Electronic ballasts according to growshops.fr, your online horticultural advisor.

Growshops.fr presents a wide selection of electronic ballasts in its extensive online catalog, in the Horticultural Lamps section and the Transformer - ballast sub-category. Also known as digital ballasts, electronic ballasts first appeared in Europe over a decade ago.

Generally speaking, whether electronic or ferromagnetic, a ballast is a compact unit, a form of electrical transformer, essential for installing HPS (High Pressure Sodium) or MH (Metal Halide) lighting kits. More expensive than the magnetic ballasts widely used in the past, electronic ballasts offer their users a number of undeniable and visible advantages in terms of plant productivity. In particular, thanks to their modularity and proven reliability, electronic ballasts have supplanted their magnetic counterparts, which today appear outdated and distressing in their operation and electrical connections.

Find Europe's most popular brands of electronic ballasts at the best prices on the web at your favorite growshops.co.uk. Like electronic ballasts from GavitasuperLumens, Nanolux, Lumatek, GSEdigiLight, ...

What are the main features of electronic ballasts, according to growshops.co.uk?

First and foremost, electronic ballasts offer genuine simplicity of electrical connection, which is highly appreciated during installation and (necessarily) regular maintenance. The electrical connections from the ballast to the mains supply and from the ballast to the reflector socket are made via IEC plug-and-play sockets.

This type of IEC connection (plug and socket) is becoming increasingly common on many reflectors on the market, such as those made by CIS Products. Somewhat less energy-intensive than the same magnetic models, electronic ballasts feature a dimmer, allowing light intensity to be dimmed or increased. Particularly practical, electronic ballasts can meet the growing photosynthetic needs of plants, thanks to this famous dimmer.

What's more, electronic ballasts feature resin shielding to prevent the harmful propagation of magnetic interference to household appliances and human beings, unlike older generations of HPS - MH transformers.

What are the technical advantages of electronic ballasts, according to growshops.fr?

Firstly, electronic ballasts are compatible with almost all MH or HPS bulbs on the market. Now, some specialist lighting brands such as SuperPlant, Gavita or Lumatek even offer bulbs with reinforced structures, specifically developed to work with electronic ballasts.

However, to ensure the integrity of MH or HPS bulbs, it is necessary to ensure reasonable use of the dimmer fitted to electronic ballasts, in relation to the nature and the wattage of the bulb supplied. In practice, during growth phases, the use of MH bulbs of the same wattage (or lower) than the digital ballast in question is authorized, but the position of the dimmer must imperatively correspond and remain at the rated wattage of the MH bulb used.

For example, if a 600 W electronic ballast is used with a 400 W MH bulb, the dimmer will be set exclusively to the "400 W" position, with no possibility of varying the flux to avoid damaging the installed bulb.

On the other hand, only when usingHPS bulbs, the various intensities offered by the dimmer of an electronic ballast make sense and can be used, provided the initial luminous flux of the bulb is not pushed beyond 110% of its original capacity.

A concrete example: if a 600 W electronic ballast is used with a 400 W HPS bulb, the dimmer can be set to the maximum "400 W" position (or even "440 W"), but the other lower power ranges can still be used, without fear of premature degradation of the HPS bulb thus limited.

Unlike conventional magnetic ballasts, electronic ballasts guarantee full luminous flux restitution, even up to 110% of the initial wattage of the installed HPS bulb (Superlumens function). In fact, contrary to the unfortunate findings of their magnetic counterparts, electronic ballasts do not suffer from light loss, depending on the distance of the cable linking the ballast to the E40 reflector socket.

Special bulbs for electronic ballasts

HPS bulb Lumatek Pro 600W 400V bulb	HPS 600W bulb 2100°K - E40 lampholder Superplant	Bulb HPS 400W Gavita

Growshops.fr, your online horticultural consultant.