Question about interior lighting.

[BlasterBob]

Years ago, MANY MANY years ago, as kids we were taught that when leaving one of the rooms in our house that had the light on, we were to always to turn off those lights. Now days, kids never seem to pay any attention to if the lights are left on or not. Back in the 40’s and 50’s it was a common belief that when a fluorescent light was used, it would be better to allow it to remain on for hours if we intended to come back in the room. Was told that it took more power to relight that type bulb than letting it burn for a few hours. If this was true, will this now also apply to our modern fluorescent bulbs, such as the long bulbs over a work bench. I hope this question will NOT wake up any trolls. TIA.

[ray1970]

Not sure I fully understand the question. I was also raised to turn off the lights if you weren’t using them. I think too many on/off cycles will shorten the life of an incandescent bulb. Not sure it will used more energy coming on or off though. I’m sure Ohm’s law applies somehow.

Lights being left on is a pet peeve of mine since I’m the one paying the electricity bill.

[BladesNBarrels]

"When not in use, turn off the juice" was drummed in as a kid.
I also learned that fluorescent light starters used more electricity starting the bulbs.
As I recall when installing the daylight fluorescent fixtures in my shop, the labeling said that it was more efficient than incandescent bulbs and the daylight bulbs have lasted well -
I am going on 10 years on the first set - lights are on about 8 hours daily.

[DenverGP]

the energy an older fluorescent tube light fixture uses at startup is equivalent to about 5 seconds of run time. And many modern fluorescent fixtures use more energy efficient ballasts, so their startup takes even less energy. Turn em off.

[Irving]

Myth busters tested this, I bet you can find the clip with the results on YouTube.

[Gman]

Modern rapid-start fluorescent fixtures don't require as much energy to start them. Turn them on when you need them and off when you don't.

In the age of LED bulbs, it still saves a bit to turn them off, but it's not as big a difference as it used to be.

[henpecked]

At work it was explained to us that they charge a "peak usage" surcharge. If we come in and turn on all the machines at once we get a huge electric bill. We now have timers on all our equipment that turns 1 machine on every 15 minutes. Cuts our bill in half.

[Gman]

At work it was explained to us that they charge a "peak usage" surcharge. If we come in and turn on all the machines at once we get a huge electric bill. We now have timers on all our equipment that turns 1 machine on every 15 minutes. Cuts our bill in half.

Worked in a high-rise building in Las Colinas, TX that got around "peak usage" for AC by cooling a huge water reservoir under the building at night (off-peak). They then used that chilled water to cool the building during the day. Someone creates these schemes and others figure out ways to get around them.

[Bailey Guns]

I replaced almost all lights in the house with LEDs as soon as we moved in. Don't know if it made a difference but it's supposed to. I still turn lights off out of habit. The entire house is electric...heat, hot water, cooking, dryer, AC. Lots of homes are like that here since electricity is inexpensive.

[GilpinGuy]

We've been replacing incandescent bulbs with LEDs too over the past year or so. Most of the house has them now. I like them. Our electric bill has seen no noticable difference at all, though.

One thing I did notice. The LEDs are supposed to last waaaaaaaaay longer than incandescents. According to bulbs.com,

LEDs are notable for being extremely long-lasting products. Many LEDs have a rated life of up to 50,000 hours. This is approximately 50 times longer than a typical incandescent, 20-25 times longer than a typical halogen, and 8-10 times longer than a typical CFL. Used 12 hours a day, a 50,000 bulb will last more than 11 years. Used 8 hours a day, it will last 17 years!

Of course, bulbs.com is the "LED Authority", so maybe they are hyping it a bit.

I've had mabe 1/3 of the LEDs start flickering wildy within the year. Different brands too. Maybe they're lifespan is hyped a lot.

And yes, getting kids to turn off lights is like getting them to keep the front or back door closed when it's cold outside.

I still remember my mom saying, "What are you trying to do? Heat all the outdoors?" LOL