Pro/Cons of using a dimmable ballast?

I am looking to buy another 600w hps setup and was wondering if I should get the package with the dimmable ballast. The price is similar for dimmable and non. I've never used one before and I did just fine. I was just wondering if someone could shed some light on the subject.

I'm no expert but why would one want a dimmable ballast?

bullwinkle60 said:

I'm no expert but why would one want a dimmable ballast?

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I have no idea. That's what I was wondering. I believe you can you use less power and increase the wattage as plants get larger. I'm gonna use what I know and get another nondimmable digital ballast. I don't think I would use the dimmable feature anyway.

I get triple phase magnetic ballast, 120vac, 240vac or 360vac. That way I can cheese out on the wiring at 360vac.

I like 150 watt and 1kw.

I have a phantom II 600 W dimmable, and its nice to be able to dim it for example, hot days in summer. Especially if your room isnt capable of cooling down enough, Id put mine down to like 75% or whatever it is and its cool down for sure.

There may be cons though, Im not sure on the answer to that.

I would say that the pro's and con's of dimmable ballasts are like this:

Pro:
1 They are dimmable.
2 Not many people have them except for the people who do.
3 They have a knob you can turn back and forth.

Con:
1 The lower settings don't give as much light.
2 There are quite a few brands to chose from.
3 Electricity can kill you.

Hope this helps

Messiah

CC Dobbs said:

I would say that the pro's and con's of dimmable ballasts are like this:

Pro:
1 They are dimmable.
2 Not many people have them except for the people who do.
3 They have a knob you can turn back and forth.

Con:
1 The lower settings don't give as much light.
2 There are quite a few brands to chose from.
3 Electricity can kill you.

Hope this helps

Messiah

Click to expand...

Your right lol..

So if I was using four 150's and I shut one off would this be like a dimmable ballast?

I'm very happy w/ my apollo purple reign - 400-1050w hps/mh, with about a dozen steps in between. It will run just about anything you've got. Hps/mh - completely silent, no fans. I replaced an apollo 600w dimable with ^^ that one. 600 still works great after a couple of years, I just got tired of the fan noise. Lots of good inexpensive ballasts now days.

You can save a power. That's the pro really besides heat that has already been mentioned.
They work nice for a scrog as well. If lets say you were filling out a 3x3 space with one plant.
If you were starting at the center with a 600 watter you could easily veg out a good 2x2 of that space at only 50% power. If you veg using gas lantern routine @50% it can cut a sizable chunk out of your power bill. For a small personal grow that makes all the difference in the world.
During flowering I have no idea what the pros would be. Of course your yield would suffer if you were to try and flower at 50% in the later stages. When your big swell comes in etc.