To dim or not to dim......

Are there any significant advantages to dimming the lights as part of the lighting schedule?


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I am not certain but I would think it wouldn't prevent any minimal shock as far as the switch from bright to dark. Most people do it to be realistic, simulating the sun & moon.

 

I found dimmable ballasts for hqi bulbs but its not cheap and haven't figured out if it is worth the expense.


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I didn't know they made dimmible HQI bulbs. How much are they?

 

The bulds themselves don't dim. There is a ballast that controls the flow of power to the bulb. Less power.....lower light intensity.


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That makes more sense. How much are these ballasts?

 

saw them as low as $140 but it looks like you can only dim by 50% so not sure if that makes it worth it or not. I will do some chatting with the lfs first to see what they think. I would hate to buy this thing and then fry my lighting system.

 

Like everything else there is always some sort of trade off, in this case I suspect it will be in a shortened bulb life caused by the variable voltage supplied by the ballast not properly driving the bulb on a consistant basis. If I recall correctly, underpowering the bulbs can affect the color spectrum of the output, and this is what will happen when you "dim" the lights.

 

k+ well said

 

How do they do it with T5(HO) fixtures? i.e. controllers. Do they lower your bulb life too?