Commercial category

Horticultural and Grow Lighting

Q: Do you supply grow lighting?

Yes, from the horticultural lines in my index. It is a smaller part of what I do than commercial and decorative work, so I will be straightforward with you about where my depth is.

PPF, PPFD and photon efficacy, and why a grow light quoted in lumens is quoted wrong.

Need horticultural and grow lighting, specified in photon metrics priced, or just need to know if I can get it? Send me the project or ask me a question. No charge for a takeoff.

Get it priced 786-395-1222

Horticultural lighting is the one category where the ordinary lighting vocabulary does not apply. Lumens are a measure weighted to human vision. Plants do not use that weighting, so a grow light quoted in lumens is being quoted in the wrong units.

The metrics that matter are photon metrics, and understanding the difference between them is what stops a grower comparing two fixtures that cannot be compared.

The three numbers, and which one is the efficiency

PAR is the 400 to 700 nanometer band defined by ANSI/ASABE S640, the range treated as photosynthetically active.
PPF, photosynthetic photon flux, is the total photon output of the fixture across that band, in micromoles per second. It is a property of the fixture.
PPFD, photosynthetic photon flux density, is what actually arrives at a point on the canopy, in micromoles per square meter per second. It depends entirely on mounting height, spacing and the reflectance of the room. A PPFD figure quoted without stating the layout it was measured in tells you nothing.
PPE, photosynthetic photon efficacy, is PPF divided by total input watts, in micromoles per joule. This is the only one of the three that is an efficiency, and it is what decides the electricity bill.
The DLC Horticultural QPL is the rebate gate. Current requirements are Hort V4.0, with applications accepted from April 2025. Qualification requires a minimum photon efficacy of 2.5 micromoles per joule, with a 5 percent tolerance so products testing at 2.38 or above are accepted. Testing is to ANSI/IES LM-79 at accredited laboratories, with long-term output maintenance per LM-80 and TM-21.
Warranty terms are part of the QPL requirement, not just a manufacturer promise: at least five years on fixtures and three on lamps, with drivers demonstrating at least 50,000 hours.
Environment. Grow spaces are humid, often washed down, and sometimes carry elevated carbon dioxide. Ingress protection and corrosion resistance are real criteria here, not box-ticking.

How to compare two quotes properly. Ask both suppliers for PPF and PPE from an LM-79 report, and for a PPFD map at your actual mounting height and spacing. If one quote gives you PPFD at 12 inches and the other at 24 inches, you are not looking at a price difference, you are looking at two different experiments.

Manufacturers in this category

5 of the 639 manufacturers in my index make horticultural fixtures. None of them is on my card. The full list, with who represents each one in South Florida, is in the manufacturer index.

Not seeing the line you were specified? Search all 639 manufacturers or look up the rep for your territory. I quote lines beyond the ones listed here.

What to send me for a price

The room or canopy dimensions and the number of tiers.
Mounting height available above the canopy.
The crop and growth stage, and any target PPFD your grower has set.
Whether a utility rebate is being pursued, so I quote QPL-listed product.
Environmental conditions: humidity, washdown, carbon dioxide enrichment.

Send the fixture schedule, the drawings or a plain list of catalog numbers through the quote form. You get a line-by-line price and current lead times, usually within one business day. The takeoff costs you nothing.

Common questions

Do you supply grow lighting?

Not from the SESCO card — none of its lines make grow lighting. The index lists who does and I will point you to their rep, so I will be straightforward with you about where my depth is.

Why will you not quote a grow light in lumens?

Because lumens weight light to human eye sensitivity, which peaks in the green, and plants respond differently across the PAR band. Quoting a horticultural fixture in lumens is a sign that whoever wrote the quote is working outside their field.

Will the fixtures qualify for a utility rebate?

If the program references the DLC Horticultural QPL, tell me and I will quote listed product at the required efficacy. Whether the rebate is granted is the utility decision, not mine.

Can you get a PPFD layout for my room?

I can request a manufacturer photon distribution layout for the fixtures being quoted at your stated mounting height and spacing. That is the only way a PPFD figure means anything.

SESCO lines I represent for horticultural and grow lighting, specified in photon metrics

The SESCO card has no lines in this category. Send the schedule anyway and I will tell you who holds each line here.

Not seeing a line? The full manufacturer index covers the whole market, or just send me the project.

Ask me about horticultural and grow lighting, specified in photon metrics

Not ready for a full quote? Ask the question — whether the line holds a spec, what the lead time looks like, or what I would put up as an alternative. I usually come back the same business day.

Or call 786-395-1222, Monday to Friday, nine to five. If you have drawings or a fixture schedule to attach, use the quote form instead.