Are engergy saving light bulbs always energy saving?

Question

When Energy saving Light bulbs first were around, I was taught that in energy Consumption terms they were a bit like a Flourescent Strip light bulb. In that, when you switch them on they use lots of energy initially, and then only a faint trickle of electricity once they were fully warmed up. And warming up and initial Trickle energy consumption would be approximately equal to 20 minutes of energy of a traditional filament light bulb, and so you only used energy saving light bulbs, where they were likely to be on for a long time.

So, if for example you use an energy saving light bulb in your 'under the stairs cupboard' (or other such place) and go in and switch the light on and 30 seconds later switch it off again - it is actually less ecological than having a fillament light bulb in place.

IS this true today with advances in technology since the first energy saving light bulbs came out?

IS it therefore wrong for the UK Governemnt to say that no one can have fillament lights

Answer 1

Thats wrong....

I have and electricity meter and it does not use any more energy to switch on.

Answer 2

your correct, the additional energy is required to heat up the little high voltage transformer (ballast). fluorescent bulbs have to have high voltage to excite the gas inside the tube.

so its better to use instant on (incandescent) in areas where you will only use them momentarily.

your name is ironic because in the U.S. it was philips electronics(the inventor of cfc bulbs) that hired the lobbyists to get incandescent bulbs outlawed.

Answer 3

According to my electric company, you are correct...they cost more to turn on, less to leave on, than your conventional bulbs.  I just read this w/in the last 6 months in their montly magazine.  I use them only in places that I need to keep on for a long time, not switch on and off frequently

Answer 4

They are energy saving, meaning that they cost you less on the electricity bill.

Answer 5

Actually, just about any power device will have some "Surge" power level that is higher than running power level. Even conventional bulbs. If the CFE has a ballast, it will draw much more for a second when turned on. As long as you are leaving the light on for 15-20 minutes or longer it will save power. Most people leave the lights on much longer than this.

Answer 6

Fluorescent lights take a momentary surge of energy to illuminate.  But the monitoring that I have done of fluorescent lighting systems has shown this surge to be so short as to be almost unmeasurable.  It literally lasts less than a second.   It had NO measurable effect on the amount of energy the bulb uses.  It's a very quick current draw, for a brief instant.

And I've measured a LOT of fluorsecent lamps.

It is true that this initial power surge could reduce the life of the bulb.   And as a result, there have been rumors floating around for years that you should leave the bulbs on rather than turning them on and off.   Most often, this myth talks about the cost of the bulb, and making sure the bulb doens't burn out.   But sometimes it refers to energy.

But the last I checked, unless you were flicking that bulb on and off literally every few minutes throughout its whole life, it was cheaper to turn it on and off than to pay for the energy to run the bulb.

I'd do a web search on Fluorescent Bulb Life Switching or something, and look for a more reliable source than Y!A.

Good question.

Answer 7

I'm not sure of the science behind these new bulbs, but I can tell you I'm not happy with them. I switched to all new energy efficient light bulbs in my house, didn't really change any other electrical usage patterns, and my electric bill went up by about $30 per month.

There was a 6% rate increase during the time period I switched over, but that should have only accounted for about $10 - $12 per month increase.

Answer 8

modern energy saving light bubs are in every aspect economical even for 10 seconds on/off .

Caution: if broken they should be properly disposed  of  as they contain Mercury