What bulb to use 400 or 1k

[JadedMarxist]

Ok I'm setting up for my next season inside.

I have a dimmable ballast, with a 1000w hps bulb.

So is it better for my plants if I use the 1k bulb dimmed down to 600w or better to use an actual 600w bulb?

The reason I ask is last time I used the 1k bulb dimmed to 600w while I was at work and tent was closed up and still got hot.

During my home hours I'd open the tent and switch my ballast into 1k w setting.
I used the 1k bulb for pure convince, and never thought about effiency.

I must say using the 1k bulb it seems to have better spread as the bulb is much larger.

 

[Dirtbag]

It's best if you never dial them down, and if you do keep it close to the highest wattage. The spectrum goes haywire if the lamps arent at the operating at the temp they are designed for. As far as I know you're supposed to only dial down the lamp its rated for though, I'm not 100% sure if you can even run a 600w bulb in a dimmable 1000w ballast. But again I'm not 100% on that.

 

[JadedMarxist]

I've tried a 400w bulb it worked on the 400w setting. Sorry maybe I used the wrong word when saying dimmable it says switchable and dimmable on the ballast and the switch are 1k dual ended 1k, 600w, 400w.

 

[Dirtbag]

Interesting, what kind of ballast is this that runs SE and DE bulbs?

 

[JadedMarxist]

Here it is

 

[tifosi]

The guy at the hydro store told me to use the correct size bulb for each power output.