Certified GKH Gardening Expert
There are two typical styles of LED used for horticultural purposes... COB and Cree. This is because of their longevity, spectra, and ability to be driven at about 55 to 60 percent at most efficiency.
This means that in the long run, using these LED's over any old diode will save you time, and money. It is also important to know how they are driven. Most standard household LED's are overdriven, and waste much of its energy in heat production.
I use LED for myself. It is a brand called KIND. I have many tropicals that will not survive my location. I can keep them all outside over the summer, but during the winter, I need something that will not only keep my trees alive, but will keep them growing as if it were a tropical environment. There is a technique to driving LED's correctly, and often times, it is not so expensive that you have to build your own unit.
If you just want to build one just to be able to do it, I would recommend asking many of the home builders how they do it. Most run on a 12 band spectrum, with very specific nm diodes. This includes infrared, and UV A, and B.
