Sun System is a leading producer of grow lighting, and their magnetic and digital ballasts are many growers' choice for powering their systems.
Do you need a ballast to use Sun System grow lights?
All grow lights, including those from Sun System, require a ballast for operation. HID grow lights will use a ballast like the ones you see here, whereas LED grow lights have ballasts built into their structure.
The ballast is responsible for regulating the charge of your grow lights. Without one, the lamp would either not ignite, or it would ignite and burn out of control, popping the bulb almost immediately. A ballast will ignite your lamp and keep it operating at a steady pace, and helps lengthen your lamps life.
Sun System Ballasts at Hydrobuilder
There are a few different types of ballasts available here at Hydrobuilder, including:
What is the best Sun System ballast?
Digital ballasts are far superior to their outdated magnetic counterparts, for a number of reasons. Digital ballasts operate far more efficiently, are smaller, generate less heat, and have a longer life.
The one downside to digital ballasts is they can cause RFI, or radio frequency interference. This is where their operation can interfere with other electrical components such as cable or radio nearby. To prevent this, make sure your ballast has RFI shielding.
Some of these ballasts have a dimmable function, allowing to increase the efficiency of your grow light.
Using the dimmable function, you can lower the working wattage of your grow light. If you have a 1000 watt lamp, and only want to give your plants 800 watts of lighting, for example during propagation, you can save money and extend your bulb's life.
If you are using a double ended grow light, you will need a ballast optimized for DE bulbs. Even if you use an SE bulb, you can still use one of these DE ballasts, but not the other way around.