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 For more details try the links that are provided. 1. What components are necessary for a High Pressure Sodium Lamp to work? You need a ballast, starter and lamp. Some fixtures come with a photo-control socket in which case, you need a photo-control or shorting cap to get the fixture to work. The lamp socket and wiring is made to withstand higher than normal voltage since the lamp receives spikes of 1,500-4,000 volts during start up. NOTES: HPS lamps will not work when screwed into a typical incandescent lamp socket. The fixtures ordered from PHI Lighting are complete and require no assembly. 2. Can these lamps be used for growing plants indoors? Yes, many High Pressure Sodium lamps are used in this application because of their efficiency and long life. You can find more information on lighting for growing here. 3. What is going on when a lamp is going on and off? Called "cycling", it means that the lamp has reached its end of life and should be replaced. The sooner you replace it the better so that the ballast or starter are not damaged.. 4. What line voltage does a fixture operate at? Typically fixtures are wired to operate at 120V. Some fixtures are "multi-tap" and may be switched to operate at 208, 240 or 277. There are some that even operate off 480V. Do not confuse this with the nominal lamp voltage. 5. How efficient is High Pressure Sodium lighting? It is approximately twice as efficient as mercury lights and about 4 times more efficient than incandescent. Learn more about "Lamp Efficiency" and check this out too. 6. What is "lamp or arc tube voltage"? The ballast converts the line voltage to the voltage that lamps are designed to operate at -- typically 55Volts for 50-150watt lamps and 100Volts for 200-400watt lamps. 7. How much current does a High Pressure Sodium fixture require? There are different ballast types so the current can vary. Some fixtures include a capacitor which corrects the power factor and makes the current read lower (this doesn't effect the metered power consumption of the fixture but may effect the wire size you need if operating a number of fixtures on one circuit). At 120Volts -- a 250watt fixture requires about 5Amps w/o capacitor or 2.75Amps with capacitor. A 400watt fixture requires about 8Amps w/o capacitor or 4.3Amps with capacitor. At 240Volts, the current values would be 1/2 of what is needed at 120Volts. 8. How long does a High Pressure Sodium lamp last? The HPS lamp is a long life bulb but each has a different amount of life normally ranging from 2 to 12 years. The difference occurs in part due to how well the high temperature seals of the arc tube perform over time and operating conditions. If a lamp is subjected to excessive heat (fixture design), lots of turn on/off cycles per night (electrical dips), or voltage surges (lightning or big equipment switching surges), it will probably have a lower life expectancy. 9. More Details on Lamps -- Learn more about "High Intensity Discharge" lighting including HPS lights.
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