Are the high $$ digital ballasts worth the money?

I'm looking for the perfect ballast / hood setup for the new grow and I'm seeing a pretty big variance in price between digital ballasts and standard magnetic ballasts...I don't mind spending extra on quality shit so long as it's not a waste of money. What do y'all think? It looks like going digital costs an extra $80-$100 over a standard magnetic ballast...

I should say that quiet is a very important thing for me and whichever produces the lesser amount of heat is damn near an automatic winner.

then the choice is made for you. heat from magnetic is many times more than digital in my experience. i have the 1000w phantom ballasts, mounted vertical on my flower room wall and you can set your hand on them anytime and they are barely warm. plus i had a flameout on one of my magnetics and it scared me.

I have changed all of my floro tubes in my home to digital ballasts. No more hum or flicker - way better.

Do the heavy magnetic ballasts last longer? Yes for the most part.
Are the digital ballasts cheaper to run? Yes.
Has the interference issues of digital ballasts been fixed? Yes for the good ones.
It really boils down to what you feel is right. Most digital are bi-bulb meaning they can run MH and HPS. Some magnetics can do the same, but don't have dimming choices.
You can buy parts to repair a magnetic ballast, you can not do that with digital unless your an electronics trained person. And even then it could be tough, I am an electronics person.
Magnetic ballasts use more electricity but last longer, IMHO, while digitals are lighter and use less power...But I am sure to provide supplemental cooling airflow over them because electronic components do not like high heat.

Dirty Harry said:

Do the heavy magnetic ballasts last longer? Yes for the most part.
Are the digital ballasts cheaper to run? Yes.
Has the interference issues of digital ballasts been fixed? Yes for the good ones.
It really boils down to what you feel is right. Most digital are bi-bulb meaning they can run MH and HPS. Some magnetics can do the same, but don't have dimming choices.
You can buy parts to repair a magnetic ballast, you can not do that with digital unless your an electronics trained person. And even then it could be tough, I am an electronics person.
Magnetic ballasts use more electricity but last longer, IMHO, while digitals are lighter and use less power...But I am sure to provide supplemental cooling airflow over them because electronic components do not like high heat.

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could you explain How a digital uses less power?

the digital ballasts dont save you money on your electric bill i went to the grow store and asked the owner what he would recommend and he said hes been growing for years with magnetic ballasts and when he opened the store he switched out all high magnetic ballasts for digital and he said he didnt save any money what so ever (this coming from the guy thats selling them so id assume hes not bull shiting me especially when the digital ones are more expensive)... also the dimmer on the digital ballasts aren't that great because they fuck up your regular bulbs and cuts down the life of the bulbs significantly.. the best part of digital ballasts that they run cool thats about it

the big thing for me was the heat. ive heard somany times they save money, they are more efficient when it comes to energy used, but it doesnt show up as savings, too small of an amount.

I use all Lumateks. Best on the market, can't go wrong.

kindfarms420 said:

this coming from the guy thats selling them so id assume hes not bull shiting me especially when the digital ones are more expensive.

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Magnetic ballast's do not last as long as digital... So it makes sense that he would say that, because in the long run it will cost you more money.

Advantages of digital ballast:
- Less heat
- Less weight
- Less noise when operating
- More energy efficient
- Light produced is more consistent(less flicker)

http://www.sunlightsupply.com/t-faq.aspx

Are electronic ballasts more energy efficient?Electronic ballasts are more efficient at converting electricity into usable light. Since your power bill is based on kilowatt-hours and not efficiency, a 1000 watt electronic ballast will cost you about the same as a 1000 watt HID ballast to operate.

Digital also run better on generator power.

I'll still take magnetic.

Kinda like a revolver. 6 every fuckin time.

Honestly digital isn't really worth it unless you have the extra money or just want bragging rights. My first ballast was a digital 1000w and it still runs but every light ive purchased since has been core and coil. Digital hasn't saved me a dime or a degree plus, you can buy splitters from sun pulse that split your 1000w into two 600s. You could go spend about 200 more and get a dual 600w ballast from lumatek, but its not gonna make your buds any bigger.

ballin174 said:

Magnetic ballast's do not last as long as digital... So it makes sense that he would say that, because in the long run it will cost you more money.

Advantages of digital ballast:
- Less heat
- Less weight
- Less noise when operating
- More energy efficient
- Light produced is more consistent(less flicker)

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actually magnetic ballasts last longer than digital and they are NOT more energy efficient like stated before it converts in usuable light better but that is NOT saving you on your electric bill

kindfarms420 said:

actually magnetic ballasts last longer than digital and they are NOT more energy efficient like stated before it converts in usuable light better but that is NOT saving you on your electric bill

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yes they are more energy efficient, thats why they dont run as hot. but like it said in my post before, your not billed on how efficient your device is on electricity. your billed on how much power it uses. BUT it is certainly more energy efficient then a magnetic ballast.

lachrel said:

You could go spend about 200 more and get a dual 600w ballast from lumatek, but its not gonna make your buds any bigger.

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Actually you will get higher yields/bigger buds with a digital ballast... Digital ballast's generate more lumens per watt of electricity consumed(up to 30% more).

also when i buy 8 1000 watt ballasts for 190 a piece thats under $1600, but if i bought 8 digital itd be 3200 with those prices i could buy 16 magnetic ballasts for cheaper than buying 8 digital also the digitals only have a 3 year full warranty and 2 year prorated warranty..magnetics have a 5 year full warranty...so if my 8 magnetics die within 5 years im getting it fixed for free or if they last there full 5 yearsi can go buy new ones for still cheaper... so you said it will be cheaper in the long run? how long is that run 80-90 years? i would be all about the digitals if they cut your electric bill in half because thats they only way there really worth 400 a ballast...

I have a cheap digital ballast and probably a cheap magnetic ballast as well and they both work great...neither makes noise...the magnetic is way way larger and heavier than the digi...the magnetic makes a weird super weird sound when it first comes on, but after the first few times you catch on that Darth Vader is not there to get you and then it is cool...the digi you never know if it is on or off, unless you see the light then of course it is on...but you get my point..the digi ballast can get hot though so we have it in an old computer case surrounded by pc fans and now it stays nice and cool...the magnetic doesn't seem to get as hot, although it does heat up, but not like that digi ballast...

bertiswho said:

yes they are more energy efficient, thats why they dont run as hot. but like it said in my post before, your not billed on how efficient your device is on electricity. your billed on how much power it uses. BUT it is certainly more energy efficient then a magnetic ballast.

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i understand what your saying but i dont see it being more efficient when its not saving on your electric bill

One is not more efficient than the other once you lay it all out in black and white...you just have to choose which you want...digis are good because they do MH and HPS...Magnetics are good because they do HPS and CMH...Just pick one...all I know is that the digi ballast blew my HPS bulb within a few weeks of first trying it...but it has been going strong with the MH, which is all I use it for...Some people say there is something you have to switch or something to go from HPS to MH, and I guess I didn't flip it or turn it or whatever..so that was probably my fault...but there really should be some instructions that come with these things, but beyond how to plug it in there were no further instructions...so I guess it is set for a MH...blah blah blah doesn't matter...you jsut have to pick which you want to use...

I didn't see wattage mentioned by the OP but you could always go magnetic, run a CMH bulb, but then you're limited to only 400w. CMH run cooler then MH or HPS. But like I said, you're limited to only running 400w as that's as big, watt wise, as they come. All I've ever used is magnetic. I have buddies that have burned out their digital ballasts and my magnetic just keep on tickin...