Which VHO ballast?? Help

[Troy F]

Hey Victor, thanks for the information. One more point of clarification; will the ballast power two of the 110W bulbs to full capacity?

Do any of you believe that IceCap is burning the VHO with equal output using less power because they are running them more efficiently? Is this physically possible?

One thing that has to be considered is that the length of bulb life is a huge factor in operating costs. Yes, of course, output is a major factor but if bulbs are costing as much as three times more on one system versus the other it would make any savings at purchase time for the workhorse almost irrelevant.

Using Darren's figures: if the IceCap runs the actinics for 2 times longer you'd really have to add $154.80 (price of 4 actinics including tax) to the total price. This is assuming you are using the IceCap as supplementation not as your primary lighting. If it is the primary lighting your savings would be even more. The Aquasun bulb is worth more than actinics and by IceCap's claims, last 18 months which would be 3 times longer than the WorkHorse and a savings of an additional $100 or so.

I'm not trying to sway anyone's vote here just wanted to point this out. I'd sure like to have some solid facts on the life of a bulb running on the WorkHorse and IceCap. I personally wonder if it is not the most important factor. Unless of course, you're rich [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] .