I'm an electrical layman: I once heard that it uses less current, and less wear and tear on the fitment, to leave a flourescent tube fixture powered on rather than turning it off ,over night, say.Can this be true? Thanks in advance for any advice.
"kevin sargent music" wrote on 12/12/2003 :-
I seem to remember a very long time ago that a figure of 90 minutes was given as the minimum break even time that a flourescent light should be turned off for. So if you intended to return to a room in less than 90 minutes it was more cost effective from a wear and tear versus power consumption point of view, to leave the lights on.
Over night, I would suggest it would be more efficient to turn them off, unless their is some other good reason to leave them on.
depends on if you have electronic ballasts. We did a pilot project in 5 buildings using t-8's and electronic ballasts and motion sensors set to 15 minutes. Except for the bathrooms. Saved 30% a month. I believe if the fixture is off then your savings is 100% if it is on the savings is zero. Magnetic ballasts are much better made now, I say turn them off after 5 minutes
On 12/12/2003 "SQLit" opined:-
What about the wear and tear cost on the tube and fitting?
I have set up a PIR operated flourescent light in my garage. I have that set to 15 minutes, but only because that seems the most sensible setting for that particular location. After the 15 minutes I would be unlikely to be returning to retrigger it.
If you're using elecronic ballast then there's no difference in efficiency whether you leave the light on of turn them off and on. Well, there is very slight 'extra' power needed when you turn them on because the capacitors in the electronic ballast needs to be charged again due to the capacitor leak, but this amount of power is very little.
However if you use magnetic ballast, you waste power heat>I'm an electrical layman: I once heard that it uses less current, and
Hi,
It is way less expensive to turn them off. I put an ampropbe around the line feed and it jumped to double the amperage for two seconds. After that it was normal amperage. Do the math. the Bulbs will be fine. The gas isn't effected by the times it turns on and off.
candice
In a normal magnetic ballast lamp, I'm not concerned about the gas being affected by the times it turns on and off, I am concerned about the life of the electrodes at both ends. Whena flouro lamp dies it's not because of the gas, it's because the electrodes at both ends have turned old and are no longer good for lighting up the gas.
abt the ampmeter, are you sure it's >Hi,
"CLSSM00X7" wrote on 13/12/2003 :-
An amprobe has neither a fast enough responce or suitable responce for this type of measurement.
oNE OF THE major costs of florescent or any other bulb in an industrial setting is the cost of replacing the bulb. It may cost $50 to replace a 2 dollar bulb. If left on the cathodes do not get as torn up. But a lot of power goes to waste. . . I DO NOT FOLLOW MANY OF THESE NEWS GROUPS To answere me address mail to snipped-for-privacy@aol.com
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