DIY lighting

[Justinnn]

I am building a custom canopy and was going to customly install VHO lighting. Im not much of an electrician, but i was wonder first of all if the GE VHO, 240 watt ballasts sold at Home Depot would be fine to power 2 95-watt 36" actinic white and actinic blue bulbs? also i was wondering if i should install the ballast on the hood or in the stand and wire it to the canopy (considering the ballast weighs at least 10 lbs). And one last thing would a fan unit be nessecaey or should i not worry about overheating? and if i do need to install a coolant fan it should be used to cool the ballast not the lights, am I correct? Please anyone with electrical exp. give me some advice. Thanks

[Justinnn]

No one knows anything at all about VHO lighting? Does anyone at least know how high i would have to hang the lights above the water. Do VHO get as hot as metal halide?

[dwdenny]

I would say to mount them about 5 inches above the water. As long as your wattage of the lamps is at or lower then the rated wattage of the ballast your are fine. However I have no experience with the ballast fro HD other then replacing the ballast in that lights for the kitchen. I think that they would work though. I would wire the ballast away from the hood like in the stand away from the water as possible. VHO do get hot but not as hot a MH if they are in a canopy you will need fans to help keep them cool. The ballast will be fine with out a fan.