That's the wierd thing about the Iwasaki 175W 15K bulb - it actually spits out more PAR with an electronic than a TAR ballast while using less juice according Sanjay's results which are backed up by user observations like Son of Skyline. What is also impressive is that its colour comes exactly as advertised which is a lot more than can be said for most bulbs.

With respect to HQI ballasts, you have to factor in the extra electrical usage that an M80 uses over and above a 250W electronic ballast (+330W vs 250W) - that extra light you're getting with an M80 comes at the cost of more electricity. That said, certain bulbs like the Radium 20K are spec'd for the M80 and would be a waste on an electronic. It comes down to user preference: Is the extra PAR you get worth the extra electricity you're going to use? Of course let's not forget magnetic/TAR ballasts which will fall in the middle somewhere.

this is a valid argument for someone living in California where power is way way more expensive than it is hear.

My 90 gal which had about 10 pumps, two 250 watt M80's and two 3 foot VHO's.. hmm plus two 55 watt PC and a few fans and a chiller, only made a differance of 20 bucks on my power bill per month. One of the best thing about living in BC is cheep cheep power. so switching the ballasts over to electronic after I did a apm draw reading at the plug would have saved me about 7 bucks per month.. realy nothing compared to the 30ish % more PAR I got.

I think because of all the enviormental issues with power usage and such ya sure save the power and money, but when you look at it there are several things you can do that would have a much more dramatic effect on your power bill, like turning the heat down in your house 3 degrees F, that saved me 18 bucks a month and I didn't give up anything, oh change all your lights to CF instead of normal bulbs, that saved me 25 bucks a month cuz the darn kids can't turn out a light :mrgreen: and I have done some others things also, which has resulted in a 60.00 / month reduction in my power bill, not cuz I thought it was to expensive, but rather cuz I thought it was a waist of power as I have all the same comforts that I did befor.
for eg, if switching to CF's would have given me less usable light from the lamp fixture, there would still be a incadecent 100 watt bulb in there, but I was able to obtain more light for 1/4ish of the power so I was happy.


Steve

I was going to run the Iwasaki/electronic on my cube but the only 175w electronic I can find is Icecap and the interference from them drives the am radio crazy {which my wife is listening to},

Put it in a Faraday Box - any old metal toolbox or electrical junction box would work just as well.

Yup, inside a metal box, then ground the box. That will shield the electronics.

Oh, thats interesting guys. Thanks