Protecting Your Eyes from Lights in Your Grow Room

Protecting Your Eyes from Lighting in Your Grow Room

Can Grow Lights Damage Your Eyes?

Whether you have already started your grow, or are currently planning your space, it is essential that you take protective eyewear into consideration. As the lighting units required in a grow space are generally very intense, prolonged exposure can lead to irreversible damage to your eyes, headaches and dizziness among other symptoms.

Depending on the type of light you are using will depend on the type of protective eyewear that you will need to wear when working in your grow space.

Lighting Explained:

Light Emitting Diode (LED) Lights come as both blue spectrum or red spectrum depending on the stage your plants are at in the growth cycle. Over the years the production of LED light units has changed whereby many now utilise dual spectrum technology so growers no longer need to change the lights depending on whether the plant is in the vegetative or flowering stage of growth. As well as emitting UVA and UVB rays, LED lights are also known to emit UVC light rays which are particularly harmful to our eyes and skin as typically UVC is absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere meaning we are never exposed to this.

High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lighting units have been the go to choice for growers for decades due to the consistent results they produce. The light emitted is a yellowish, warm colour which our eyes do not process well. The result of this is that our eyes when working under these lighting conditions will take in more light than required which ultimately causes headaches, dizziness and in worst cases you can run into long term problems with your vision.

Metal Halide lights are typically utilised by growers due to the UV that the bulbs emit. UV rays can quickly cause damage to your eyes, and prolonged exposure can lead to skin cancer. With this in mind growers working under these lights need to take extra precautions and, in some cases, wear a full body suit in order to minimise contact the light can make to your skin.

LED Grow Lights

HPS Grow Lights

CDM Lights

Top Tips for Protecting your Eyes:

In ideal circumstances, growers will turn off the lights in the grow space when working underneath them. You can then use a floodlight or household light to improve visibility. Many growers will completely remove the plants from their space when doing maintenance, then place them back in the tent. This works great in most circumstances however if a trellis net is utilised this may be difficult.

It’s widely accepted that the most effective solution for protecting your eyes is by wearing specialist glasses and there are a variety of glasses available for you depending on the lighting conditions you are working under. At London Grow we have found that Method 7 Eyewear produce top quality protective equipment that is built to last. Utilising these in your space is a guaranteed way to keep your eyes protected in full. As an alternative, LUMii Grow Lenses have been found to be of great quality and price.