Electronic Ballasts for MH

Whats should I do. Im pretty happy with the 175 Magnetic ballasts, but I have come across a decent deal to get some ice cap electronic ballasts. About $160 for both total.
Is it worth doing, or should I just stick with what I have?
I am wondering what my saving in electricity would be over a year?

 

Are they 175s? IceCaps are great and the company is no more. So, could be a good deal. Electronic ballasts use less energy, but also, put out proportionally less PAR, i.e. the PAR per watt used is the same. So, you'll likely get less output. However, they will run quieter and cooler and will use 20-30% less less electricity (although, again, with 20-30% less output). The bulbs may also be different, some bulbs won't run as well on an electronic, others will run better.... So, in short, I can't really answer that question for you...

As to savings per year, say it was 20% less power consumed. So about 44W x 2 = 88W run what, 8 hrs per day? = 704 per day X 365 days per year = 256960. Divided by 1000 = 256.96 KW hrs. If your rate is say, $0.12 per KW hr, that's about $31 per year.

 

Yes 175 watt each. So ice cap is out of business!?

 

Ice Cap is out of business, but Coralvue will service their products.

Personally, I would get a Galaxy or Lumatek multi-watt ballast. They provide more light output than any electronic ballast that's been tested, and the multi-watt feature will let you move up to 250W if you ever choose to.

 

I wonder why they went out!? I always thought they were the TOP of the line?
Either way, is it even worth it to spend the money on these? I have the tank in central air, the magnetics make no noise.. (maybe slight when starting up) and $30 over a year is nt to much savings.

 

Lumatek great ballast & they stand behind their product. Lumatek test their ballasts with Ushio bulbs.

 

I just moved your last two threads. Please post on the right boards. THanks

 

Well it's really up to you... I prefer e ballasts over magnetics. It's always nice to have a backup incase of emergencies though.

 

That the thing I would have to sell the Mag Ballasts and they are the ones that (from what I have heard ) are more reliable.. true?

 

I won't comment on Ice Cap.
As for reliability, e-ballasts (made right) are just as, if not more reliable. They will fire a broader range of MH bulbs and save you a few bucks of electricity doing so.