Maybe I misued the term "ballast". I'm claiming that I don't need to bring in a complete different transformer unit to add bulbs up to 1000w total. This saves power, heat, noise, and space. I'm not claiming that it can be done by simply adding a bulb in Yes, these things have a capacitor to deliver the first jolt of juice. Yes, these bulbs do not run in series, and it seems reasonable that one cap can't fire two bulbs running in parallel -- can it? But including a 2nd capacitor adds nothing to the economic or environmental overhead. Adding a second ballast/transformer does.