In designing a landscape, every little detail needs to be accounted for. Specific details are given for every item used in the design, including areas such as landscape lighting. Details about ballast information for landscape lighting can be very useful in the long run.

Before getting into ballast specifications offered by a couple manufacturers, it is important to have an understanding of what a ballast is and what it does.

Ballasts Defined

A ballast is an accessory needed by all fluorescent and HID (High Intensity Discharge) sources to allow the light to function properly. The first function of the ballast is to provide the necessary voltage used to turn on the lighting device. After striking an arc between the electrodes of the lamp, the ballast will perform it's second duty- preventing the lamp from being destroyed by regulating the current.

General Characteristics

There is a wide variety of ballasts to choose from when integrating one into the a design. For instance, an HID ballast can be as small as a 2 1/2-inch square or as big as 4 1/2 by 6 inches. Some lighting fixtures will have the ballast integrated into the component while other times the ballast will not fit into the lighting component.

In the instance where a ballast is not part of the fixture, it can be attached either in the shaft or the base of the fixture pole, installed under the earth (as long as it remains accessible), or mounted in a remote location.

It is common for ground-mounted fixtures to have the ballast located underground near the base of the fixture, but be sure that doing so is allowed in the area by contacting local inspectors. When installing a ballast in the soil, precautions should be take to avoid exposing the ballast to moisture. To protect the ballast, it should be potted in epoxy.

Furthermore, when using a remote ballast, there are a few things to consider. First, refer to the catalog offered by the manufacturer to determine how far a ballast can be moved away from the fixture. Secondly, depending on the distance the ballast is from the lighting fixture, determine the proper wire size needed connect the ballast to the fixture.

No matter where the ballast is located there are guidelines that should be followed. The ballast needs to be accessible for maintenance purposes. Much like most other electrical devices, a ballast should have ventilation regulate the its temperature. Though it may sound hot, a ballast can withstand operating temperatures up to 194º F. A variance of 20º F above that temperature can reduce the ballast's life by as much as 50 percent. On the other hand, a reduction of 20º F can add years to the ballast's operation by as much as doubling it's life span.

The temperature at the site may also be a factor in choosing a ballast. When designing a landscape, remember that most compact 9-watt fluorescent lamps and higher need an ambient temperature of 32º F. Therefore, it is beneficial to know what sort of temperatures can occur at the site before making any final decisions on lighting fixtures.

Finding Ballast Specs

Vista Professional Outdoor Lighting offers their information in the more traditional format. They offer a catalog that lists all of their products and the technical specifications for each product. Listed below are some of the specs for their products.

One product is a composite HID in-ground ballast box (CGB1H). The box is injection-molded, glass reinforced polymer with heavy wall construction for strength and high UV stability. It has integrally molded individual waterproof compartments with a separate ballast chamber from the splice compartment. The splice compartment comes equipped with two 3/4-inch NPT conduit entries for throgh wiring and one 1/2-inch NPT entry for remote access.

The ballast box comes with two texture-finished, injection-molded composite covers. One cover is equipped with a 1/2-inch NPSM hub which allwos a luminaire to be directly mounted to the ballast box. The second blank cover would be used for remote mount applications.

When using the CGB1H ballast in a remote situation, they offer the following guidelines:

To allow the lamp to function properly, the ballast box should be placed no farther than the maximum distances stated above for the given lamp type.

This particular product also has a High-Power Factor Ballast that can be started in temperatures as low as -20º F, while an interior barrier wall protects the box from ballast heat. The box dimensions are 11 by 7 by 8 inches.

Other ballast products include an above-ground, single or double ballast box, an HID composite in-ground luminaire with an integrated ballast or an HID bollard with an integrated ballast.

Spec Technology

The common method for getting product specs is by using manufacturer catalogs. As technology gets better, companies are figuring out new ways to make their specs available. Universal Lighting Technologies, formerly MagneTek Lighting Products, has found a way to offer their ballast specs more efficiently.

The manufacturer of electronic and megnetic ballasts has upgraded their web site to include their ballast specs. The site is an interactive tool that gives designers quick and easy access to the companies ballast specification information.

On the site, users are given two search options, either by catalog number or by specific search criteria. The web site provides all of the information needed by letting people get product catalog numbers through the online Navigator catalog. When searching, users can plug in criteria such as lamp type, number of lamps, starting method, THD percentage and voltage. The search options can also be used to identify electronic, magnetic, compact fluorescent and HID ballasts.

For example, if a project designer knew that he/she would need an HID for 100 watts with 120 voltage, the resulting search offers 11 matches which include M100MLTLC3M and 11210-239C-TC. From this point the user can click on a link to get the product specs.

The spec link is a .pdf file and can be downloaded to the users computer. By choosing M100MLTLC3M the designer gets the following specs:

Lamp Type -100W MH

ANSI Designation - M90 or M92

Line Voltage - 120/208/240/277

Regulation - 5%

Frequency - 60 HZ

Recommended Fuse - 5/4/3/3

Circuti Type - HX-HPF

Insulation Class - 180 C

Capacitor Value - 10MF

Capacitor Volt Rating - 280 Volts

Capacitor Part No. - 005-4056-P

Lamp Starter - MH100-3A

Max Dist. to Lamp - 10 feet

The spec sheet also gives the reader tables on Electrical Characteristics, Test Limits and Physical Characteristics.

The whole idea is to make things easier for the designer. To test out the ballast spec search, visit www.universalballast.com.