louie wrote:
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.




I have done this for years, in new england,and they work, dimmer when
cold, really dim at startup. Probably shorter life, although I had a
flood type cf that is still alive after 5 or 6 years of use. just
replaced my current porch light after IIRC 3 years, but it might be
unrelated. Some of my 12-14 year old cfs are still alive

I any mildly enclosed fixture they will make enough heat to function.
Out in the breeze you might want to use one of the ones with a little
globe over it

hey a 60 watt light bulb on 9 extra hours every work day[60*9*250] is
135 kW of electricity a year,or 108 more than a 12 w cf, so it would
seem to payoff, at my business rate, 19 bucks a year.....