HYDROSTORE SURVEY
Question #8 Do you sell more digital or magnetic ballasts? Digital
Magnetic
50/50
28
63
9
Question #9 Do you have a preferred ballast type/brand?
100 votes
102 votes
Top 3 Maxibright #1 Ballast 22% Gavita #1 Digital Ballast 16% Dimlux 12%
Magnetic wins hands down, but the digital tide is turning. It was clear, magnetic ballasts still outsell digital in the UK. Even though they are the ballast of choice, it seems the digital trend is growing. Over the past 10 years, North American growers have embraced digital technology. I am not sure of the exact numbers, but would guess that it would be at least 80% of ballast sales in total are digital. New LED products continue to intrigue store owners, but have a long way to go until they are affordable for the average person.
Breakdown Maxibright Gavita Dimlux Lumii Lumatek Sunmaster 22 16 12 9 8 8 Nanolux Digilight pro Progear Omega Ajustawatt 5 3 3 3 3 3 companies received one vote: Darkstar, Grolux and Cannatronics. 7 said they had no preference
Question #10 What is your preferred bulb brand and wattage?
Maxibright is #1 choice for ballast. Knowing the results of question #8, it is no surprise to see a magnetic win as favorite ballast. What is interesting is that almost every other brand mentioned is digital. Gavita has grabbed the #1 digital position, and is working hard to keep it.
100 votes
Top 3 Sunmaster Phillips Sylvania
38% 20% 19%
UK indoor growers love their 600 watts 600W 81
1000W
5
315W
400W
LED
2
11
1
Breakdown Sunmaster
Phillips
Sylvania
Omega
38 20 19 4 3 Companies had 1 vote: Gavita, Hortilux and BLV 16 had no preference Sunmaster is choice for price and quality combo. Sunmaster, almost equaled its two nearest rivals combined. Lighting giants Sylvania Osram and Phillips are massive companies to compete against. But Sunmaster is a veteran manufacturer of HID lighting who has found a way to outshine its competition in the UK.
This is another huge difference between the UK and North America. Most indoor growers in North America use 1000W. Often air-cooled and/or connected to a climate system that will control the heat issues. So, why don’t UK growers use 1000W? Do they know something that we don’t? I’m not sure. The general consensus was that 600’s are more efficient, and they do not have tons of space for growing. I could see how space limitations could count for 60-70% of cases, it still wouldn’t explain why only 5% use 1000W. Would you rather have 6 X 1000 Watts, or 10 X 600 Watts in the same space? Which would produce more? Food for thought.
25