Comments on: When to Turn Off Fluorescent Lights http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/ Reporting on Sustainably Built Environments from Bricks to Cities Wed, 23 May 2012 23:52:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Edwin Hoogerbeets http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/comment-page-1/#comment-19378 Edwin Hoogerbeets Sun, 18 Jan 2009 11:20:07 +0000 http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/#comment-19378 I have replaced most of the bulbs in my house with CFLs and have found that most of them last a very long time. The one in my office gets turned on when it gets dark and stays on for hours while I check emails, surf, etc. The ones in the garage go on and off frequently as we go out to the pantry or check the laundry, etc. I have noticed that the one here in my office has lasted me 8 years so far with usage almost every day, whereas the ones in my garage last less than a year. I have switched back to regular incandescents in the garage, and they have lasted a long time now -- longer than the CFLs. My theory is that the thermal extremes in my unheated and uninsulated garage, plus the frequent short operation causes severe stress to the CFLs and shortens their life significantly. Any ideas on that? So for now I will be sticking with CFLs in the house and incandescents in the garage, until LEDs get cheap enough and I can replace everything with LEDs when my current bulbs expire. I have replaced most of the bulbs in my house with CFLs and have found that most of them last a very long time. The one in my office gets turned on when it gets dark and stays on for hours while I check emails, surf, etc. The ones in the garage go on and off frequently as we go out to the pantry or check the laundry, etc. I have noticed that the one here in my office has lasted me 8 years so far with usage almost every day, whereas the ones in my garage last less than a year. I have switched back to regular incandescents in the garage, and they have lasted a long time now — longer than the CFLs.

My theory is that the thermal extremes in my unheated and uninsulated garage, plus the frequent short operation causes severe stress to the CFLs and shortens their life significantly. Any ideas on that?

So for now I will be sticking with CFLs in the house and incandescents in the garage, until LEDs get cheap enough and I can replace everything with LEDs when my current bulbs expire.

]]> By: Edwin Hoogerbeets http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/comment-page-1/#comment-97840 Edwin Hoogerbeets Sun, 18 Jan 2009 11:20:00 +0000 http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/#comment-97840 I have replaced most of the bulbs in my house with CFLs and have found that most of them last a very long time. The one in my office gets turned on when it gets dark and stays on for hours while I check emails, surf, etc. The ones in the garage go on and off frequently as we go out to the pantry or check the laundry, etc. I have noticed that the one here in my office has lasted me 8 years so far with usage almost every day, whereas the ones in my garage last less than a year. I have switched back to regular incandescents in the garage, and they have lasted a long time now -- longer than the CFLs. My theory is that the thermal extremes in my unheated and uninsulated garage, plus the frequent short operation causes severe stress to the CFLs and shortens their life significantly. Any ideas on that? So for now I will be sticking with CFLs in the house and incandescents in the garage, until LEDs get cheap enough and I can replace everything with LEDs when my current bulbs expire. I have replaced most of the bulbs in my house with CFLs and have found that most of them last a very long time. The one in my office gets turned on when it gets dark and stays on for hours while I check emails, surf, etc. The ones in the garage go on and off frequently as we go out to the pantry or check the laundry, etc. I have noticed that the one here in my office has lasted me 8 years so far with usage almost every day, whereas the ones in my garage last less than a year. I have switched back to regular incandescents in the garage, and they have lasted a long time now — longer than the CFLs.

My theory is that the thermal extremes in my unheated and uninsulated garage, plus the frequent short operation causes severe stress to the CFLs and shortens their life significantly. Any ideas on that?

So for now I will be sticking with CFLs in the house and incandescents in the garage, until LEDs get cheap enough and I can replace everything with LEDs when my current bulbs expire.

]]> By: Erik Aaboe http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/comment-page-1/#comment-14647 Erik Aaboe Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:25:46 +0000 http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/#comment-14647 John Walker - Various sources indicate that somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes is a good balance between energy use and lamp life. I think that this would relate to both magnetic ballasts or electronic ones. Erik See these sites - http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/lighting_daylighting/index.cfm/mytopic=12280 http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/fluorescent_lights.html http://www.lightingdesignlab.com/articles/switching/switching_fluorescent.htm John Walker –
Various sources indicate that somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes is a good balance between energy use and lamp life. I think that this would relate to both magnetic ballasts or electronic ones.

Erik

See these sites – http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/lighting_daylighting/index.cfm/mytopic=12280

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/fluorescent_lights.html

http://www.lightingdesignlab.com/articles/switching/switching_fluorescent.htm

]]> By: Erik Aaboe http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/comment-page-1/#comment-97839 Erik Aaboe Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:25:00 +0000 http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/#comment-97839 John Walker - Various sources indicate that somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes is a good balance between energy use and lamp life. I think that this would relate to both magnetic ballasts or electronic ones. Erik See these sites - http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/lighting_daylighting/index.cfm/mytopic=12280 http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/fluorescent_lights.html http://www.lightingdesignlab.com/articles/switching/switching_fluorescent.htm John Walker –
Various sources indicate that somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes is a good balance between energy use and lamp life. I think that this would relate to both magnetic ballasts or electronic ones.

Erik

See these sites – http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/lighting_daylighting/index.cfm/mytopic=12280

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/fluorescent_lights.html

http://www.lightingdesignlab.com/articles/switching/switching_fluorescent.htm

]]> By: John Walker http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/comment-page-1/#comment-14300 John Walker Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:32:04 +0000 http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/#comment-14300 Great info but can you provide a breakdown specifically for the standard 4 foot fixture? I work in an older office building and some floors have old style magnetic ballasts and other floors have upgraded to electronic ballasts. It is unclear to me if 5 minute rule applies to these as well as CFL's. Did the "one hour rule" originate with magnetic ballasts and still applies to my building? Thanks John Great info but can you provide a breakdown specifically for the standard 4 foot fixture? I work in an older office building and some floors have old style magnetic ballasts and other floors have upgraded to electronic ballasts. It is unclear to me if 5 minute rule applies to these as well as CFL’s. Did the “one hour rule” originate with magnetic ballasts and still applies to my building?

Thanks

John

]]> By: John Walker http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/comment-page-1/#comment-97838 John Walker Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:32:00 +0000 http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/#comment-97838 Great info but can you provide a breakdown specifically for the standard 4 foot fixture? I work in an older office building and some floors have old style magnetic ballasts and other floors have upgraded to electronic ballasts. It is unclear to me if 5 minute rule applies to these as well as CFL's. Did the "one hour rule" originate with magnetic ballasts and still applies to my building? Thanks John Great info but can you provide a breakdown specifically for the standard 4 foot fixture? I work in an older office building and some floors have old style magnetic ballasts and other floors have upgraded to electronic ballasts. It is unclear to me if 5 minute rule applies to these as well as CFL’s. Did the “one hour rule” originate with magnetic ballasts and still applies to my building?

Thanks

John

]]> By: MICHAEL J. SCHMITZ http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/comment-page-1/#comment-13981 MICHAEL J. SCHMITZ Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:05:52 +0000 http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/#comment-13981 ALWAYS TURN OFF FLOURESCENT LIGHTS, BETTER YET DONT TURN ANY ON. YOU'LL SAVE YOUR EYES. MOST OF THE INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES AND FACTORY YEARS AGO CHANGED FROM FLOURESCENT TO SOFT LIGHTING, BECAUSE THEY FOUND THAT OVER THE YEARS FLOURESCENT LIGHTING BLINDS PEOPLE. HAVE A NICE DAY. MIKE ALWAYS TURN OFF FLOURESCENT LIGHTS, BETTER YET DONT TURN ANY ON. YOU’LL SAVE YOUR EYES. MOST OF THE INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES AND FACTORY YEARS AGO CHANGED FROM FLOURESCENT TO SOFT LIGHTING, BECAUSE THEY FOUND THAT OVER THE YEARS FLOURESCENT LIGHTING BLINDS PEOPLE. HAVE A NICE DAY. MIKE

]]> By: Uncle B http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/comment-page-1/#comment-13255 Uncle B Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:21:44 +0000 http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/#comment-13255 For my 'Zero Running cost- Zero maintenance' dream home I am planning a system of LED lights fed by Solar electricity which charges high quality long life batteries. In the meantime I am thankful for the power savings and longer life of CFLs. For my ‘Zero Running cost- Zero maintenance’ dream home I am planning a system of LED lights fed by Solar electricity which charges high quality long life batteries. In the meantime I am thankful for the power savings and longer life of CFLs.

]]> By: Uncle B http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/comment-page-1/#comment-97837 Uncle B Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:21:00 +0000 http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/#comment-97837 For my 'Zero Running cost- Zero maintenance' dream home I am planning a system of LED lights fed by Solar electricity which charges high quality long life batteries. In the meantime I am thankful for the power savings and longer life of CFLs. For my ‘Zero Running cost- Zero maintenance’ dream home I am planning a system of LED lights fed by Solar electricity which charges high quality long life batteries. In the meantime I am thankful for the power savings and longer life of CFLs.

]]> By: robert http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/comment-page-1/#comment-7043 robert Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:31:37 +0000 http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/04/07/when-to-turn-off-fluorescent-lights/#comment-7043 Okay - for the real answer see http://mythbusters-wiki.discovery.com/page/Lights+On+or+Off%3F Now you have the real answer. Okay – for the real answer see
http://mythbusters-wiki.discovery.com/page/Lights+On+or+Off%3F

Now you have the real answer.

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