Quote:
Originally Posted by INF3RN0666
HID are all about INTENSITY (hence the name). To provide more intensity, you have to provide more current, and hence you need more power dissipation. You can get white bulbs that are slightly higher power, but you might melt your components and/or wiring.
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Actually, the HID ballasts step up the voltage and convert to AC quite efficiently, providing more lumens with less power. Since the supply voltage is the same and the power is lower, the current draw is also lower (I=P/V). Check out the "Burner and ballast operation" section on
Wikipedia.
The power company does a similar thing to distribute electrical power to homes and businesses, stepping up the voltage up to thousands of volts AC, but at very low current to reduce parasitic loss over the aluminum wires, then steps it back down at transformers near the end user. When stepped back down, the lower voltage can provide much more current.
-Rod