[dcarch]

A question was asked of me in another thread, “ What is a over-driven fixture?”
I decide to answer it here, since it is not really about seed starting.

I am sure you all have felt the frustration of the last few weeks of the season with the huge harvest of unripe green tomatoes.

One way to gain great advantage when your plants are at their most productive is to start as early as possible and have plant as big as possible to transplant in ground.

You can custom rewire fluorescent fixtures with electronic ballasts to produce much higher light output. This is called over-driving.

Normal fluorescent bulbs are made to run efficiently with typical e. ballasts with a life span at about 20,000 hours. If you over-drive the bulbs they will run less efficiently and with shorter life; however you will get much more light output. With bulbs so cheap, it is not a concern to run them at a shorter life.

Higher light output will allow you to start seeds earlier and grow seedlings taller before you transplant in ground. The payback is great.

Re-wiring ballasts is not difficult, however, you are dealing with power electrical devices, you should have some experience in doing this.

Attached is a typical wiring diagram for over-driving fluorescent lights.