Your head is reeling. Just two days back one of the fluorescent lamps of your kitchen had blown out and yet you get a massive electricity bill. You are 100% sure that you are not using any equipment that consumes too much power. In fact the only changes that you have done in the past month were to replace the incandescent bulbs with the fluorescent ones. You had heard that these lamps help conserve energy and also help prevent global warming. Its high time you checked out if you are using electronic ballasts with your fluorescent lamps.
Its high time that you got yourself acquainted with some technical details first about lamps and ballasts and how they are related to each other. Do not worry; it will not blow out your brains. There are differences in way solids and gasses offer resistance to the flow of current. In the case of metals, the resistance to the flow of current through it is constant at specific temperatures. In a gas discharge lamp, the flow of current through it causes the resistance of the gas to decrease. Knowledge of these details will help you in knowing more about how electronic ballasts work.
It is the job of ballasts to ensure that the flow of current through a fluorescent lamp is controlled. If not, the unbalanced flow of current can cause other electronic parts and sometimes the bulb itself to blow out. This is where the ballast comes in. It helps to control the flow of the current through the fluorescent lamp. Though electronic ballasts are more common nowadays, they have been available only for the past few years. Prior to them, magnetic ballasts were used. One has to keep in mind though, that ballast cannot stop the flow of current. It can only slow down the changes in its flow.
The humming one hears from ballast is due to the low frequency of the current. These low frequencies cause the ballast to vibrate and in the process give out the humming sound. One cannot hear these sounds in electronic ballasts, since there are no moving parts like the coils of wire.
While the metal wires used in the loops of traditional ballast are conducive to the flow of current, there is a slight amount of resistance. These cause the ballast to heat up. One also wastes electrical energy in the form of heat with these ballasts. No current is wasted in this fashion with electronic ballasts.
Fluorescent lamp
