calculating power usage.

[diablo]

pse just gave me this formula.

watts x number of hours used in a day. divide by 1000 = kilowatts per day

your prices on your billing statment will tell you prices of kilowatts per day. this way you can figure out your tanks over all running cost.

 

[matts125]

Thats great! but do we really want to know?
I mean it might scare us!!

I think I will check mine out.
BTW does a 400 watt MH ballast use exactly 400 watts or is that just the performance of the bulb?

Matt

 

[diablo]

the reason I was asking pse this is for my billing statment. I used same amount of power running my base board heaters than having 6-7 tanks running.. and my apartment was warmer!

 

[diablo]

Thats great! but do we really want to know?
I mean it might scare us!!

I think I will check mine out.
BTW does a 400 watt MH ballast use exactly 400 watts or is that just the performance of the bulb?

Matt

as far as the Mh goes I am not shure if the ballast uses 400 watts of power or just converts it. this is a really good question!

 

[matts125]

as far as the Mh goes I am not shure if the ballast uses 400 watts of power or just converts it. this is a really good question!

It is a good question isnt it? common somone chime in here...
Don? I bet you know....

Matt

 

[moortim]

Think about it this way, when you buy a car it often has a horsepower rating from the manufacturer, but in the real world the car would rarely produce that exact amount of power. Dirty oil, running in a different gear, old spark plugs ect all affect the power output of the car, the same thing goes for light bulbs, the power rating gives you a good idea but there are other factors to consider. For example a hot lightbulb has a different power output than one just turned on, the older the bulb and ballast the more the power changes, the input from your electric utility (they are rarely right at 120 volts) can affect the output. The actual power output of a metal halide bulb can be all over the place, of course these are all generalizations but you get the idea. We need someone with a little more experience to give any numbers.

Tim

 

[matts125]

Think about it this way, when you buy a car it often has a horsepower rating from the manufacturer, but in the real world the car would rarely produce that exact amount of power. Dirty oil, running in a different gear, old spark plugs ect all affect the power output of the car, the same thing goes for light bulbs, the power rating gives you a good idea but there are other factors to consider. For example a hot lightbulb has a different power output than one just turned on, the older the bulb and ballast the more the power changes, the input from your electric utility (they are rarely right at 120 volts) can affect the output. The actual power output of a metal halide bulb can be all over the place, of course these are all generalizations but you get the idea. We need someone with a little more experience to give any numbers.

Tim

Thanks, I bet a 400 watt ballast doesnt really use any where near 400 watts it is probably like half that, that is why they magnify the electricity..
I could be wrong..

Matt

 

[moortim]

BTW does a 400 watt MH ballast use exactly 400 watts or is that just the performance of the bulb?

Matt

I just reread this post and I don't think my previous one really answered your question
I'll try this again:
There will be a small amount of power consumed in the windings of the transformer feeding a mh bulb but for the most part the power into a transformer = the power out of it, therefore the full amount of power is dropped accross the rest of the circuit, which in this case is a mh bulb. For the actual amount of power used see my other post.

Tim

 

[moortim]

Thanks, I bet a 400 watt ballast doesnt really use any where near 400 watts it is probably like half that, that is why they magnify the electricity..
I could be wrong..

Matt

The 400 watt bulb could very easily use a full 400 watts. In a circuit using a transformer the only things that change are the current and voltage, the watts stay the same. For example on the primary side (wall side) of a transformer you have 120 volts and as it goes through a transformer (bulb side) it can be changed up to, say 250 volts but as it does that the current available drops by the same proportion as the voltage increase. While this is happening to the current and voltage the power doesn't change, meaning the same amount of electricity is still available to the bulb it is just in a different form.
I hope that makes sense and I didn't bore you too much.

Tim

 

[DonW]

400 watts is draw / consumption warm. So yes its using 400w. or 3.3amps

Don

 

[DonW]

Here is a little comparison, I drink coffee from 5am to bedtime / my pot draws 900w for around 17hrs a day. My halides are only on 10 hours and draw 750w. So the tank really isnt all that bad.

Don

 

[danno14]

Don = Juan Valdez's best friend

but is it a 900w draw all the time, or does the heating element cycle on/off?

Check this link:http://www.hellolights.com/kiwaelusmo.html

I have been thinking about getting one as an interesting toy more than anything. Bear in mind that lights pull power while they are on. Pumps are all the time. Many pumps pull much more than lights! In addition, throttling the pump back will reduce the power consumption.

 

[DonW]

but is it a 900w draw all the time, or does the heating element cycle on/off?

Check this link:http://www.hellolights.com/kiwaelusmo.html

I have been thinking about getting one as an interesting toy more than anything. Bear in mind that lights pull power while they are on. Pumps are all the time. Many pumps pull much more than lights! In addition, throttling the pump back will reduce the power consumption.

Nope it just goes and goes. Tanks are not as bad as we think. Just walk around the house and look at the little things we use on a daily bases. Go to the bathroom and check the wifes hair dryer and curling irons. I have three girls at home. The curling iron and hair straightener thing run about 4 hours a day at 500w combined.

Don

 

[danno14]

it drives me nuts

when my wife has her iron on and when doing her hair lets the 1500w dryer run, and run, and run....and run

 

[matts125]

great info Don, thanks for the quick reply..

Matt