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Re: GBlist: Fluorescent Lights: off or on?




>   Your question is related to one of the great urban myths of our time. 
>   That myth being, "We use more electricity turning a light on and off than
>   just leaving it on."

Actually it's not a myth, just a bit outdated.  The old-fashioned flourecent
lights could use about 10 times their normal power when first started.
I'm talking about the the ones that when you turned them on you could see 
their ends glow for a short while and then they would flicker for a 
while and finallt stabilize.  The neon starters they used were power hogs.


>   This is called a peak inrush. The initial rush of electricity can be
>   quite large and violent.   It can blow open incandescent filaments.   But
>   it is very brief (microseconds) and is more pressure than force. After
>   inrush a balance and a regular current  flow is achieved and we see work
>   as light or motion.

What blows incandescents is the thermal shock on the filament.  The rapid
expantion from heating up can cause the britle wire to break.  

-->paul 
monk@radix.net           | And when we find ourselves   
A Shaker Song Circa 1840 | In the place just right 
Author Unknown           | 'Twill be in the valley
Verse II                 | Of love and delight
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