirements.  The generation of electric power produces more pollution than any other single industry in the United States. The statistics are similar in other industrialized nations.  Despite the efforts of 1000′s of organizations working towards a sustainable future, energy consumption continues to increase at a time when demand threatens to exceed our limited  resources.
       An important part of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels is improving energy efficiency (that is, getting more use out of the electricity we are already creating.) Ingenuity is addressing the problem head on with Hybrid cars, energy efficient homes, energy efficient lighting, and a move toward renewable, green, energy sources.  
     We have come to the realization that using our resources efficiently is the quickest, cheapest, and cleanest way to extend our energy supply.   LED Grow Master would like to congratulate everyone who has chosen to grow with the most efficient lighting option available.  The LED Grow Master grow lights use 33 times less energy than comparable metallic vapor lights. ( Based on 3 LED Grow Master bars per 400 watt MH.) According to a study by the EPA, this energy savings is equivalent to planting a 1/2 acre of trees per year.  If you would like to learn of more ways to save energy in your home or business-  visit  http://www.led-grow-master.com

 

 

 

 

 

Lighting For the Show

For some of us our garden is more than just a source of food. For many it is also the place where we bring visitors and customers so they can be filled with the awe of our green thumb. It is times like these that LED gardeners are prone to be aware of the “graying” of plants under LED’s. The reason for this is the plant specific spectrum used in the LED Grow Master bars.

Plant leaves reflect light colors that are not used efficiently for growing. Under white light, most plants look some shade of green. This is because traditional plant lights are based on room lighting that uses the colors that the human eye is most sensitive to – green and yellow. But since the LED Grow Master line of lighting supplies colors that plants can use, very little light is reflected from the leaves. The plant absorbs nearly all of the light with the exception of a very small amount of green light included in each bar to dilate your pupil. The result is a plant that looks like it’s in a darkroom. This is also a sign that you are not spending money to create light that your plants are not using.

In conclusion, our lighting is for plants and not people. So when the day comes to show off all of your hard work, you may want to keep this in mind. Just supplement a little sunshine. If that is not an option- full spectrum lighting will give excellent color rendering and is an efficient alternative to incandescent bulbs. Garden on.

Revolutionizing School Lunch

School Lunch

School lunch has become a swear word in the vocabulary of students and parents alike. Unrecognizable to many as food at all, students are opting for pizza and the snack machine, or the lucky holders of a drivers license rush to the drive through of the nearest conveniently located fast food joint. But not everyone has been content watching obesity and malnutrition plague our children.

The Edible School Yard is a one-acre garden and kitchen classroom at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkley. The successful program involves the students in every aspect of planning and harvesting the garden and preparing fresh food. In collaboration with the Center for Ecoliteracy, this program offers a myriad of learning opportunities, and is inspiring other schools to incorporate gardening into their curriculum as well.

The concept is very appealing though for many schools, the funding for the addition of a greenhouse and kitchen classroom is hard to come by. The LED Grow Master line allows for a small scale operation to get schools started, requiring only an empty corner of a classroom and a minimal investment. The lights operate at just a few degrees above room temperature, eliminating the burn risk of traditional lighting. LED lighting also eliminates the fire, shock, and breakage hazards associated with glass bulbs, making the LED Grow Master line safe for children in a classroom setting. The movement towards gardening in school is one that we can all be part of. So start looking for that empty corner now because LED Grow Master is coming to a school near you. –AL