Indoor Ballasts

Certain types of lighting in cannabis grows such as HPS lighting or metal halide lights need to be used alongside a ballast in order to function properly, to maintain stability and light intensity. Without a ballast, these systems simply won’t work.

Over the past few years, other types of lighting have burst onto the market and they’re becoming increasingly popular thanks to their many advantages, such as with LEC lights. This type of lighting, although it may use less electricity which is later reflected in electric bills, also requires a ballast, with the difference being that they come with the ballast installed such as the Powerlec 315w System.

Types of Ballasts for Growing Cannabis Indoors

There are different classes and types of external ballasts. They’re mainly distinguished into two groups; magnetic ballasts such as the Eti I, or electronic ballasts like the Bolt.

Let’s have a look at their characteristics:

• Magnetic or electric ballasts: these are used to transform electric circuits into HPS lighting such as the Purelight Grow Bloom Max grow light, or metal halide models like the Pure Light MH Grow.
• Electronic ballasts: this type of ballast uses semi-conductive circuits that allow for a faster start up time without any light flickering (thanks to their frequency), as well as higher performance than magnetic ballasts. Plus, many of them come with a meter and a dimmer that allows them to be used alongside other bulbs; this is the case of the Lumatek ballast. This means that with an electronic ballast that has a max power of 600w, you can start your grow off using less power (250w, for example), as cannabis plants don’t need intense light when they’ve just sprouted; you can increase this to 400w once they begin to grow, finishing off at 600w for the bloom period. This allows you to spend less in as far as electric bills while wasting less light too.

*Other benefits of electronic ballasts: these devices don’t heat up as much as magnetic ballasts, they’re safer, make less noise and produce a continuous flow which means your plants receive more light.

At La Huerta Grow Shop you’ll be able to find ballasts varying in quality and characteristics; if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team of experts.