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How bad are grow lights for your eyes

I know not to look directly into it but i feel like it cant be good for us. When Im working with my veg girls...(they are under leds) when I leave the room my eyes are off...meaning the color of everything is different for about a minute
 

RoostaPhish

Well-known member
Veteran
They actually make glasses specifically for use with LED lights. And they have always made ones for HID gardening. UVA and UVB protection is a plus, as well as polarization, it will make the colors look more regular. PEACE
 
After a visit to my eye doctor a few years ago, when I was treated for small leaking holes in my retina, I ALWAYS wear eye protection. I think it does matter how bright your room is, though... you probably don't need anything too fancy under a 400 watt MH.... if you've got 4,000 HPS VERTICAL with no hoods, you better be ready for THE BEACH. Wear your sun screen!
 
Yeah my flower room blinds me for about a minute after I leave the room. It sucks... I need to get some grow room glasses. It can't be good for your eyes..
 

RoostaPhish

Well-known member
Veteran
You would be surprised by how much even the little lights affect your eyes. I have 2-250 watt systems, my little lights, and they definitely mess with my eyes. Not as much as the big ones but I get close to them while working.
 

geopolitical

Vladimir Demikhov Fanboy
Veteran
If your jacket breaks. . pretty damn bad. Otherwise no worse than squinting at the sun, which is pretty damn bad too. Don't look at your lights. Wear eye protection. If a jacket breaks but the bulb fires anyway, REPLACE IT.
 
I started using the shades i wear in my car...they are uv protected...good pair of shades maui jims....but even with them it fucked with my eyes for a little
 

SmokinErb

Member
Shutting your lights off and depriving your plants of 15 minutes of light is far better than a lifetime of vision problems. Just shut the lights off, flip on a CFL or incandescent bulb to work under.
 

SmokinErb

Member
I would like to add this - a vertical garden is obviously far worse. I plead all vertical gardeners to shut their lights off. Having a hood between the light and you makes a world of difference - it's a solid barrier.
 
i bombarded neon for six years. staring at 1000s of watts, all day. lets see a 12,000W transformer at about an amp. more like about 12,000 watts. didnt hurt my eyes at all. haha. just gave me cataracts in both eyes before i hit 40!!! doubt there is much difference. but that was eight hours a day five days a week. do i wear glasses now? i dont know if the damage is done because i no longer have any real lenses in my eyeball. i should but i dont. only sometimes. call me an idiot.

studies show the infra red, ie heat, is what causes cataracts, as in glass blowing. however, there isnt much heat bombarding neon, although the glass gets to 451F. so i have and always will, blame the shear INTENSITY of the light for causing my cataracts.
 

StealthDragon

Recovering UO addict.
Veteran
my eyes were getting f'd up just from the close proximity to the little cfl's I used to grow with...now I've got hid :( I also use leds..and I think the color difference that you see after being around them isn't really harming your eyes if they're not getting direct light, it's just your eyes getting used to the color change...your eyes have a way of "fixing" things so that they look normal your brain after a while...it's the same being under my hps for a while and going into the veg room with the cmh and stuff looks kinda blue. It's the direct light to the eyes that's bad..not so much the color change effect imo.

I need to get some nice strong sunglasses, I'm lazy though.
 

igrowkushbitch

Active member
I have two 6000watt set ups and they are above my head to my eyes get blasted. I usually do an hour of work in both everyday. I wore sunglasses but my eyes still were hurting. So I switched to my ski goggles which have fire lenses. It is by far the best shielding for my eyes. So if anyone has fire lenses on their glasses or goggles try it out. Your eyes will stop hurting.
 

goldenahms

Member
I use polarized sunglasses. I can't even peek into my veg cab packed with CFLs without them. My HPS is a little more tolerable at 400 watts, but I'll still use he sunglasses to avoid discomfort.
 

amannamedtruth

Active member
Veteran
I just go to Home Depot and get those blue tinted 3m safety glasses for like $12 a pair. UV protection and kind of cancels out the orange tint. My eyes are way less strained when I use them.
 

Jahnice

thicker skin in training
ICMag Donor
I just go to Home Depot and get those blue tinted 3m safety glasses for like $12 a pair. UV protection and kind of cancels out the orange tint. My eyes are way less strained when I use them.

We have a pair of glass blowing glasses with a blue tint.
They were around 100 bucks but a good investment if you are exposed to the UV Rays.
Your eyesight is worth ten times that much and way cheaper than the eventual laser eye surgery.

Also noticed the hair at the crown of my head getting fried.
Not a bad idea to wear a hat or bandana,
(especially the lady gardeners)
 

mowood3479

Active member
Veteran
After a decade of staring at grow lights in a stoned stupor... I'd say they effect ur eyes a lot.
I wear eye protection now but just started in the last year.
Mayb it's just aging but my vision is blurrier, and doesn't adjust well to changes in light/dark... Also have a hard time seeing at night.
 

Bush Dr

Painting the picture of Dorian Gray
Veteran
Welding glasses are on ebay and make all the difference, but don't look at the lamp
 

Snook

Still Learning
Veteran
Welding glasses are on ebay and make all the difference, but don't look at the lamp

have them.. they are good for welding.. they change the view/color of the budz. The LED glasses make it all look natural.. and I have and used the blue lens glasses for HID.. they take the red out.
 
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