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sssreef
02/26/2008, 12:54 PM
if a ballast for a 250w mh is rated at 300w. does that mean the total system bulb and ballast is eatting 300w or is it eatin 550.

black9ice
02/26/2008, 01:57 PM
300w would be your answer.

To better answer the question, if the ballast has an AMP or MAX AMP rating on it, there is a simple calc to figure Total wattage used.

Take line volatage (120v) X (amps or max amps) = Max Wattage

I say Max wattage because that is the max the device will consume. IE: bulb start up take quite a bit more power to fire the lamp. Once heated and running a MH would consume a bit less then the rated Max amp or Wattage on the ballast.

So still the short answer is 300w. Hope you see how to figure that out for anything that does not list wattage but only amps.

:bum: