Digital ballests

High,well yup i'm a newbie, just got my med card and am about to buy a ballist,lite,etc. friend told me to go digital on the ballist(save some bucks on the bill)My questions,whats the boys in california using? What about the new blue lite bulbs. Well thanks for your time----- tri-panic

there is alot more to it.

a digital ballast will not save you electricity .

they are good as you can switch lamps from MH(metal halide, the blue one) to HPS (high pressure sodium, the red one)

The system you choose depends highly on your growing space.

Which leads me to some questions for you!

1.Have you done any reading about growing yet?
2.How big is your area you want to grow in?
3.Budget? How much you can spend?

J

I use a 400W digital, they may save you a little bit in electricity due to lower heat loss. The real advantage comes in being able to select 4 different wattages and I can easily switch bulbs.

Digital ballast run alot cooler.

Jondamon has some valid questions you should consider. No point in getting supplys untill you know what you are going to do.

digital ballasts do run cooler that is very true. i suppose they do save you a little bit of money as the draw of electricity is a little lower than that of a magnetic and they dont loose as much electricity .

i think a 600w digi pulls 625w but looses 50wmaking your lamp around 575w
mag's pull 650w and loose around 90w making your lamp around 560w.

i think i read this somewhere. my numbers maybe a little off but you get the idea.

J

My room is 4'x6'1/2-x6' and no to inside,only outside.Am about to clone ,thats ,I'm told, 18 hrs lite,6hrs darkness, till roots (10 days ?)

I dont understand your question.

Are you asking the light cycle of a clone??? If so you can have 24/0 or 18/6.

digital ballast put out more lumens per wattage. say a magnetic ballast might put out 4000 less lumens due to the lack of efficiency compared to digital.

4000 was jsut a number i thru out to prove my point, im sure its not the right number

One downside to alot of digital ballasts is that everything is coated in resin so you cannot replace parts. I would recommend buying locally or a website that offers a warranty.