If you are beginning to get into indoor gardening or hydroponics, you need to know some of the main differences in the available products, in order to choose the best for you. This means that of course you need to do research into the various lights that are available, as well as which different products best suit your particular indoor garden. Something that tends to get people into a slight dilemma is understanding the core differences between magnetic ballasts and Electronic ballasts. This article is going to go through the various aspects of each type of ballast, and explain their core differences.
Cost.
The first defining difference between the two types of ballast is that typically magnetic ballasts are far more expensive than electronic ballasts. Therefore, if you were to purchase a 120V or 240V 1000-Watt Magnetic Ballast it would prove to be more expensive, than its electronic counterpart. This cost is not based on the upfront payment for the ballast itself, but rather the cost of operating it over time. Electronic ballasts are far more efficient at using energy, which means that they have significantly cheaper operating costs, than that of their magnetic counterpart.
Intelligent.
Another difference between electronic and magnetic ballasts, is that electronics ones are intelligent enough to be dimmed, in order to dim the lamp to a fraction of its light output. This can be useful in the case that your light is too intensive for your plants, or if you need to use a dimmer light for certain times in the plant’s lifecycle. This also means that you are not using more energy than you need to in order to help your plants grow, which enables you to save ever more money on your electricity bill.
Efficient.
Unlike a magnetic 1000 Watt HPS ballast, an electronic ballast is able to do its job more efficiently, and due to electronic ballasts being more modern, you can be more certain that it will work whilst you are away. With the older technology used in magnetic ballasts, there is more of a chance of something going wrong, which could ultimately ruin the quality of the plants that you are growing. It is for this reason that ballast manufactures like Sunlight Supply, Lumatek, Galaxy, Hardcore, Gavita and Hortilux recommend purchasing an electronic ballast over a magnetic one. Additionally, it is well known that in order to get your magnetic ballast to perform at the same lumens per Watt as electronic ones, you will need to purchase a special type, which still usually performs at 2% less.
With these main comparison points considered, you can see why electronic ballasts are your best choice. Not only are they more reliable and modern, but they are able to do their job more efficiently, which aids the overall process of growing your indoor plants.
AUTOPOST by BEDEWY VISIT GAHZLY
