Jonathan Sachs wrote:
There's a light on the the landing outside my back door (second floor
of a three-flat) which is useful for lighting the steps when I come
home in the dark. Since I must turn the light on before I leave so
that it will be on when I return, I would like to save electricity by
replacing the incandescent bulb with a screw-in fluorescent tube. I
wonder whether those tubes are safe and effective to use at very low
temperatures. I live in Chicago, where the annual low temperature is
typically -15 to -20° Fahrenheit.

My personal experience is that they will work, sort of. I have lights
in my garage. There are two pair. I have one tungsten light and one CF in
each one. That way in the winter I get light as soon as I turn on the
switch and better light a short time later. When it is really cold out and
about 0º F inside the garage, it takes a few minutes for the Cf's to come up
to close to normal levels. Note some older ones I had and tried did not
function well at all, but the new ones seen to do well in the cold.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit