Thanks for posting this. I have to rethink my CFL in the bathroom I guess. Bummer.

Kevin

Umm 15 minutes? Can you imagine how much power they'd have to pull for that to be true? Well lets say its a 9w bulb, that means at start up it'd have to pull 15 times 9w or 135w. Okay those numbers are really a WAG but not outlandish. Yes the ballast pulls more power but not that much. Mythbusters busted this one some time ago. The one thing they found out was that the constant cycling was hard on the bulbs and they'd die faster. CFs are also frequently not rated for moist environments so they wear out faster.
My bathroom has a flourescent bulb, its been there for years, no worries.

Some CFs are rated for colder than 5F, the coldest I've seen was -10F. They'll usually start that cold but they'll be dim for quite awhile until they warm up. My parents have used a CF in an outside fixture for years now, its dim for the first hour or so but once it warms up internally its fine even at -20F.

Most people know they can't be used with dimmers, but in addition to not dimming. I disagree with this statement. There are new bulbs out now that can be dimmed. But the next best bulb will be LEDs they use much less power and give off more light. The CF will be the thing of the past soon. I have them every where, but the frig. Too cold in there.

I've been using compact fluorescents for twenty five years and never recall anything but a few flickers when they start up. Also, I use the same 22W circular lamps in my existing "Lights of America" compact fluorescent that I used in my GE ballasts 25 years ago. They use replaceable 22 w circline lamps. I much prefer these to cheap Chinese compact fluorescent lamps where the lamps can't be replaced. Also, Ive using two foot fluorescents in the bathrooms and above the kitchen sink for twenty years and a four foot fixture in another part of the house. The lamp life is lessened in a situation where the lamps are turned on and off a lot, however for me the energy saving outweighs this.

Also, I have been a utility energy engineer and have done quite a bit of energy metering using ameters, handheld watt meters, and have a permanent energy data logging system in my house where I'm measuring the refrigerator, the lighting, dishwasher, clothes dryer, stove, microwave, washing machine, etc.

I've also individually measured current, watts, volts, power factor, on lighting. I've seen amperage surges on electric motors, especially when powering large centrifugal loads, but no such surge on lighting.

A month ago I retrofitted all two and four foot fluorescent lamps from older T-12 (1 1/2 inch diameter tubes) to T-8 (1 inch diameter) with electronic ballasts. There was a reduction in wattage from two 2 foot lamps from 44 watts to 30 watts for both 2 ft lamps.

In using a handheld Fluke power meter as well as my data logger, both showed no surge when turning the lamps on. Perhaps there is a surge of such short duration that it can't be seen. It certainly won't effect your utility bill. I also plugged in lamps w conpact fluorecents. No apparent surge, it was drawing 20 watts, .559 power factor, 35.8 volt amops (meaning the power company has to generate more power than necessary at their transmiion point) one second after I turned on the light fixture. There was very little variation in wattage after the light was on for several minutes.

Some compact fluorescents are designed with a high power factor and in the future it will probably be required. In any case the power company does'nt charge extra for this for residential customers, charging only for watts. To get a high power factor the manufactrer of the Compact fluorescent simply has to install an appropriatly sized capacitor.

A company called Lutron (Lutron.com) makes fluorescent ballasts that can dim standard lamps with their ballast and control. Then you can dim ballasts from full light to 1/100 light or better. And when you do so, energy is saved, not wasted. I plan to try one on my four foot fixture soon.

One last thing. LED's are being used more but until the Lumens per watt greatly exceeds that of the best fluorescnts (100 lumens per watt) they won't replace them unless its in an enviroment where labor to replace lamps is important (TV towers, etc.) I also use a high pressure sodium light fixture outdoors, which is more energy efficient per lumen than the fuorescent.

Julio

Just spoke with a friend who refuses to use CFLs because she is convinced that they cause health issues .
How can a sealed unit be harmful ?
Is she right or am I ?
Is there any " real " proof that CFLs are harmful ?

If there were proof they wouldn't sell them.

If any fluorescent lamp is broken there are small amounts of mercury inside. That's the oly thing I've heard. You can carry worry to an extreme, believin that electricity is harmful and refusing to use it. If CFL's are harmeful, what about TV's.

I think its likely cell phones can cause tumors but the cell phone industry aggresively defends their product. I think if CFL's were kept adjacent to someone's head that could also be dangerous, but they're not.