Power consumption ballasts

Hey guys!

So i think i have worked out the cost of electricity consumption by (wattage)(hours of operation)(cost per kWH)/1000=cost

But my question is do ballasts required for HID require additional electricity to run, or do they just provide adequate electricity to the bulbs which consume energy based on their wattage?

All ballasts consume additional power........magnetic ballasts (18-55w) in general.......digital ballasts(15-25w) in general(the ones with fans consume a little more)....the higher the bulb wattage/the more watts the ballast consumes.......keep in mind the cheaper the ballast usually the more watts it consumes also.....I've seen a 150w sunsystems hps consume more than 3amps! due to a shitty design..

you are not billed on amps, just watts.

Still not sure what you are asking but I know magnetic ballast use approx 1100 watts to start up and then drop down to around 1000 or slightly below while running.

superstoner1 said:

you are not billed on amps, just watts.

Click to expand...

Well since the voltage remains the same, technically you are billed for amp hours used.

1,000 Watts at 120 volts is 8.33 amps. Since the voltage remains the same at 120v, and you are billed by Kilowatt hours used, what you are paying for is amp hours used. 1KW for 12 hours at 120 volts is 100 amp hours.

superstoner^^^^^^^^^^amps x volts = WATTS............last time I checked