The Lumatek challenge!

Not sure if as far as heat and energy loss but these particular ballast have built in fans that draw air in and then out via another fan similar to a coooling tube but using the ballast case enclosue to tunnel the air over the circuits.very silent running and cool to the touch no heat

jeez Fletch, what are they hitting you for per kWh?!

Electronic ballasts regulate current using devices called SCRs (silicon controlled rectifiers) or triacs which are controlled by some digital circuitry. When electronics are limiting current, they totally slam the door on current flow rather then merely raising the series AC resistance (reactance) a small amount as occurs with inductive ballasts. This accounts for why electronic ballasts emit less heat. The fans in an electronic ballast help remove what heat they do produce as a result of the forward resistance of the triacs, but electronic types create a lot less heat from the beginning.

Lol they have about 10 charges listed each month.My bill at highest was like $256 but back to about $190 with the new lights and hopefully will get back to the $150 range soon.My energy supply rate is like $.07149 then a couple others are like $.019 ,$.00283,$.00010 , .$.006,$.005 and then a franchise cost rate of 3.789%.Then you got other fees and taxes lol.Im thinking of getting a small like 600 watt solar panel that feeds power back into my meter to help bring costs down some more.

Hey guys, great discussion here. Always appreciate a response from you Al B. Fuct.

I have a question for you guys, does the digital ballast run on 240v or 110? and does this mean they use up lower amperage?

Mine run on standard us current regular outlets

is that 110v or 220?

i have had a buddy test 600 for a grow,he recorded the light output useing a light meter photoraphers use,there was no increase in light,with the digis,he was not ready to justify spending 400 dollars a piece to upgrade to them which is the price in western canada,but he found his hydro bill only had a 5%change from the magnetics,but yes less heat,but he has them in a seperate room,and they probably do increase lamp life,but they did not increase his yield,that remained the same for that time of year as every other time for last four years.

wafflehouselover said:

I have a question for you guys, does the digital ballast run on 240v or 110? and does this mean they use up lower amperage?

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'Digital' ballasts are effectively PWM (pulse-width modulated) power supplies, on principles similar to your PC's power supply. They control their output voltage with a feedback loop, not a transformer. This makes them 'voltage agile.' Most can run on any AC voltage from 100-250V, automatically sensing the line voltage.

However, they will draw the same number of watts from the AC mains whether running on 110, 220 or 240. A given 1000W electronic ballast might draw about 1100 watts- that's 4.6A from a 240V line but will draw 10A from a 110V line.

trapper said:

i have had a buddy test 600 for a grow,he recorded the light output useing a light meter photoraphers use,there was no increase in light,with the digis,he was not ready to justify spending 400 dollars a piece to upgrade to them which is the price in western canada,but he found his hydro bill only had a 5%change from the magnetics,but yes less heat,but he has them in a seperate room,and they probably do increase lamp life,but they did not increase his yield,that remained the same for that time of year as every other time for last four years.

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Your buddy's 5% reduction in power use result is consistent with the results I got in testing a typical magnetic vs. a Lumatek. Also, electronic ballasts can not increase the luminous output of the HPS tube- a claim made by Lumatek on their website (they claim up to 30% increase in luminous output); that's determined by the amount of current dropped across the arc tube. Magnetic and electronic ballasts are both simply current limiters, delivering a certain voltage at a certain current to the tube. It's the same voltage & current, either way.

Electronic ballasts are slightly more efficient than magnetics because they don't waste any power in eddy currents, owing to the lack of an inductor.

As previously said, electronic ballasts also start the arc in the tube more 'softly,' increasing the number of starts per tube life. This is important if one runs a tube for several years (i.e. streetlights), but if you replace your HPS bottles yearly as is recommended for horticultural service, it's a moot point.

This thread is very helpful. Ive decided to go for a magnetic ballast rather than a ventronic digital which is £50 more expensive than the magnetic.

This is also what they say about digital ballasts tho:
"Q: Will this ballast cut down my electricity bill? I use a budget 600w lighting system at the moment but electric bills have gone up almost 3 times the amount that it was before.
In a word, no. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a ballast that will cut down on your electricity bill other than a lower wattage ballast (250W & 400W). Other retailers claim that their digitals ballast use less electricity than standard ballasts but it's complete and utter rubbish, they are simply trying to sell you a product that want, rather than one that will do as you need. If you see electronic ballasts being advertised as using less electricity then steer well clear of the retailer, they are either very poorly informed or a typical "hydroponic" rip off retailer. 600 watts of electricity is 600 watts of electricity which ever way you look at it, it's basic physics and as far as we know can't be altered.
Digital ballasts do have some advantages i.e. lower heat output and in the case of the Ventronic it maintains lumen output at the maximum level as the lamp naturally starts to degrade after a couple of months. The Ventronic is actually a 650W ballast, it produces extra around 17% extra lumens when used with Sunmaster 95,000 lumen lamps but will in fact probably use slightly more electricity than a standard 600W ballast to achieve this."
Grow Lights > Ballasts > Ventronic 600W Digital Ballast