shortening a CLF's lifespan

I know that turning them on and off to much will shorten their life spans, but by how much. At the liadies washroom at work some of the ladies always turn off the lights as they leave the room. There are some flouresent tubes, but most of the lights are cfls.

Just got me thinking...do the energy savings to turing off the lights greatly offset the production costs of a replacment bulb because it's been burned out before its time?

to my experience, it really doesnt' shorten the bulb.. it's just ppl are saying it...

as of how much it saves by switching off?? i read it on myth buster, i think turning it on / off only requires couple seconds of power, so even if u leave the room for 30 sec, it's better to switch them off.

I think it will shorten the life span, but I'm not sure by how much. It depends upon the ballast in the base of the bulb.

I know that leaving them on can extend the lifespan of the bulb by much longer than the rating. I replaced the hallway lighting with CFLs in the hallways of my condo in late 2004. Many of the bulbs are still working today - this is after three years of almost continuous use! These were bulbs that were rated at 10k hours; they've been going for 30k+ hours.

It's a trade off between the cost of electricity vs the cost of the bulb.

Is there also a problem with having CFLs in a high humidity location such as a bathroom? These things really should be sealed against moisture but I read I should not place them in the vicinity of a shower stall.

Originally Posted by nogoro

Is there also a problem with having CFLs in a high humidity location such as a bathroom? These things really should be sealed against moisture but I read I should not place them in the vicinity of a shower stall.

We're talking a public bathroom, just sinks and toilet stalls. I guess the humidity could be higher in there, but its not something noticable.

I believe that frequent on/off or turning on for short durations does decrease lifespan as one of the lights that I turn on/off frequently seems to be blowing bulbs too often, where as the bulbs that stay on longer have lasted much longer.

I heard that frequent on/off in cold weather (outdoor motion sensor) also decreases lifespan.

alot of commercial buildings dont use CFL like the ones you have at home, most are fixtures containing the ballast and a replaceable bulb. Either way on/off cycles do shorten bulb but power savings would still outweigh bulb replacement.