Which would use more energy? see details below

Question

Which would use more energy?

25 T8 florescent fixtures with four 32 watt bulbs in each with four light bulb supporting ballasts included.

or

18 metal halide light fixtures with 175 watt light bulbs in each with 1 light bulb supporting ballasts included.

Answer 1

18 metal halide light fixtures with 175 watt light bulbs in each with 1 light bulb supporting ballasts included.

Also the HID bulbs tend to loose a large percentage of their lumen's after 40% of their life expectancy.

Answer 2

the second one would use more energy. ~MaDiSoN

Answer 3

Watts is what will tell you what uses more electricity, not lumens or luminocity.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs, right now, are more " eco-wise" then anything else most consumers can get a hold of (ie. incandescent) and currently save over 2000 times their own weight in greenhouse gases.

But since my house is completely on solar / wind and we REALLY need to watch usage, every light is fitted with s***w type (typical 110v lamp socket style) LED bulbs. They emit the same luminosity (typically 45) but at only 1watt rather then a 45w compact or 10w CFL. However they usually cost twice as much as CFLs which is twice as much (or more) as compacts. Still LEDs would be the way to go by far.

Mercury IS the lesser of the evils, without getting toooo elaborate discussing specifics (ie. which burns ozone faster, other layer's besides ozone, disposing locations, methods, wind conditions, etc), one needs less mercury gas then most others, to obtain the same luminosity in a vacuum because of mercury's longer agitated spectral wavelength. Mercury's wavelength is more blue which is a longer more "luminous" or brighter light to say sodium, which is a more light orange or shorter less bright (red being the shortest) wavelength. so you'd need more sodium or other, in the tube or more electricity to the tube, to create the same luminosity as mercury.

so mercury wins out only because the sheer volume needed is less then the others.

Answer 4

3200 W for light + from about 200 to 800 watts for ballast in te first case.

3150 W + about 600 W for the ballast in the second case.