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I have a 400w MH on a magnetic Hamilton ballast. Plugging the ballast into my Kill a Watt, it reads 400w dead on. I don't know what other ballasts do but this one draws 400w to drive a 400w bulb.
The statement 500w is 500w is correct, the bill is the same and the real question is how much usable light you get from the 500w. Last I heard flourescents and MH were equally efficient. That means both dump equals amount of heat. If the ballast is remote its heat doesn't go into the tank, generally a good thing.
Last I heard MH with a good reflector has an edge over flourescents with a good reflector because the bulb is smaller and doesn't block as much of the reflected light that was emitted in the wrong direction.
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