# what is a dimmable ballast do? is it safe to dim 1000 to 400 vice versa and will elec



## sirdoughboy (May 18, 2012)

i was wondering what a dimmable ballast does and how it works? i have a 1000w light and it gets way too hot to use. so if i switch the ballast to 600 or 400 watt setting it will only get as hot as a 600 watt light or or a 400 watt light would get if they were running. and is it good for a hortilux 1000 watt light to be dimmed to 600watt setting or even the 400 watt setting? will the electric bill be like im running a 1000 watt light if i have it on the 600 or even the 400 watt setting? i already asked this but was wondering if it is ok to run a 1000 watt light at a 400 watt setting on a dimmable ballast? thanks any answers or opinions will be of great help.


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## As300zx27 (May 18, 2012)

Yes you can dim a 1000 watt bulb to 600 or 400 and the ballast will only use about 20-30 watts more than the setting it is on. In example if you have the switch set at 400 watt with a 1000 watt bulb in it it will use about 430 watts. This will refuce your electicity usage and it will reduce your heat by more than half. However it changed the spectrum of the bulb so if your are going to dim it to 400 watts i suggest you purchase a 400 watt bulb in the spectrum you want bc that will stay true. I know about the electricty usage because i have a "kill-a-watt" unit that measures watts used. And you can clearly see the spectrum color differance by the naked eye. NEVER USE A 400 WATT BULB ON THE 600 OR 1000 WATT SETTING. THIS WILL EXPLODE THE BULB AND POSSIBLE CAUSE A FIRE. I REPEAT IF YOU USE A SMALLER WATTAGE BULB ON A HIGHER WATT SETTING YOU MIGHT BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN!! Sorry for the caps but im trying to help you. Hope this answers your questions and haapy growing


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## Gastanker (May 18, 2012)

What he said ^


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## sirdoughboy (May 18, 2012)

As300zx27 said:


> Yes you can dim a 1000 watt bulb to 600 or 400 and the ballast will only use about 20-30 watts more than the setting it is on. In example if you have the switch set at 400 watt with a 1000 watt bulb in it it will use about 430 watts. This will refuce your electicity usage and it will reduce your heat by more than half. However it changed the spectrum of the bulb so if your are going to dim it to 400 watts i suggest you purchase a 400 watt bulb in the spectrum you want bc that will stay true. I know about the electricty usage because i have a "kill-a-watt" unit that measures watts used. And you can clearly see the spectrum color differance by the naked eye. NEVER USE A 400 WATT BULB ON THE 600 OR 1000 WATT SETTING. THIS WILL EXPLODE THE BULB AND POSSIBLE CAUSE A FIRE. I REPEAT IF YOU USE A SMALLER WATTAGE BULB ON A HIGHER WATT SETTING YOU MIGHT BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN!! Sorry for the caps but im trying to help you. Hope this answers your questions and haapy growing



Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I never intended on using a lower wattage bulb on a high watt setting...in fact it's the opposite. I just ordered the Solis-Tek Matrix Digital Ballast with dimmable feature and was planning on using it with my 1000w Hortilux HPS bulb. I liked the idea of being able to have the options of using 1000w, 600w, or even down to 400w. As the weather continues to warm up, my room gets real hot so it would be a nice feature to dim it down a bit during hot summer months. I was planning on dimming my 1000w HPS to 600w during the early stages of blooming and then crank it back up to 1000w towards the end of blooming.


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## budleydoright (May 18, 2012)

that's the original promise of a dimmable. It does work in a pinch. I can't bring myself to fire my ushio at anything but 1000w. i always use a smaller bulb rather than dim.

Also you want to make sure your hortilux bulb is one of the newer bulbs that are reinforced for use in hi freq digitals. The original eye hortilux will self destruct in a digital ballast


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## sirdoughboy (May 18, 2012)

budleydoright said:


> Also you want to make sure your hortilux bulb is one of the newer bulbs that are reinforced for use in hi freq digitals. The original eye hortilux will self destruct in a digital ballast



I have this exact Hortilux 1000w HPS (LU1000B/HTL/EN) here at amazon.com .... http://www.amazon.com/EYE-Hortilux-Super-1000-Watt/dp/B004RCOVVG

Can you tell me if this is one of the newer reinforced bulbs that I can use for my Solis-Tek Matrix ballast? I couldn't find any info online about the newer Hortilux bulbs that are reinforced vs. the original eye Hortilux.

Thanks in advance!


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## BatCave (May 18, 2012)

Straight from the maker of the ballast I use:

Re: Dimmable ballast 




Originally Posted by *Batcave*
Speaking of dimmable.., If you use the dimming feature will it change the spectrum of the bulb? Will dimming a 1000w 2000k bulb to 75% change the spectral output any? I know that the bulbs are designed to run at a specfic wattage, just always wondered.



_Good question! Dimming the bulbs will not change the spectrum from our lab test (It depends on the spec of the bulb you are using obviously, all lab test is under a control environment). For the one we had tested for our 1000W ballast
Hortilux(LU1000 B/ HTL /EN) HPS & Hortilux(LU1000 MH / HTL /EN ) HPS/MH

Even at the lowest dimming setting the spectrum did not change. 

_





Originally Posted by *Icemud*
Great question Batcave...I've always wondered the same myself...From some looking around I couldn't find any solid proof one way or the other..... the majority of people opinions around the web was that it doesn't change, but again, that was with no solid proof or test results...

One interesting fact I found out about lumatek dial a watt ballasts though is this...(HPS only!!!)

You can use a 400w bulb in a 600w lumatek dial a watt ballast if the ballast is set at 400w or 360w setting.

...but more interesting is that a 400w bulb in that same 600w ballast, set to 400w, is more efficient and pushes more light than a 600w bulb, dimmed down to 400w...


Never put a lower wattage bulb on a higher setting than it is rated.



_Our ballast does this as well (MH&HPS), we already have members using a 400W MH bulb on a 600W ballast

But is not recommended for long term usage, if you don't care for the life of the bulb than okay fine use it, in the mean time when your watt to watt bulb is being ship to you, but don't try the entire 8-10 weeks with it. 
_​


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## budleydoright (May 18, 2012)

sirdoughboy said:


> I have this exact Hortilux 1000w HPS (LU1000B/HTL/EN) here at amazon.com .... http://www.amazon.com/EYE-Hortilux-Super-1000-Watt/dp/B004RCOVVG
> 
> Can you tell me if this is one of the newer reinforced bulbs that I can use for my Solis-Tek Matrix ballast? I couldn't find any info online about the newer Hortilux bulbs that are reinforced vs. the original eye Hortilux.
> 
> Thanks in advance!


I'm pretty sure the box is clearly marked and I believe the new one no longer has the silver paint above the base. It is now clear glass. Not 100% on this and can;t find shit on their site. But I did see an ad that explained the differences.


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## Brandawg92 (Jan 25, 2013)

I think batcave is right, spectrum probably depends more on the salts than the temperature or wattage. 

But im wondering if metal halide is also safe to dim... anyone?


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## graab187 (Feb 1, 2013)

so if i have a 600 watt bulb can i dim it down to the 400 watt setting???

i have a galaxy select a watt 600 ballast


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