It's 7 degrees outside, my CFL (Compact Floresent Light) won't turn on, any solutions?

Question

At what point does the gas freeze to the point that it doesn't come on at all? I was going to replace the other outside incandescent bulbs when they burn out, but not if CFLs don't work in the winter!

I was seeing at 15-20 degrees it would come on after about 10 seconds. Now at 7 degrees, I have no light on my deck.

Answer 1

If you live in a cold climate, you most likely need a cold-cathode CFL  since standard CFLs may not work well below 40°F.

Answer 2

You probably need to use incandescent bulbs for such cold temperatures.

Answer 3

The solution is simple:  if it's a light that is supposed to be on all night. don't turn it off.  Bring it indoors to warm up, take it outside and s***w it in, and just leave it on.

The CF uses about 20% of the power of an incandescent.  In the winter, it is dark more than about 50% of the time.  If you run a light all night, you'll use less energy if you leave a CF on 24 hours than running an incandescent for 12-15 hours.

If your light is on a motion sensor, either use an incandescent or a CF designed to start in cold temperatures.

Answer 4

Mine wouldn't turn on either when it got down to 0 the other night.  I think I will just have to use the incands in the cold winter months :(

Just read the guy's above me - great ideas!

Answer 5

Surprise!! This won't be the last time you will find out that something that is suppose to save the planet doesn't work as they say it will.

Answer 6

solutions wait till it warms up or replace with a flood light for the colder months

Answer 7

Compact fluorescent lamps can also be used in outdoor lighting systems. These lamps achieve their maximum luminous flux at an ambient temperature of 5 °C.This is dependant on the fitting and application

Also not all CFL is of the same spec or quality

you need to check manufacure etc are you using on a dimmer sysytem or on control ger also as this can affect the lighting performance  

However amalgam compact flurescents are a  totally innovative compact fluorescent lamp they offer high luminous flux over a wide range of temperatures. 90% is achieved between +5 °C and +70 °C. They can therefore be used in outdoor applications and also in high-intensity downlights.