MH Ballast Efficiency and Power Use

[bromion]

I have been puzzling over my power bills for the past few months. Since starting my tank, my power usage has jumped by about 300 KWh/month. I find this surprising because I cannot account for all of that power, and the tank is the only significant new consumer. According to the electrical calculator on RC, I should be using about 160 KWh/month.

My first thought for this discrepancy is the 400W Metal Halide ballast I use. How much extra power can they sap above the bulb power usage? If it's actually using 1000W, not 400, that gets me to about the usage reflected in my electricity bill.

Any thoughts?

 

[vishboy]

Ballasts require power to work, but not an extra 600 watts. I would look for a short, or something that is acting unnormaly.

 

[bromion]

I bought a Kill-A-Watt meter to figure this out. It looks like the tank is using the appropriate amount of power so far. Something fishy is going on, pun partially intended!

 

[vishboy]

Maybe your neighbor is running an extension cord from your house to their's.


J/K