We all know lamp life expectancies, but what about ballasts?
Spent way too long looking for T5HO ballast life expectancies so might as well throw the question up while I search. How often should a (T5HO) ballast be replaced? The only source I’ve found thus far is an off-brand ballast that claims 20,000-30,000 hours.
I’ll compile what I find, here.
2 Likes
Quality ballasts usually come with a lifetime warranty.
Heat is the biggest enemy of a fluro ballast.
I had 3 Fullham Workhorse 8 (120-L is 220w) ballasts, each running their max wattage with nothing but a oscillating fan in the room and they worked for many long hours for me. (24/7 for at least 2 years) and they are still goin strong.
I hear ballasts draw more power as they start to go bad, might be a good idea to monitor the power consumption if you’re worried about life expectancy.
Well I have a t5ho that needs new bulbs, and new ballasts are relatively cheap. If it’s still running above 90% of a new fixture it would be a waste of money to replace the ballast. If it’s lost more than ten percent of its original efficiency though, it’s more cost effective to place new lamps in a new ballast.
(And my ass is broke, so little decisions like that really make a difference.)
1 Like
Dude I feel ya. If you don’t mind adding wire to ballasts, I got 3 Fulham workhorse 8’s (capable of 220w each ballast)
If you want em, PM me and we can work something out. (If you’re in US, I can’t justify shipping overseas lol)
1 Like