replace magnet with digital, ? advice please

A few months ago i bought a magnetic econo ballast off ebay. This si my first ballast ever. It runs very hot and emits the noise i am sure you know about. I also have noticed i am going over my normal power consumption charges. That has me worried for money and alerting authorites. I can prob bring this down by cutting back elsewhere. I recently read that mag ballasts are pretty much crap, expecially arefurbished one. I t actaull wasnt that bad but basically i now feel i got to get a digital ballast pronto. I gwe paid today and will prob buy a400 for the hid hut. I run a 400 mag now. money is tight and i would rather spend that cash on other supplies. So if anyone has any ideas about this, ie do i need that digitzal ballast now or is pretty much the same to run? i wasover my kw hours by about an inch, seriously 30 percent if that is what it wud take off my bill would save my ass i think. Is that how it works the 30 percent they talk about you saving commes outa your bill or am i mistaken.,. Ami ok with a recently refurbished 400 mag ballast for now oe shuold i get the digi. I know myself and i am in love wit the digi idea but need some rational outsiede input,por favor.

Its not going to lower your electrical bill by much, a couple bucks at most. Do not worry about how high the bill gets, unless your running tens of thousands of watts and hundreds of plants( Bill is thousands of dollars each month) the Electric company doesn't care, just pay your bill. The authorities do not give a shit if you are using 500 watt hours more of power than you used to, do not be paranoid about that.

Just stick with the magnetic ballast until it either ceases to operate, or you get a nearly free digital to replace it.

Mag ballasts are not crap, they're the most reliable of the two. The efficiency difference is not that great, not something that's going to make any dent in your bill. You'd be lucky to save 40w.

If it's running too hot put a fan on it. That can also help the buzzing.

If a mag ballast is too old though, beyond say 10-15 years, then a replacement is probably in order. Digital ballasts will be lucky to last half that long.

wow u guys just saved me 130 dollars from hid hut for their ballast! Hmmm, u guys seem to know yur shit, wahts better eb adn flo, dwc, or aero. i can have all three even i think the aerflo nft aero dwc system, whatever it is. any ops, i jsut came into a little over reg budget crap i was wondering. i got a good pump and a billion air pumps also so i can go anyway diy or professional.

Eb and Flow is really easy, so is DWC. aero needs way more maintenance and must be watched closely.

My vote goes to Ebb and Flow, stupid simple and easy to grow a great yield. I personally have SWC ( Shallow water culture), but my setup pretty much demands that method. Do whatever works for you bro. E&F is cheap and easy, DWC is also, but DWC can be a bit more of a pain in the ass when it comes to changing out the water.

High EH..

I have 3 400w/mag ballasts .. 3 digis.. Both (400w) digis have had to go back for repairs (less than a year (Lumatek)).
The 600w digi is a Galaxy, it is only 4 months old (we'll see).

Screw the heat/$$.. the mags are more reliable, in my limited experience.
Unless you're going to go bigger stick with what you have.

Spend $$$s on a good fan or AC hood... get the environment right..

Good luck