Comparative study of 250 W high pressure sodium lamp operating from both conventional and electronic ballast

Bulky electromagnetic ballasts combined with igniters have been traditionally used to feed high pressure sodium lamps (HPS). Recently electronic ballasts were introduced to perform the same tasks more efficiently and even with additional features like dimming and smart energy saving. This paper presents a comparative study of the operational characteristics of a 250 W HPS lamp when fed by conventional ballast versus electronic ballast. The operational characteristics are obtained in both cases through direct measurements on two commercial setups in which the only difference is the ballast type. The comparison study covers both warming period and steady state or nominal power operation. This comparative study gives solid numerical evidences of the superior performance of the electronic over the conventional ballast.