$60 dollar ballast?

400 Watt - 480 Volt - High Pressure Sodium Ballast - Sola #E-971-DD-SO400 Light Bulb

what would be the prons and cons of buying a ballast such as the one above and wiring in mogul base into an air cooled reflector compared to buying a premade ballast/bulb/reflector combo from HTGsupply.com?

You need to assemble it ? I wouldn't Buy it.

I just got my 250w hps ballast and bulb lastnight it took only a few minutes to wire up and have running. I saved about 50$ buying the kit instead of the light setup already done. The only thing that you will need to buy is a reflector or you could make one. There really is no difference in the ballast kits and the prebuilt lights. Just the prebuilt ones come with the ballast, starter, and igniter in a nice case. You can buy a project box that will work from Radio Shack.

plus that ballast is magnetic, electronic ones are better, less flicker, more power, and more control,

tokenchokenpassnsmoke said:

400 Watt - 480 Volt - High Pressure Sodium Ballast - Sola #E-971-DD-SO400 Light Bulb

what would be the prons and cons of buying a ballast such as the one above and wiring in mogul base into an air cooled reflector compared to buying a premade ballast/bulb/reflector combo from HTGsupply.com?

Click to expand...

Pro's 480 Volt systems are cheaper to operate
Con's in all my years of being in and around home construction etc. I have NEVER seena house wired for 480v!

If your looking to go cheap . Check craigslist. I buy these 1000w MH's w/bulb for 25$ each and wire them to be remote. 1000 Watt Metal Halide fixtures
Usually i can nab a few x-tra bulbs at like 5-15$ each . From the same seller(s)

Spend another 65$ on a decent reflector. And you got yourself a sweet 1000w light for under 100 bones. All you need to do is add the plug. And add wire from the ballast to the mogul so you can raise lower your light and keep the ballast outside the room .