Grow lights produce quite a amount of heat which has the potential to cause a fire if not installed and handled correctly. Traditional grow lights, such as HID lights, are more likely to cause a fire than LEDs. Equipped with state-of-the-art LED technology, LED grow lights emit less heat. They will not get hot enough to cause a fire, but they can be a fire hazard if not properly installed.
Though the risk is not high, you still need to take measures to reduce the chance of a fire. Keep reading to learn more.
When Will LED Grow Lights Become a fire hazard?
Poorly Made LED Lights
Poorly made LED grow lights usually have inferior parts or insufficient insulation, which raises the risk of electrical problems and possible fire risks.
Overheating due to Incorrect Installation
Heat accumulation can result from incorrect installation of LED lights, which includes inadequate ventilation systems or positioning them too near flammable objects.
Electrical Problems and Defective Wiring
Unsecured connections, poor electrical insulation, or defective wiring can lead to short circuits and overheating. If these electrical problems are not fixed right away, LED lights may catch fire.
Voltage Fluctuations or an Insufficient Power Supply
They can cause LED grow lights to malfunction, overheat, and even catch fire.
Overloaded Electrical Circuits
This can happen when too many lights are connected to a single circuit.
Lack of Routine Maintenance
Ignoring routine maintenance can hinder heat dissipation and raise the risk of fire.
Improper Electrical Wiring
Improper electrical wiring may short-circuit and start a fire. Typical wiring mistakes made by people include the following:
- Not Using the Junction Box
The junction box, also known as an electrical box, guards the hub of all the wiring in a circuit. You should ask the electrician to mount a junction box to the wall or other fire-resistant building material.
- The Wires are too short
Make sure the length of wire for your LED grow lights is sufficient. If you cut them too short, they could become stretched and finally shatter.
- Unprotected Wire
Keep in mind that exposed wiring frequently breaks and can start a fire. Clamps can be used to maintain them straight and tightly. To put it briefly, your goal should be to keep the wire safely above the ground.
- Incorrect Wattage and Amperage
Ensure your growing room’s wiring can support the wattage of LED grow lights. You will have to rewire the entire grow room if the wiring is outdated.
Defects in heat dissipation system design
Generally speaking, LED grow lights often use heat sinks together with fans to dissipate heat. Common system design defects include:
- Insufficient heat sink area: The heat sink dissipates heat by serving as an extension of the LED chip. For high-power LED chips, if the heat sink is too small, the heat dissipation efficiency will be too low.
- Improper heat sink material: The heat sink should be built of either aluminum or copper.If it consists of materials with poor thermal conductivity, the heat dissipation performance will be poor.
- No fan or insufficient fan: High-power LED lights not only need heat sink to dissipate heat, but also fans.
- unreasonable heat dissipation path design: If the heat transfer path from the LED chip to the heat sink or fan is too long, the heat cannot be effectively dissipated. Some heat dissipation paths fail to disperse the heat evenly, which will cause overheating in certain areas.
Will leaving LED lights on 24/7 cause fire?
Most high-quality LED plant lights can run for long periods of time, even be left on 24/7. However, most plants do not need 24 hours of light. Instead, they need a certain period of darkness to complete physiological activities other than photosynthesis. If the light time is too long, it may cause abnormal plant growth or leaf damage. Most plants need 12-18 hours of light every day.
In addition, although high-quality LED plant lights support long-term operation, leaving them on 24/7 may cause overheat. It can be especially risky if the workplace of the LED plant light is conducive to heat dissipation and ventilation, or with high temperature. If you are using low-quality LED lamps or there are potential problems with the circuit or power supply, it may catch fire. So it is not advisable to leave the LED grow light on 24/7.
How to Prevent LED Grow Lights from Causing a Fire?
Use High-Quality LED Grow Lights
While it may seem enticing to save a few bucks for a poorly-made LED, you should be aware that the savings are probably insufficient to repair the damage a fire does if something goes wrong.
When looking for grow lights, read through the product specs and reviews to evaluate the quality of the product. Reliable brands, say, Casyoo, now provide affordable LED grow lights.
Be sure to choose certified lights to ensure safety. Certifications like CE for the EU market, UL and ETL for the North American market all have evaluations of the heat generation and dissipation performance of lamps. For example, UL certification includes lamp surface temperature testing, heat dissipation component qualification testing, etc., to ensure that the lamp will not cause a fire.
Make Sure the Electrical Wiring Is OK
Unless you are a licensed electrician, you should ask for help if you need to wire your lights to make sure there are no problems.
Cutting cables too short, leaving bare wire exposed, and neglecting to keep electrical outlets away from moisture are common blunders that might raise the fire risk.
Do Not Overload The Electrical Circuit
Make sure your electrical system can support the lights you plan to purchase.
Make sure the voltage needs of the grow lights and the voltage of your electrical outlets are compatible.
Additionally, try not to plug too many lights into one socket. It is not a good idea to daisy-chain several extension cables together so that multiple gadgets are powered by a single wall socket.
Make Sure the Safety of Your Growing Space’s Overall Environment
There should be no combustible materials of any kind, such as paper and fabric in the grow room.
Ensure that your planting area is away from the living area. Get rid of anything that can cause a fire before installing grow lights. This is not only important to prevent fire but also to reduce the negative effects of grow lights on you to a minimum.
Remember that hydroelectric contact results from any contact between electricity and water. It can result in electrocution in addition to causing a short circuit. Make sure your LED grow lights stay away from the water.
How to prevent LED grow lights overheating in high temperature and humidity environments?
- Choose LED grow lights with:
- Efficient heat sinks and active cooling fans
- at least IP65 rating to prevent moisture and water vapor
- Enhance environmental ventilation and heat dissipation
- Install exhaust fans or circulation fans near the lamps.
- Set up vents and install exhaust windows to ensure good air circulation throughout the planting space.
- Optimize the installation of lamps
- Maintain sufficient spacing between multiple lamps to avoid heat accumulation. The spacing between lamps should be at least 20-30 cm.
- Avoid obstacles above the lamps that block heat dissipation, such as closed ceilings or low ceiling
- Regular maintenance and monitoring
- Regularly clean dust on heat sinks and fans.
- Regularly check whether the waterproof seals of the lamps are intact, and replace aging waterproof seals.
- Monitor the operating temperature of the lamps with temperature sensors to detect overheating in time.
Final Thoughts
The possibility of an electrical fire exists with all electrical devices. So LED grow lights have the risk of fire hazard. However, the risk can be reduced if you purchase from a reliable manufacturer that uses high-quality components to produce their lights. Plus, make sure the lights are hung enough away from any flammable objects. In your grow area, combustible objects should ideally not be present, or if they are, they should be far from your grow lights.
Rest assured, Casyoo always puts quality in the first place, and the LEDs we produce will undergo reliability tests before shipping. Contact us right now!
