How many watts does a 600 watt hps consumes?

[Jamaican876]

How many watts does a 600 watt hps consumes?

 

[Loc Dog]

That is a good question, since twice I have melted power strips rated at 1600 watt, with 2 600's plugged into it.

 

[cannabia]

They probably melted because you exceeded their continous use rating which isnt the shown max

 

[Loc Dog]

They probably melted because you exceeded their continous use rating which isnt the shown max

Thanks. It was not power strip, it was cheap foreign analog timers.

 

[Can of Bliss]

With a digital ballast; roughly 625watts, with magnetic 710.

These are rough estimates based on a quick look at Google. There are variations even within the same make and model of ballasts. It's wise to make sure your equipment is rated for 20% more than what you think you will be using.

 

[Jamaican876]

Thanks maan.and I always remember that 20% cushion.safety first

 

[Jamaican876]

I agree with cannabia you always have to remember that 20% cushion for your circuits maan.only load your circuit to 80% of it capacity.safety first

 

[Limeygreen]

If in doubt, plug into a power consumption metre, run it for awhile and see what the average is, it takes more to start up of course. I have seen magnetic run at 680, but 710 doesn't sound off either, each manufacture, temperature, bulb etc could factor into power consumption.

 

[Granger2]

What you need to consider is amps. Most circuits are 15 amps or more. For a 15 amp circuit you should use 12 amps max. Also have your lights come on at least 2 minutes between start ups because there are surges at start up. Check your ballasts to find the number of amps the ballast uses, but I'm pretty sure you are OK with 2 400s. Good luck. -granger

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Lamp life and temperature also figure into this. An older lamp will draw more wattage as time passes. A lamp cord exposed to infra red (hps for sure) will heat up, increasing resistance in the cable, causing the ballast to draw more power to send through the cable to compensate, which heats the cable up more, which drives up the resistance, which causes the ballast to draw even more wattage.

Tuck those cables up out of the way of HID lighting. I'm guessing this runaway situation has popped more than one electronic ballast and has definitely shortened the life-span of many a mag ballast.

 

[Jamaican876]

Thanks all.ipthink I'll be going with the 600 watt since heat will be one of my issues this summer.thinking of getting a heatin exchange unit for my light vent.

 

[Shovelhandle]

600 watt ballast at 120 volts will usually draw 5.5 amps 240 volts would be 2.75 amps (approximate).

So to figure utility cost per day for 600 watt lamp at 18 hours use .65 kilowatt hours x 18 x utility rate ( expressed in cents per kilowatt hour example: $.020 / KWH) There are other utility charges and fees but the KWH will give you an idea of the extra cost of running the light.
So using the example .65 x 18 = 117 WH or 117 KWH x $.02 = $2.34 / day would be the rate from my utility.

 

[Can of Bliss]

Lamp life and temperature also figure into this. An older lamp will draw more wattage as time passes. A lamp cord exposed to infra red (hps for sure) will heat up, increasing resistance in the cable, causing the ballast to draw more power to send through the cable to compensate, which heats the cable up more, which drives up the resistance, which causes the ballast to draw even more wattage.

A ballast is a current limiter, that's their purpose. Bulbs do not determine current (once they are fully started). A 250 watt hps bulb on a 1k ballast will pull 1000watts (until the bulb completely self destructs).

A old bulb puts out less light and a worse spectrum, but the ballast is still in charge.

A lamp cord heating up will not change your current draw. It will just be using some of those 600 watts to make heat. So same electrical usage, just less going to your bulb. No ballast is smart enough to try to compensate. Fortunately, unless you have a 300 foot cord that is heating up to red hot, it's a pretty small difference, but it's always good to keep them out of light. They last longer if they are cool and not getting UV.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

A ballast is a current limiter, that's their purpose. Bulbs do not determine current (once they are fully started). A 250 watt hps bulb on a 1k ballast will pull 1000watts (until the bulb completely self destructs).

A old bulb puts out less light and a worse spectrum, but the ballast is still in charge.

A lamp cord heating up will not change your current draw. It will just be using some of those 600 watts to make heat. So same electrical usage, just less going to your bulb. No ballast is smart enough to try to compensate. Fortunately, unless you have a 300 foot cord that is heating up to red hot, it's a pretty small difference, but it's always good to keep them out of light. They last longer if they are cool and not getting UV.

This entire post tells me you've never put an old lamp and ballast on a meter, nor had a runaway lamp condition. No worries, I was there once.

edit: A ballast is a "Specific Current Supplier" to the Lamp. Any inefficient ballast will draw additional wattage from the wall, it's turned into heat. The most classic example is an inefficient 150w ballast, connected to an aged lamp, drawing nearly 500w from the wall on a Kill-a-Watt meter. Any ballast with an old or damaged lamp will also draw additional current, due to it being more difficult for the ballast to run the correct current efficiently through the lamp. There isn't one single part of a mag ballast which limits how much current it takes from the wall, besides the rating of the wiring and components the voltage is going through.

 

[Chucktalor]

Is this real?

Is this real?

I mean I hope you are just kidding around ,, but anywho all been there before,, ding ding .. 600w is 600!!! You need to focus on a dimable 600watt ballast andBULBS!!! Lumens equal large yields!!! 600 Hortilux MH blue daylight veg and 600 watt super hps.. and of course don't cheat yourself on soil, flowering soil, nutrients ect ect or like I say don't do it at all if it's not done right.. i used to run 2 600s 2cycles every 3weeks and electric bill wasn't shit.. best of luck

 

[Chucktalor]

A ballast is a current limiter, that's their purpose. Bulbs do not determine current (once they are fully started). A 250 watt hps bulb on a 1k ballast will pull 1000watts (until the bulb completely self destructs).

A old bulb puts out less light and a worse spectrum, but the ballast is still in charge.

A lamp cord heating up will not change your current draw. It will just be using some of those 600 watts to make heat. So same electrical usage, just less going to your bulb. No ballast is smart enough to try to compensate. Fortunately, unless you have a 300 foot cord that is heating up to red hot, it's a pretty small difference, but it's always good to keep them out of light. They last longer if they are cool and not getting UV.

Hmm , I wonder why I kept burning out 600 w bulbs on electric 1k? Dimable or not..

 

[Chucktalor]

This entire post tells me you've never put an old lamp and ballast on a meter, nor had a runaway lamp condition. No worries, I was there once.

And I thought I was going crazy reading that , I guess if you were to convert a 20 year old magnetic ballast coil to compensate hps then maybe buuuuttt wtf uses magnetic lol. The whole 30-50ft cord to help the heat just engining speaking doesn't sound the greatest unless your running 240amp and u have to do what's nessesary

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Lots of people still use mag ballasts. They can be repaired in minutes with spare parts and limited tools. They also last decades with scheduled maint...

I edited my previous post to include why a mag ballast is not a current limiter, but a "specific current supplier." There's a huge difference between the two and any electrician will also tell you the same.

Dunno about digi's but a mag ballast can and will draw more current than listed, under adverse conditions.

 

[BlackMarketMic]

A ballast is actually a transformer, ballast is used to name the transformer in lighting equipment such as hid or fluorescent. A transformers purpose is to provide a specific voltage, there are step up transformers such as the ones we see in magnetic hids and step down transformers such as 16v door bell transformers. To calculate a load we use amperage as a mesure, wattage is what different companies use to give you the load mesure of whatever device your buying so you get an idea of the amount of power it uses in real life electricians work with amps to calculate everything from the size of the breaker to the size of the wire to how much electricity a certain load is taking ex motors, refrigeration compressors, transformers etc. Every single ballast will be slightly different and so will the bulbs so the only way to know for sure how much current any single ballast or bulb is drawing is to get an amp meter clamp and take a reading at both the input and output of the ballast this way you will see how much your bulb is taking and how much your ballast is using to power that bulb. Take a reading at the start-up of your lamp and take another reading about an hour after it starts to see what you are drawing, its always higher at start-up especially hps because it needs much higher voltage to ignite the bulb then it will gradually decrease as your bulb warms up since current starts flowing through the gases inside the arc tube. This is why it's good to have a few minutes of intervals between start ups, it's the same as motors and compressors the all use more current at start up then gradually go down and a motor will draw more current if it is being slowed down by a heavy load in order to go back to it's normal speed. People would be suprised of the differences between the wattage claims of the company's and the actual current draw measured with an amp meter. You can use the law of ohm formula to easily convert watts to amps to voltage.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Thank you, BlackMarketMic A very succinct confirmation.

Skilled tradesmen are so valuable.