RE: Dimmable Ballsts

[pfradonman]

I have a YieldLab 1000 watt dimmable electronic ballast and a bit of a technical question: If I dim to 50%, am I reducing the wattage DRAW from the wall by 50%, or does the ballast just "choke" 50% of the output to the bulb (while still pulling the full wattage from the wall)? I appreciate the input, but assumptions won't help here.

[kingfish]

I have a dimmable ballast myself and I know it will dim your light 50%, but I'm not sure if it only uses 50% power. I have never used it because I want all the light I can get.

[Tersky]

Thats a good question. I'd be interested to find out. I dont have a dimmable ballast. I guess if anyone has one and a watt meter you can test it out.

[Toker1]

You reduce the wattage and amperage drawn from the wall. So you reduce your electric bill. But dimming a 1000w bulb to 50% will reduce the wattage to the bulb. So if the manufacturer rated the bulb for 1000w you will not get the same spectrum. Plus it reduces the lifespan of the bulb itself.
I like the ones that dim to 400w and 600w so that you can use the proper bulbs at the proper time in the growth cycle. The ones that dim 50%, 75% are just not as good.

[pfradonman]

Responding to Toker1, what if I run a 1000 watt ballast at 50% but use a 400 or 600 watt bulb instead of a 1000 watt bulb?

[kingfish]

Unless there is a switch on your ballast for 400w and 600w , it won't work.

[Toker1]

50% of 1000 = 500. So a 600w bulb will work, but I wouldn’t try a 400w bulb.
In the 600w bulb situation, you are still running under the rated wattage so same effects apply. Loss of spectrum and shortened bulb life.

[pfradonman]

many thanks for the info, Toker1. Sincerely appreciate your assistance. was considering replacing a 1200 watt viparspectra full spectrum led that pulls 548 watts from the wall with my 1000 watt yieldlab hps running at 50% (capable of 100/75/50% settings) decided to just keep the 1000 watt at full power - also running two KING Leds simultaneously - they're supposedly rated at 1500 watts each, but only draw 248 watts each from the wall. I use them to fill in the sides of my 4'x6' area with the big hps in the middle (the viparspectra was in the middle last grow). growing 6 plants in that space. last grow was 3 strains from the bank genetics - Jack's Fire, Palace Kush and Rift Valley. 70-30 sativa, 50-50 hybrid and 100% sativa. after drying, the yield was a little over 33 ozs. all fox farm. now started two mothers from bank genetics, one of sour bubba, one of axilla; both high thc content.

[Toker1]

I was running MH for veg and HPS for flower. I was supplementing with side lighting cfl. Then the last few weeks of flower, I switched out the cfl bulbs for UV-b bulbs and really increased the THC.

[pfradonman]

Please ‘splain the UV-B bulb. Don’t think I’ve heard of those. And just to correct myself, I do use mg for veg and HPS for flower. Also tried a method described on an earlier GWE newsletter regarding “schwazzing”. F’n amazing results! I have always defoliated, pruned, etc; but schwazzing will be a permanent part of the process.

[Toker1]

https://www.amazon.com/AgroMax-Foot-22-625-Fluorescent-Light/dp/B01LWPINP2/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=agromax+uv+bulb&qid=1573070630&sr=8-2

It fits into your t5 fixture. 15 min on and 2 hours off only during normal lights on time.

[Farmall]

https://www.solacure.com/bulbs.html

Read a few paragraphs on this site. I’ve used the 4’ bulbs before