WHY AMF ELECTRONIC BALLASTS?
AMF electronic HID ballast is superior to the traditional magnetic HID ballast in terms of its performance efficiency, lighting output, and the quality of light and its impact to the environment.
1. Performance Efficiency
AMF 250W electronic metal halide ballast, with high power factor of over 99.5%, needs only 250.8W of input power to operate; while the traditional magnetic ballast, with a power factor of 90.5%, needs 276W of input power to operate. However, most operating magnetic metal halide ballasts that are not equipped with power factor correction device, the ballast takes as much as 330 W of input power to operate.
Test data indicate that the electronic ballast, Model MH-250W-V2, has a rather small loss of 15 W due to primarily heat dissipation resulting in a ballast efficiency of 94.0%. Traditional magnetic ballast, however, has substantially higher loss of 62 W due to heat, magnetic loss, vibration, and acoustic radiation. As a result, the magnetic ballast yields less power of 214.3 W for lighting and a low ballast efficiency of 77.6%. The ballast efficiency of those magnetic ballasts not equipped for power factor correction can be as low as 64.3%.
2. Lighting Output
The electronic HID ballast produces more lighting output than the magnetic ballast of the same input power. Based on the efficacy of 90 Lm/W and the input power of 250.8W, AMF electronic ballast, Model MH-250W-V2, is estimated to produce 22,600 Lumens of light. The magnetic ballast operated with a 400W MH bulb produces 23,400 Lumens of light with an input power of 458W.
For the same bulb and the same magnetic ballast, the input power required to produce 22,600 Lumens of light is 441 W. Hence, the use of AMF electronic ballast, Model MH-250W-V2, results in 190 W of energy saving which represents a 43% of the energy consumed by the 441W magnetic ballast.
Alternately, since the electronic HID ballast typically has higher efficacy than the magnetic ballast of the same power class (100 Lm/W vs. 57 Lm/W), energy saving can be accomplished by replacing a 250W magnetic HID ballast with a 200W electronic ballast and still producing more light output. The energy saving for 100 light fixtures operated for 13 hours a day for one year is predicted to be 35,825 KWH.
3. Quality of Light and Environment Impact
In addition to saving energy, AMF Electronic HID ballast, Model MH-250W-V2 enhances the color consistency and practically eliminates flickering. With lamp current crest factor of 1.46 and voltage crest factor of 1.42, it also helps prolong the operating life of the HID lamp. The low current total harmonic distortion of <15% reduces the pollution of power distribution network. Its relative light-weight compared with the magnetic ballast reduces considerably the static load on the building structure and makes the installation relatively easier. Furthermore, the electronic ballast eliminates vibration and the annoying humming noise. Of equal importance in indoor application, the low ballast loss associated with low ballast operating temperature ensures lower energy consumption for cooling.