Electrical Question (Watts)

Only straight forward,

Would a 400w Mh or Hps, 400w of cfls, or 4 100watt incandescent light bulds all cost the same if ran 24/7?

The reason I ask is just over comments I read, Thanks

No the MH & HPS will cost more. look hear.

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/3284-power-consumption-light-cost.html

In the scheme of things they will all be pretty equal.

400w Mh or Hps will use about 450w because the ballast uses about 50w the bulbs are 400w

400w of cfls or 4 x 100watt incandescent light will use 400w because they dont use a separate ballasts

Your only going to be costing more on the HID during start up, as the ballast uses more energy to ingite the light. But a watt is a watt. No matter what its from. 1000w LED cost the same as 1000w HPS ect...

JeepBeep said:

Your only going to be costing more on the HID during start up, as the ballast uses more energy to ingite the light. But a watt is a watt. No matter what its from. 1000w LED cost the same as 1000w HPS ect...

Click to expand...

wrong as a 600w magnetic ballast runs normaly at about 708w its the bulb thats 600w

from wikipedia
"Losses in the ballast due to its resistance and losses in its magnetic core may be significant, on the order of 5 to 25% of the lamp input wattage. Practical lighting design calculations must allow for ballast loss in estimating the running cost of a lighting installation."

Essex said:

400w Mh or Hps will use about 450w because the ballast uses about 50w the bulbs are 400w

400w of cfls or 4 x 100watt incandescent light will use 400w because they dont use a separate ballasts

Click to expand...

If we want to get technical all flouros have a ballast too

daisy2687 said:

If we want to get technical all flouros have a ballast too

Click to expand...

but it is built into the bulb and is included in the spec

Essex said:

but it is built into the bulb and is included in the spec

Click to expand...

Hmm makes sense but not at the same time haha... I thought things were rated as 'systems'. Also shop style lights the ballast is built in to the housing not the bulb...

Not to say you're wrong I'm just playing devils advocate I guess

Oh and that nug I just dried in the oven off my 55day girl really crept up

daisy2687 said:

Hmm makes sense but not at the same time haha... I thought things were rated as 'systems'. Also shop style lights the ballast is built in to the housing not the bulb...

Not to say you're wrong I'm just playing devils advocate I guess

Oh and that nug I just dried in the oven off my 55day girl really crept up

Click to expand...

Im an electrician and have to install huge amounts of lights in factorys. (so I hope im right else they might burn down and i go prison, lol)

Thanks a lot all that what i figured too. I knew about the ballast using extra wattage, but i also read that if you have a digital ballast you only use the 400w.
Truth to this?

less power loss, they run at about 92% efficiency.

But I found out some only run a 600w bulb at 560w so they can print lower power consumption figures in adverts!