On Sunday, 16 September 2018 17:11:57 UTC+1, Cursitor Doom wrote:
Gentlemen,

Back in the 1960s, when tubes were coming into service more and more, it
was a widely held belief that they were more expensive to run than
tungsten filament bulbs if turned on for short periods. It was said that
most of the power they consumed was drawn during the 'strike-up' phase so
if they weren't on for at *least* an hour, you might as well be using TF
bulbs.
Well, here we are 50+ years on and tubes are now very much old tech.
What, with the benefit of hindsight, have the Panel to say about those
old efficiency claims of the day?

Just curious.....

it was a misunderstanding. They used around 3x the current for the 1st 1-2 seconds during starting, but not 3x power. Starting added wear & tear to the tube filaments. That's all. ISTR calculating the break even point many years ago at somewere vaguely around a minute.


NT