I had electric man today to install new electric panel. He just told me I pull 108 volt out of the wall (instead of 120) I have been running AC, Qb's and HID so far with no noticable issues. Since I am very passionate about my grow what are the true effects of running appliances on lower voltage circuit? Loose of efficiency? overheating? Shorter expected lifespan?
I certainly don't know but you might be able to Google it Sent from my XT1030 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Na, I wouldn't worry. Wall VAC's will range from place to place. The PS are typically rated from (85-90VAC) - (305VAC). You might lose a tiny bit of efficiency at the PS but it won't really be noticeable. The higher the input voltage being supplied to the PS generally equates to a higher efficiency, but we're talking ~2-3% jump over ~115V change (115VAC to 230VAC). You'll pull a bit more wall current but your PS output is regulated by the driver/ballast and shouldn't be effected. Here you can see a bit of the efficiency difference when different input voltages are supplied. These are LED drivers but ballasts should be similar...
Yesterday I was too stoned to understand witch part I did not understand. It was better this morning. P=U x I (or) Watts = Volt x Ampere So if the Volt changes does the Amps stays the same? Will the power in Watts gonna change? According to the chart provided by Chifrunningphist efficiency drops so it will be express in lower wattage. Lower wattage.. does it means it is running cooler?
(Power In) × Efficiency = (Power Out) Let's say you're at 90% efficiency. Lets say you have a light that needs 100W. The PS (driver or ballast) will create a power output of 100W, but in order to do so it will have to allow more than 100W to come into the PS, because the PS isn't 100% efficient. (X in) × (0.9) = 100Wout X = (100W)/(0.9) X = 111.11W input So your PS would consume 111W in order to create 100W. If you're efficiency dropped to 85%, then... (X) × (0.85) = (100W) X = (100W)/(0.85) X = 117.64W Your PS would need 117.6W in order to create 100W. You can see that the PS still produced the 100W needed on the output side, but because the efficiency dropped the PS needed to allow more power input in order to make the necessary 100W output. With 90% efficiency, you'll only burn 11.1W across the PS (the other 100W is flowed to your load), but with 85% efficiency you'll burn 17.6W across the PS (still, the remaining 100W is flowed through your load). As your efficiency drops, and if your power output is maintained (typical PS), then your input power required goes up, and the hotter your PS becomes because it's consuming more input wattage in order to output the same 100W.