Household Fluorescent Bulbs

[Johnny Reefer]

In an attempt to reduce my hydro bill...I recently changed out a number of incandescent bulbs for fluorescent bulbs.
My last hydro bill was higher than it's ever been.
The rate did not go up. My consumption did.
I vaguely recall hearing, years ago, that turning a fluorescent light on uses up more power than leaving the light on all day.
So if one were to turn a fluorescent light on/off multiple times throughout the day it would actually be using more power than if they had stuck with incandescent.
I am in the habit of turn lights on/off throughout the day.
Just wondering if anyone knows if there is any truth to what I vaguelly recall hearing about this.
Do fluorescent bulbs use more power on start up than they do while burning all day?
If so, it makes sense to me to just leave them on all day.

Thanx much and cheers:smile:,

[midgetwaiter]

I think you have to look elsewhere for your problem. A fluorescent ballast can draw quite a bit of power during a start but it happens fast. Unless your lights go on and off thousands of times a day, this isn't what caused your consumption to rise.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

You're running reef tanks right? You're household lighting would be a drop in the bucket by comparison.

It's winter, so are you also running electric heating? More cooking lately? Any other changes.

Like was mentioned earlier, the fluorescent lighting shouldn't make a dif. upwards. I changed most of my incandescents to CFL bulbs & it really helps.

Anthony

[mark]

The company has a product to save energy by rapidly turning fluorescents off and on. http://www.fifthlight.com/technology.htm (might help if I include link)

[Johnny Reefer]

.... It's winter, so are you also running electric heating? More cooking lately? Any other changes. ....
Heat's paid for by the landlord. No increase in cooking. But....yes, there was a change. That being the 135 FOWLR tank I got up and running in late November. It's down time before that would have been more than half of the period covered on the hydro bill previous to the last one so I didn't really notice a difference back then. It is only now that the consumption difference has become apparent.
Last November wasn't that long ago, I suppose. It just seems so long ago that the FOWLR tank did not occur to me as the culprit:redface:.

Anyhoo....thanx for the responses guys. Sometimes it takes a stupid question and some obvious responses to kick start the brain into thinkin' more clearly and broadly.

Thanx again and cheers:smile:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

No problemo. Since this is a fish forum, I thought that if you're anything like most of us addicts, there must have been a new tank or something added in the last little while. I'm now up to about 500g of fw & sw tanks. Ouch.

Anthony

[Bob I]

I vaguely recall hearing, years ago, that turning a fluorescent light on uses up more power than leaving the light on all day.

I think that is a bit of an urban legend. It is funny that my father used to say the same thing. In actuality a Compact Fluorescent bulb does not come up to full power right away.
On the other hand MH lights use more power than they are rated at. I measured my 150W Coralife Aqualight Pro with my new Kill-A-Watt meter using only the MH part. Instead of drawing 150W, it used 192 W. On the other hand my 65W C.F lamps draw only 49W.:mrgreen:

[Johnny Reefer]

I think that is a bit of an urban legend. It is funny that my father used to say the same thing. ....
I think it was from my Dad, too, where I heard this, but can't be certain.
Us kids used to get crap for leaving lights on, except for the kitchen (if I remember right), which was fluorescent. :lol:

Cheers:smile:,

[DanG]

How accurate is the reading? Is it one of those measure one month and guesstimate the next month?

[Johnny Reefer]

How accurate is the reading? Is it one of those measure one month and guesstimate the next month? Not sure what you are getting at.
Is that how they do it in Manitoba?
In BC the consumption for the period covered by a bill is clearly indicated on the bill. You pay for what you've used. There is no forecasting. (At least not that I'm aware of. Maybe that's an option, but if it is I don't have it).
Comparing my last bill against the bill previous to that clearly shows a rise in consumption. So I don't get where you think a guesstimate might be in play here. The timeline maybe? A hydro bill here in BC covers 2 months, not just one. I have received 2 bills since starting up the FOWLR. But the first bill would have reflected only about 2 weeks of that tank being in operation. The FOWLR was in operation for the entire 2 months of the second bill.
But really, I am quite certain now that it is the FOWLR that caused the increase and there is no necessity to say anything more on it.
As for my original question on the fluorescent bulbs....I agree with Bob. I think it is an urban myth (and an old one at that) and I am not going to lose any sleep over it.
Thanx again to those who responded with information leading to the discovery of the increased power consumption.

Cheers:smile:,

[Willow]

they read one month and guess the next month at my place.. the bill is always wackadoodle.

[deep6er]

You can ask BC hydro to put you on a flat rate. They take your monthy average from last year and charge you the same amount per month then next year they will campare it and if you used less they owe you money if you used more your monthly rate goes up. I think this is how it works. My last hydro bill was $400.00 I am changing to the flat rate plan soon.

[DanG]

Yes that is how they do it in manitoba, they base the guess on the average consumption used in the same month over the last 2 years.

[TheReefGeek]

In e-town I get wacked out bills. Seems like they only take actualy readings every 3 months or so, the other months they forecast. They always seem to forecast low, then WHAM, hit with a nice big bill every 3 months.

[Bob I]

You can ask BC hydro to put you on a flat rate. They take your monthy average from last year and charge you the same amount per month then next year they will campare it and if you used less they owe you money if you used more your monthly rate goes up. I think this is how it works. My last hydro bill was $400.00 I am changing to the flat rate plan soon.

Wow $400.00 :question:, and I complain if mine goes over $60.00 :eek:

[TheReefGeek]

Wow $400.00 :question:, and I complain if mine goes over $60.00 :eek:

What do you live in, and what lighting is over your reefs? When I lived in an apartment without a reef mine was $80.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

When I lived alone in a duplex in Powell River, I didn't bother turning on the heat unless I had company over & you could actually see your breath condensing indoors. My hydrobill was less than $20/month back then.

Can't do silly stuff like that once you're married to a very nice Malaysian lady who's cold most of the time. (But at least you can snuggle to keep warm). Ok, enough of the touchy-feelies.

Anthony

[Delphinus]

they read one month and guess the next month at my place.. the bill is always wackadoodle.
Same here. Most of the time the monthly bills are nicely consistent but every now and again they'll estimate low. I hate that, makes the bill nice and small for that month, but I just cringe at knowing what the next month will be.

[Johnny Reefer]

Interesting. I guess we have an option here in BC. Didn't know that.

.... Most of the time the monthly bills are nicely consistent but every now and again they'll estimate low. I hate that, makes the bill nice and small for that month, but I just cringe at knowing what the next month will be.
This is why I wouldn't want to go flat rate (or forecasting or guesstimating or whatever it is). My bills are pretty straightforward. Consumption; rate; amount due; due date. There is also this neat little history bar graph that tells me what I've consumed each billing period over the previous 12 months. I usually have a good idea how much the bill is going to be. Usually.

Anyhoo...cheers:smile:,