110 vs 220

Sirius · Apr 23, 2010

I switched over to 220 recently and noticed my lights were substantially brighter. Question is, how much brighter and how much more efficient? How much do you think the difference will affect yield/quality? :wondering

Lost · Apr 23, 2010

I don't think they are any brighter but it does half the amps. :)

Loudblunts · Apr 23, 2010

what lost said :D

Sirius · Apr 23, 2010

They are significantly brighter and put out a more constant supply of light!

mace · Apr 23, 2010

I dont know how they could be brighter, i've always understood the value of 220 being they run at half the amperage of 110. Allowing you to put double the lights on the same electric line. And before anyone says anything about it, no it doesn't save you money!

Fred · Apr 23, 2010

I just changed mine over too. I thought I noticed a little difference in light but I' was running each light figured it was because all the power was right the ballast now. Pulling 110 through a lot of wire may have caused the ballast to lose some brightness. Now that it's at the ballast it has all it needs there is no loss of amps through the run of wire through the house and then through a cord etc. Just thinking of why yours seems brighter. Unless you forgot about new bulbs you put in?...lol ..just foolin

fred

sedate · Apr 23, 2010

Fred said:
Pulling 110 through a lot of wire may have caused the ballast to lose some brightness

Increasing the amount of electrical resistance in the device increases the amperage drawn. The brightness can be related to the electrical inputs, but not really in this way . . .

Lost said:
I don't think they are any brighter but it does half the amps

Lots of dual-voltage devices work better at the higher voltage inputs.

Most magnetic ballasts don't have regulated power supplies, so I think better ballast performance would be more than likely by doubling the input voltage.

It really depends on the ballast. I'd be very suprised if a digital ballast displayed this behavior.

Sirius · Apr 23, 2010

Fred, I thought the same thing but then realized all of the lights were on individual breakers... so the power was there. I would understand if I was trying to run a bunch of other crap on the same breaker...

Papa · Apr 23, 2010

it may be that the wiring that was existing for the 110/120 was not sufficient for the load . . . so your voltage was lower than the 110/120 that you were assuming you were getting. A number of factors can contribute to this. sedate knows this stuff.

Papa

Sirius · Apr 23, 2010

That makes sense sedate.. I am still using magnetic ballasts.. My buddy and I didnt think if were using a digi this would happen either.. but a more constant supply of power seems like it would make any device perform better..

sedate · Apr 23, 2010

Sirius said:
That makes sense sedate.. I am still using magnetic ballasts.. My buddy and I didnt think if were using a digi this would happen either.. but a more constant supply of power seems like it would make any device perform better..

A digital ballast would need to have regulated power supply - like a buffer that takes whatever crap that comes off the wall (or an alternator or battery or power supply really - all kinds of things use voltage regulators) and turn it into a steady state voltage using some capacitance and a tad of amperage.

A magnetic ballast wouldn't do that, but have an internal power supply that performs in direct proportion to the voltage it's being fed instead of turning it into something specific - so it's more than concievable a magnetic ballast would get a bit brighter switching voltage inputs as the 220v would generate far less resistance (and subsequently heat) - which is why, yes mace, switching to 220vac

mace said:
And before anyone says anything about it, no it doesn't save you money!

across multiple lights its is more than realistic to see a small reduction over a 120vac setup.

The less the power is transformed down from line voltage - the less of it you ultimately use.

chrometrichs · Apr 23, 2010

the best way to tell if your lights are brighter is to hold up a magnify lens to the light and wait and see how long it takes to burn your retinas, if you can still see after an hour or two it means led's are better than hid's.

(worst growing advice award winner)

SoggyBob · May 2, 2010

Some grows use power conditioners to keep a consistent flow of power, it can also save ur ballasts from power spikes. So no, 240 is no brighter than 120, it must have been ur wiring, (that could be a sign of old messed up electrical). I switched over my (8) 1000watt Hps lights to 240 and I save a lot of money, I'm paying half of what I was using 120. One thing to remember is if u switch over to 240, you will have to hard wire timers. If you do not know what ur doing have a professional hook it up, but you will no
longer have to deal with cheep timers that melt and cause fires.

110 vs 220

110 vs 220

Sirius

Lost

Loudblunts

Sirius

mace

Fred

Premium Member

sedate

Sirius

Papa

Sirius

sedate

chrometrichs

SoggyBob

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