<< Nice saving Engineer 🙂
Btw does anyone have any info on the idea that flourescent lights use a lot of power on start up & thus its better to leave them on for a while rather than turn them on & off constantly?
Mofunk
Very true ,but what is the cut off point? >>
Cut off point for fluorescent is few hours. You'll save some energy by turning off alot, but you'll waste it by shortening the life of the bulb. Fluorescent lights hates being turned on and off frequently.
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As far as the fluorescent lights startup pull, I would imagine it's slightly more than the standard light bulb inrush current....but not enough to notice on your bill. Your meter, unless a digital on, couldn't increase enough to even register the inrush of either, unless the inrush lasted for several seconds, which isn't the case for either bulb...the fluorescent bulbs are almost instant on. >>
Not so. Fluorescent lights don't draw as much peak current as lightbulbs. My 500W halogen light can theoretically draw up to 9761watts. The cold filament resistance is 2.3ohms and since line voltage can fluctuate by 5% or so we'd call the line voltage 126V. When the light bulb is plugged in at the voltage peak, the voltage is 178.19V(126x sqrt2). Realistically line voltage would sag slightly and there is inductance in everything so I don't think it would go that high. I don't think inrush current makes noticeable difference in power bills. The most annoying thing about inrush current is the line voltage sag it causes which in turn cause lights to flicker. A digital meters are engineered to be more accurate and are only used on commercial and industrial distribution where power factor must also be calculated in addition to being precise because fewer % could mean more $$$ when you're dealing with larger quantity of electricity. The industrial customers gets charged for having poor power factor, we don't.. Those CFL's tends to have low PF(0.5 to 0.6) so it draws lots of VA while not drawing so much watts. Engineer, you and I have lots of arguing and debating to do now that I know you're an electical engineer 😀
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As for turning off the car...I've got a book called "More Miles Per Gallon" and it suggests that the car would need to idle for an average of 50 seconds or more...so, unless you're going to be there for some time (traffic jam, etc), then it's probably not worth it....no to mention the wear and tear of starting your engine over and over again...
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Have you ever thought it would be nice if cars were equipped with an electric motor with 1 or 2 hp output for creeping in stop and go traffic?
