MH vs. Power Compact - Electricity Bill?

Dustin83

AC Members
Nov 17, 2005
370
0
0
Orange County, CA
Hello.

I've never actually had a metal halide light before. I've always heard that not only does the light cost a lot, but you also get shocked every two months when you open your electricity bill.

I was wondering... Is this relatively speaking because MH generally outputs more wattage than other lights? Or do they actually cost more Per watt compared to other lights?

For example.. Compare 8 X 65 power compact for total 520W vs. MH that outputs 520W (I'm not sure how that setup would be... maybe 260 X 2 or something?). In this case.. would MH still use more electricity than Power Compact?

Obviously I wasn't anything close to engineering major in college... I thought this would be an easy answer for someone out there though.


Thank you everyone. Hope everyone had a good Christmas.
 
MH is more efficient, I run a 400W and my bill jumped about 20.00
 
a watt of MH puts out a lot more PAR than a watt of PC, but each watt will cost the same amount on your electricity bill.
 
Correct....You are billed by Kilo Watts or per 1000 watts. The electric company does not care how it is used and all watts cost the same.
 
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