Good brands of electronic ballasts should last for more than five years and be covered by a manufacturer's warranty. Electronic ballasts are generally rated to operate within a range of plus or minus 10 percent of the standard voltage. PGE normally maintains your voltage within a range of plus or minus 5 percent, so minor voltage changes should not effect the life of your electronic ballasts. Equipment failure due to a power surge is a common customer concern. Minor power surges occur frequently and most of them originate inside a building.
Surge suppression is the only good defense against equipment failure due to a power surge.
Q. My HID lighting turns off every time the compressor starts. When the voltage drops below the minimum operating voltage for HID lighting, the lamp goes out and must cool down before it can re-start. In some cases, this can take up to several minutes before the lighting turns on again. As the lamp ages, the minimum operating voltage requirements increase and minor voltage dips can cause the lamps to cycle off and on. The average life of the high-pressure sodium lamp used in most HID lighting is 24,000 hours.