On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 00:16:18 +0100, "Fred" wrote:


Yes the current is higher in order to ignite the tub,

That's not the issue (even if it's true, I've not seen it mentioned
elsewhere), shortening of the tube life is the issue. Modern control
gear can be a lot better than old stuff, but as always the best
equipment is more expensive and not always used.

How does that contradict what he said? And it is the issue, like he
says below.

It's very much the issue! I recall stories as the poster had where the
starting of a fluorescent tube was equivalent to 1/2 hour running.

They said the same thing about lncandescent lights, btw, and I
believed it until I thought about it. My line of thinking was. If
turning the light on was equivalent to using 10 minutes of
electricity, imagine the time it takes for the bulb to get to full
brightness and imagine running 10 minutes worth of electricity through
the filament in less than a second. That's a half amp or so times
36,000 (sec./10 minutes). That's 18,000 amps through my lightbulb.
Wow. Maybe I'll rejuvenate a cadaver next time.

I haven't read the url below, so I'll leave that for later.