Ballasts have two primary functions:

• Starting the Bulb.
• Control the operation of  bulb once it is running.

Electronic Ballast (i.e. T8 Ballast) are much more efficient and do not cause as much Audible Noise as a magnetic ballast. Electronic ballast have better power qualities as well.

An electrical ballast is a product that is intended to limit the amount and control the current in an electric circuit.

Ballasts vary vastly in complexity. Many ballasts can be as simple as a series resistor used in LED’s. In applications that require higher-power, a lot of energy would be not be used in a resistive ballast and there for not be efficient and a lot of power would be lost. Ballasts can be quite complex as the computerized, remote-controlled electronic ballasts are becoming popular with fluorescent lamps (i.e. T5 Ballasts) to control the output and test the ballast for operational life.