400W high intensity sodium bulb same as regular 4x100W light bulbs?

Question

does it cost the same to have four regular 100W light bulbs going as one 400W HID sodium bulb? less/more? just trying to grasp how much my electricity bill will be with this bulb going 12 hours a day?

Answer 1

I'm thinking you're talking about incandecent bulbs when you say " regular."

In any event, a bulb will require a certain amound of current to produce a specific amount of light. It is not an exact exchange though, because there is electicity lost through heat & magnatism.

So I'll simplify it just by saying there are current losses in a bulb.

If I operate 4 bulbs and each uses 100 watts then of that 100 watts being used there are current losses in each. This will vary based on components, for example, so the losses will not be the same for each nor be the same over time. But the losses will be 4 times greater than operationg one bulb. If you want to get a specific amount of light you'd get from the 400 watt HID then you may actually find 4 incadencent bulbs are not quite the same..those losses are effecting the amount of light produced and you may need an additional 50 watt or 75 watt bulb...

Also, the 400 HID produces a specific amount of light per square inch. But 4 100 watt regular bulbs is converting 100 watts of current to produce 100 watt of light per square inch...the amount of light per sq in is very different.