Sorry to puncture your upholding of an old wives’ tale, but that yarn about fluorescent light bulbs taking more energy to turn off and on again than running for 15 minutes was put to the sword by our friends at Mythbusters a few years ago.
The shocking truth is - turn off every light when you are not using it, and you’ll save energy, money, the planet etc.
Link to column: To save energy, should you turn lights off or leave them on? - The Straight Dope
Do you have a link to the column you’re discussing?
As far as turning on and off fluorescent lights, doing so shortens the life of both the tube and ballast. The 15 minute rule was formulated after taking this into account (it takes energy to make tubes and ballasts). Did Mythbusters allow for that?
I’ve taken the liberty of adding a link to the column in question into the first post. Earthlyreason, it’s helpful to other readers to do so when one starts a thread. You’ll know for next time.
It should also be pointed out that this is a reprint of a “classic” column from 1980. Technology may have changed. I’ll bring this to Cecil’s attention, to see whether he thinks an update might be in order.
The humble incandescent light bulb is primarily a heat source that produces some light into the bargain. For a good proportion of the Northern Hemisphere, at this time of year, we’re needing to heat our homes.
In the Summer, with more daylight hours, there’s much less need for lighting.
So, how bad are incandescents, really, once you consider the cost of manufacturing and the difficulty of disposal of compact fluorescents?
There are other ways to save energy at home. When I’m scolded for not turning off a light, I ask that person, “How do you dry your clothes?” Almost always I’m told its with a clothes dryer. That uses a lot of energy. My dryer uses 3500 watts. There are 35 light sockets in my house. If I put a 100 watt bulb in each and left them all on for an hour that would equal one hour of dryer time. But I use compact fluorescents, averaging around 25 watts or less. So leaving every light in my house on for 4 hours would equal one hour of dryer time. So, I hang my clothes on a clothes line I made. (Most houses no longer come with clotheslines.) And I get that fresh-air scent without using a dryer-cloth. And I turn off every light when not in use.
READ YA LATER -KLYPH