stan wrote:
On Apr 9, 3:32 pm, N8N wrote:
On Apr 9, 12:17 pm, "HeyBub" wrote:

Twice as much.
"Every CFL light contains a small ac-dc power supply with reactive
components in it that will affect the CFL's power factor (PF) - that is, the
load presented to the ac line. The closer the PF is to 1, the better. A load
with low power factor (.85) draws more current and is less efficient than a
load with a high power factor for the same amount of useful power. ... These
power losses don't show up directly on our electricity bill, but the
utilities sure see the effects.
"I put one of my home CFL bulbs on my Kill-O-Watt power meter recently and
measured its power factor: It was .57. This is lousy. "
http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/450043045.html
that is pretty crappy, even old style fluorescent fixtures are
generally 0.8 or better.

Now I'm going to have to try that when I get home to satisfy my
curiosity.

nate

One reservation we have about the use of CFLs is that since we heat
most homes here with electricity (hydro generated) anyway and never
need, in this climate AC, the so-called wasted heat from cheap (25
cent) incandescents (when on at night for example) is merely an
alternative to our electric heating!
One place that CFLs do make sense is outside, where they are sometimes
left on at night for safety and insurance reasons. But CFLs in very
cold climates do not seem to be always the best choice and ot you have
to buy expensive ones to get good starting and colour!
Also CFLs do not seem to be a good or necessary choice for locations
where they are flipped on for a short time, such as stairs, cupboards
etc. they supposed to be used (like strip fluorescents) where they
will be left on continuously.
We have a bunch of those, with electronic ballasts, (from a school
renovation) in our workshop.
Interesting finding; what about switching power supplies also?

It is true that the old incandescent bulbs do provide heat, however,
like resistance heat, they are very inefficient. IIRC a good heat pump
will provide about four to six times as much heat as a resistance heater
or incandescent for the same power consumption.

EJ in NJ