250 watt MH ballast(s)

[Slick Fork]

I'd be curious to see if the decrease in power consumption is comparable to the decrease in par. For example if the power consumption drops by 15% does the par drop 15% or is it more or less dramatic? Just how much more efficient would an E-ballast be over a traditional magnetic?

Also, what about electronic interference with other stuff such as televisions, radios, aquarium controllers,etc.?

[albert_dao]

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s...t_ID=vt-b0250e

[parkinsn]

I have this guy here and i am very impressed with it

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/pf...+2+x+250W.html

I have mogul base lamps (ushio 10k) you can run a HQI ballast on mogul's, it will overdrive your lamps giving you better light output but shorter lamp life.

[MikeP]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

I'd be curious to see if the decrease in power consumption is comparable to the decrease in par. For example if the power consumption drops by 15% does the par drop 15% or is it more or less dramatic? Just how much more efficient would an E-ballast be over a traditional magnetic?

Also, what about electronic interference with other stuff such as televisions, radios, aquarium controllers,etc.?

I was wondering about the about your first question(s) as well. Hadn't thought about interference.

[MikeP]

Albert, parkinsn...thanks for the links.

[xtreme]

Only problem I could see with a dual ballast is if one fails then you might end up with a huge ballast running only one lamp due to the fact that you can't just replace the one that failed. With two single ballasts, if you run into problems you only have to fix/replace the one.

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

I'd be curious to see if the decrease in power consumption is comparable to the decrease in par. For example if the power consumption drops by 15% does the par drop 15% or is it more or less dramatic? Just how much more efficient would an E-ballast be over a traditional magnetic?

Also, what about electronic interference with other stuff such as televisions, radios, aquarium controllers,etc.?

That's easy to figure out. Look to Sanjay's light testing results:

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting

You see how the PAR (PPFD) drops as the power (Watts) drops from an HQI, to magnetic, to e-ballasts? However, the efficiency remains relatively stable. Different bulbs will react somewhat differently but if you check out Sanjay's other results, the trend is fairly constant.

A properly built e-ballast in an enclosed Faraday Box (i.e. made of metal) should not give off electrical interference (EMP).