high electric bills help!

Hi
I have Philips 250w Pia Plus HPS (32000lm) (new)
and my ballast is a local brand and written such things on it:
Volt: 220
A: 3
Watt : 250W
and one trigger attached with it also ballast is not new.

here is my question: what is the actual power consumption in watt?
if my ballast is shitting could it cause high bills?
I assume this ballast actually consumes 660watt (220v x 3a = 660w) am i wrong?

Thanks

possessed said:

Hi
I have Philips 250w Pia Plus HPS (32000lm) (new)
and my ballast is a local brand and written such things on it:
Volt: 220
A: 3
Watt : 250W
and one trigger attached with it also ballast is not new.

here is my question: what is the actual power consumption in watt?
if my ballast is shitting could it cause high bills?
I assume this ballast actually consumes 660watt (220v x 3a = 660w) am i wrong?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Almost. The calculation to determine wattage can be very complex. Or, you can just read the wattage off the label. I highlighted it in your post.

possessed said:

I assume this ballast actually consumes 660watt (220v x 3a = 660w) am i wrong?

Click to expand...

Probably - does it use a standard plug? I've never seen a 220vac 400 watt ballast - I mean, you COULD make one, or use a 220v dimmable with a 400watt bulb.

Regardless, the watts is going to stay the same. Amps will change, but not watts - if watts changed, 220v lights would use double the power for the same amount of light - it just doesn't work like that.

AND a 400 watt light won't do shit. If your running them 24/7 in a veg room they might start to add up, but 1 hardly matters, unless your house uses a solar panel or something weird.

tibberous said:

Probably - does it use a standard plug? I've never seen a 220vac 400 watt ballast - I mean, you COULD make one, or use a 220v dimmable with a 400watt bulb.

Regardless, the watts is going to stay the same. Amps will change, but not watts - if watts changed, 220v lights would use double the power for the same amount of light - it just doesn't work like that.

AND a 400 watt light won't do shit. If your running them 24/7 in a veg room they might start to add up, but 1 hardly matters, unless your house uses a solar panel or something weird.

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yes its standart plug. Its 250watt not 400.
And yes i was using 24/7 until i received the skyrocket bill now 18/6.

So u mean regardless what it says on ballast about A, it will use 250watt or max 300watt power.
then i must look for another reason.

You are wrong

The amp rating will be peak rating as in the Max draw the unit should ever draw under normal use

The extra amps are normally needed to fire the light up

So yes it may draw 3A but not once the bulb is lit

It`s likely to draw anything from 10% to 30% more then the bulb it is driving once the bulb is lit a 200w ballast normally draws up to 230w

was your bill an estimate ? have you read your meter because sometimes they just fuck up and other times you pay under estimated bills for ages then they read your meter and boom that extra £10 you saved for the last 4 bills becomes £40 on top of a bill that has an extra £10 on it ?

It cost me 35$ to run a 600 12 hours a day is my estimate.

possessed said:

yes its standart plug. Its 250watt not 400.

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Yeah, 250. Just a guess, are you running space heaters or an electric water heater? Heating and cooling are your biggest electric uses generally, and the other stuff (TV, fridge, ect) normally doesn't fluctuate much.

tibberous said:

Yeah, 250. Just a guess, are you running space heaters or an electric water heater? Heating and cooling are your biggest electric uses generally, and the other stuff (TV, fridge, ect) normally doesn't fluctuate much.

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I bought bulb and ballast just 10 days ago.
I was receiving $70-$75 a month before growing and now received $115 already from last month which is light was on for first 5 days.


Everything is normal at the home i didn't added anything, only my growing equipment which is only one 250w hps lamp and its ballast added 10 days ago.

I just felt scared if i get something like $500-$600 to next bill. lol.

you mean you have a grow going and you did not rig the meter ?

lol just messing man

$45 for 5 days sounds a bit much are you sure you did not use any extra power ? It was x-mas and everything ? Have you checked your meter reading is correct ? You could do a very simple test turn off all your electricity and just run your light and see how fast your meter moves

You seam to have been using around $3 a day and you claim to have used $45 in 5 days so you should be able to see the meter jump up to double the speed

Other issues may be that your lights are on during peak rates ?

Your rates went up ?

Your supplier has given you an incorrect bill ?

It should not cost that much to run one light

I run at least 800w in flower more likely over 1000w and I see no rise in my power bill but I get my bills every 1/4 and it`s split between 4 or 5 of us and no one uses exactly the same amount every time

That light wont draw shit, less than a refrigerator ...five days wont be on your bill yet.

Find the kWh cost on your electric bill, 250W for your light, and 24 or 18 hours in a day, and plug it in here to find out how much you should pay per day

http://www.handymath.com/cgi-bin/electric.cgi?submit=Entry

i measured 20 mins from bulb on and 20 mins from bulb off
if i did it correct it consumes 234watt
so i need to look for somewhere else!

thanks a lot guyz

i would look more at heating your home or drying your cloths those are the big guys, but heating your home will be MUCH more then your 3k watt dryer running for 45 mins. do you use gas as well?

possessed said:

yes its standart plug. Its 250watt not 400.
And yes i was using 24/7 until i received the skyrocket bill now 18/6.

So u mean regardless what it says on ballast about A, it will use 250watt or max 300watt power.
then i must look for another reason.

Click to expand...

When you say 'standard' plug, you mean a regular 110v plug? and the sticker says 220v?

yes standard one i didn't plugged anything to convert.(i am not living in usa.) Here is 220v default.
By the way i decided to go 18/6.
some says its better for plant some says no and some says no difference just another confusing topic.

What about if i use 5x27w cfl for vegetating ? then put hsp on the scene when flowering
(I need to grow FAST these girls as much as i can.)

wall warts draw even when phones, ipads, xbox's etc are not plugged into them.

possessed said:

i measured 20 mins from bulb on and 20 mins from bulb off
if i did it correct it consumes 234watt
so i need to look for somewhere else!

thanks a lot guyz

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Where do you keep getting these math calculations. Your ballast uses 250 watts. It says so right on the label! That is 6 kWh or Kilowatt Hours per 24 hour day. If you have it on 18 hours, then it is only 5 kWh per day. Find out how much you pay per kWh and there you go!

I gave you a link to a handy calculator that does all that for you.

Or you can stick to your math, and then yes - you have 660W or 234W which should cost you a bajillion dollars. I don't know where I came up with the 250W figure - please ignore that.

Corso312 said:

That light wont draw shit, less than a refrigerator ...five days wont be on your bill yet.

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Exactly. When I had my 250 I think it raised my bill like 25$, 40 for light,fan,intake everything.

Something else in your house is using electricity. My tv and cooking skillet use more then that thing.

giggles26 said:

Exactly. When I had my 250 I think it raised my bill like 25$, 40 for light,fan,intake everything.

Something else in your house is using electricity. My tv and cooking skillet use more then that thing.

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Oven and stove top and a woman that likes to cook was my power bill enemy lol! Although, it was worth all the good cookin'... so I couldn't complain. Until I would randomly find the stove or oven left on. Grrrrr.

Krondizzel said:

Oven and stove top and a woman that likes to cook was my power bill enemy lol! Although, it was worth all the good cookin'... so I couldn't complain. Until I would randomly find the stove or oven left on. Grrrrr.

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My girl does that shit all the time! I'll be walking to the bathroom and smell something and I"m like hm wonder what she's cooking, go in there the damn oven is on and nothing in it! smdh