HPS digital ballast vs magnetic ballast

So i read that the digital ballasts run cooler, use less energy to run, and are quieter.

Also, they can switch between HPS and MH bulbs and you can control the intensity of the light by switching bulb wattages. ex. a 400 watt ballast can use any wattage bulb up to 400.


I am more interested in the running cooler and using less energy part.

If i were to get a 250 digital ballast light system, it'd probably run around 185, compared to 115 for magnetic.

The question is, how much cooler, quieter, and efficiently does a digital run compared to a magnetic. Is there a noticeable difference in heat and electricity usage?

bunnyweed said:

The question is, how much cooler, quieter, and efficiently does a digital run compared to a magnetic. Is there a noticeable difference in heat and electricity usage?

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don't know, there are a couple of negatives to consider, #1 is some electronic ballasts cause radio interference, #2 they cost a lot more.

The cost savings are *only* for the ballast overhead, the bulb will still draw the 250W or 400W.
They claim 25% savings. So lets look at that.
400W bulb
magnetic ballast uses about an extra 50W
So thats 450W total.

The 25% savings isn't 25% of 450 (ie: 112.5W)
but a 25% savings on that extra 50W So out the door with a generous 25% savings, it would be 437.5W vs 450W for the magnetic. (a 12.5W savings aka, 2 nightlights)

One good thing about a magnetic, is if something goes south, a trip to a local lighting supply and you get a replacement part. That can't be said for a digital.

(I haven't heard about being able to use lesser sized bulbs, but that doesn't mean anything)

I like the digitals myself. Really I believe everything is a personal preference, but things are starting to go the digital route.

Not all ballasts are created equal. I still cant get over the 150w HPS Sunsytem that seems popular, that thing draws 408w continously! Over 500 at startup.

So check the current draw(AMPS) of your ballast, ignore the lamp. Multiply that by your line voltage, and you get your power consumption.

gammaz said:

Not all ballasts are created equal. I still cant get over the 150w HPS Sunsytem that seems popular, that thing draws 408w continously! Over 500 at startup.

So check the current draw(AMPS) of your ballast, ignore the lamp. Multiply that by your line voltage, and you get your power consumption.

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Man something is wrong! my 150 never drew more then 180W.

BigBudBalls said:

Man something is wrong! my 150 never drew more then 180W.

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I reckon! I dont understnad how the transformers work, but I know they should be a lot more efficient than that. Ive checked out some other 150w ballasts on the net and they have consumption around 180w too.

Heres the link to the review on the light http://420magazine.com/forums/grow-supply-product-reviews/91592-review-sun-system-150w-hps-system.html

ok so heres where hopefully my useless knowledge kicks in. the major draw for electronic balasts from my understanding is more geared towards the aquarium trade and heres why. all the electronic balasts i ran coincided with dual end mh bulbs (if im wrong here im just gunna look more dumb from here so if im wrong flame the #ell out of me lol) heres the benefits to all that. most aquarium owners dont want tops on their aquariums that are a foot tall so with dual end bulbs you can get reflectors and enclosures less then 3 inches thick the bulbs themselves dont have a uv glass sheild (so imagine the little tiny part of your bulb being the whole bulb. i could be wrong but the only way to get a dual end bulb to fire is with an electronic balast which is very valuable to most aquarium owners and not so important to us tomato growers . I do know this an electronic balast does push lumens deeper in a fish tank I.E. a 2 foot deep reef tank should have at least a 250watt dual end electronic balast MH for each 2 feet of length to grow high end hard corals OR typicaly a 400watt mogul base MH for each 2 feet. thats as far as my knowledge goes. And as far as i know if you rate something in canada as having a certain power consumption you can only have a certain varience to that and it would need to be signifigently less then >250% varience gamma had. I would recomend you bring that system back because theres a short somewhere if its using 408watts

Not my system, I dont own one - just trying to get awareness out. This is marketed at the low end and its inefficiency makes it a less desirable solution than other low cost setups.

The lamp was tested by some guy at 420 magazine, details in my previous post.

gammaz said:

Not my system, I dont own one - just trying to get awareness out. This is marketed at the low end and its inefficiency makes it a less desirable solution than other low cost setups.

The lamp was tested by some guy at 420 magazine, details in my previous post.

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Low end means nothing. Mine were just Lowes security lights converted. I say it was/is wired up incorrectly.

bunnyweed said:

So i read that the digital ballasts run cooler, use less energy to run, and are quieter.

Also, they can switch between HPS and MH bulbs and you can control the intensity of the light by switching bulb wattages. ex. a 400 watt ballast can use any wattage bulb up to 400.


I am more interested in the running cooler and using less energy part.

If i were to get a 250 digital ballast light system, it'd probably run around 185, compared to 115 for magnetic.

The question is, how much cooler, quieter, and efficiently does a digital run compared to a magnetic. Is there a noticeable difference in heat and electricity usage?

Click to expand...

lets see some pictures of your thing

but what about the quieter and cooler part? Do the digital ballasts actually run quieter and cooler than their magnetic counterparts? Heat is an issue for me, and if it's significantly cooler, i may have to go that route. The price difference between the digital and magnetic is around 70 bucks, so not a significant price jump for me. People could say to buy a cooltube or what not, but the bulb puts out the same amount of heat i believe? It's the ballast itself that runs cooler. And the exhaust would just be going out the closet, circulating into the room.

About the frequency thing someone stated, does it interfere with my wireless internet? that would suck.

and how are the HIDhut digital systems? anyone have any experience?

Define "significantly cooler" Marketing will claim a 5% as significant. The ballast overhead power drop will equate to the temp drop. Think of watts as the volume of heat, more volume faster the temp change. The end result temp won't be more then the ballast temp. So if a item has a running temp of 100F but uses 50W vs an item that has a running temp of 75F and 50W, both will hit the running temp about the same time.

Remote ballast is your solution. Taking it out of the grow room is key.

The bulb weather magnetic or digital will toss out the same heat end temp and BTUs. Cool tubes will help a TON, but not get rid of radiated heat. Light is heat and a cool tube will not cool the light waves, just the air the light heats up (inside the cool tube). IR light (aka: heat) passes through air and a vacuum. Think about it. The earth is partially warmed by the sun. All that IR light going through a vacuum, then through the ozone layer.

bunnyweed said:

but what about the quieter and cooler part? Do the digital ballasts actually run quieter and cooler than their magnetic counterparts? Heat is an issue for me, and if it's significantly cooler, i may have to go that route. The price difference between the digital and magnetic is around 70 bucks, so not a significant price jump for me. People could say to buy a cooltube or what not, but the bulb puts out the same amount of heat i believe? It's the ballast itself that runs cooler. And the exhaust would just be going out the closet, circulating into the room.

About the frequency thing someone stated, does it interfere with my wireless internet? that would suck.

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Digital smijital. I honestly can say I have no alliance to either of the two. Digital in my opinion is loud. I mean so is electronic but a little buzzing is better than hearing that effing fan on digitals. But digitals are WAY lighter and easier to mount on a wall or wherever. Plus they can do both mh/hps. But when it comes down to it I don't like the cost difference. But then again that is just my take on the situation. []Deace!

Just busting chops: But digital and electronic are the same.
magnetic and inductive are the same.

As for noise? I dunno. Its subjective. I could always hear a CRT (TV monitor) 'spool up' and run. Most people around me never heard it.

Some people are more prone to hearing different freqs. Women can usually hear higher freqs then men.

Elzabob said:

Digital smijital. I honestly can say I have no alliance to either of the two. Digital in my opinion is loud. I mean so is electronic but a little buzzing is better than hearing that effing fan on digitals. But digitals are WAY lighter and easier to mount on a wall or wherever. Plus they can do both mh/hps. But when it comes down to it I don't like the cost difference. But then again that is just my take on the situation. []Deace!

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Thanks for correcting my missinfo. I was meaning to say magnetic. =P And I never knew women can hear higher freqs. Thats a trip!

BigBudBalls said:

Low end means nothing. Mine were just Lowes security lights converted. I say it was/is wired up incorrectly.

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Sorry, by saying its low end, I meant to infer that a lot of new growers might see it as a good choice. Its bright and cheap. However, there are other solutions in the price range which would be better. I never meant to imply that cheap=bad.

As far as it being a faulty unit, there is a comment from another guy in that thread:

I had seen the amperage ratings on them but had assumed that it was due to initial startup draw and that when running it would only be consuming somewhere in the neighborhood of 180-205 watts

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Would be good if someone who owns one could verify what is written on the ballast.

With the IR light, that can be cut back with a water jacket right?

univ said:

lets see some pictures of your thing

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lmao


I know exactly what you're talking about BigBudBalls, I've always heard those frequencies too. This'll date me a bit, but remember the old Apple IIe? If you turned the monitor of those things on but didn't power up the computer they'd whine continuously but only a few people I've met could actually hear that.

Each of them have advantages and weaknesses. A magnetic ballast uses a lot of power and such, but you can bludgeon a grizzly to death with one and it still works.

That said I do prefer digital ballasts.

I have a getto ass 250w magnetic ballast and a 600w lumatek digi ballast. Digital ballast is much quieter and runs much cooler. Only goodside on the digital ballast is that its switchable MH and HPS instead of getting conversion bulbs.