Indoor Ballasts and Bulbs

[Monkeypox]

Ok , not sure if anyone here knows this , but there IS a difference between old school and digital ballasts and how they effect bulbs . The bulbs you use in digital need to be made for digital . High Times had a very good write-up on it . Has to do with frequency etc . I believe Sunpulse bulbs were the only truly digital bulbs at the time of the article last december .

"Digital ballasts run at a much higher frequency then standard core & coil ballasts. Digital ballasts operate at approximately 50,000 hertz. Traditional HID bulbs were not designed to be run at such high frequencies and as such can suffer in performance. If you took the extra step to get a top of the line digital ballast be sure to pair that technology with a digital lamp as well."

 

[Muddy]

I've never heard that and tend to doubt it. They replaced our analog meter with a digital one about a year ago and they are a lot more sensitive. The installer told us they can detect things as small as a cell phone charger. But recording the actual devices? Even if that were true I know our local local company doesn't have the manpower or resources to monitor it.

I have a friend that refuses to use a digi ballast. He lives in a city that has started using "smart meters" to measure electricity. His claim is that everything digital has a chip in it that can read by the meter. So there is a record of all the newer digital electrical devices in your home & how much power they use.
Anyone know if that is true?

 

[agito]

my digital ballast for what its worth claims

Why Electronic ballasts?


http://www.lumatek.co.uk/index.php/why-electronic-ballasts.pdf?type=rawhttp://www.lumatek.co.uk/index.php/...ts.html?type=raw&tmpl=component&print=1&page=http://www.lumatek.co.uk/index.php/...4LnBocC93aHktZWxlY3Ryb25pYy1iYWxsYXN0cy5odG1s

More lumen output

Up to 30% more lumens output than some old style magnetic ballasts ...More light equals more yield. We urge you to test this yourself with a good quality light meter. Be sure to also check how much power the ballast is using with an ammeter as many so called 600w magnetic ballasts now draw up to 750w as standard to try to keep up with Lumatek's lumen output.
More lumens generated per watt of electricity consumed

Lumatek E-Ballast have increased efficacy over magnetic ballasts. They lose fewer watts from the power supply to the lamp. The high frequency output results in low power loss at the cathodes in addition to better overall power management.
Stable light output

Excellent for Pharmaceutical-agriculture, laboratories and other uses where precise regularized output is essential.
Fast start-up

It reaches full brightness in under one minute; magnetic ballasts typically take about twenty minutes.
Completely silent

No noise or vibration of any kind
Small compact design

Lumatek 600watt 120v E-Ballast weighs less than 4.5 kilos compared to almost 20 kilos for magnetic ballasts.
Produce less heat

Less heat generated by the E-Ballasts makes temperature control easier and allows cooler running of the environment
Cut-off circuitry

Lumatek E-Ballasts cuts off when a short is detected; for ultimate safety.
Longer bulb life

Lumatek E-Ballasts output loss over time, with the correct lamp, is dramatically less than with magnetic ballasts.
Fully interchangeable

Lumatek E-Ballasts can light both HPS and MH bulbs (excluding the 750w which is HPS only).

 

[gtron]

I've never heard that and tend to doubt it. They replaced our analog meter with a digital one about a year ago and they are a lot more sensitive. The installer told us they can detect things as small as a cell phone charger. But recording the actual devices? Even if that were true I know our local local company doesn't have the manpower or resources to monitor it.

That is my thinking too Muddy. Although here is what JM posted
http://www.autoflower.org/videos/62/smart-meters-spying-you.html


My friend isn't really the paranoid type so I was kind of surprised when he mentioned it.
I was wanting to surprise him with a new 600w hps for some help he gave me, but then he told me about his concerns with ballast so now I am sort of stumped as to what to get him, since digi seems to be the way the manufacturers are going.