The life of a CFL is no longer affected by switching on and off. The current standards for ‘Energy Recommended’ accreditation requires over 3,000 switching cycles per 8,000 hours of tested life which is many more than would be necessary for normal domestic use. For special applications such as hallways in flats and lights in corridors activated by motion sensors, some manufacturers produce ‘heavy duty’ CFL’s with up to 500,000 switching cycles capability and 15,000 hours life!

There is no reason to keep a CFL switched on for longer than a normal IL as they do not consume any greater energy during start up and run very efficiently immediately after the first 2 or 3 seconds.

IL’s and CFL’s are light sources that work differently as they are based on different technologies. IL’s produce light when an electric current heats a tungsten coil to a certain temperature. The central element in a compact fluorescent lamp is a sealed glass tube which contains a small bit of mercury and an inert gas kept under very low pressure. The tube also contains a phosphor powder, coated along the inside of the glass. When you turn the lamp on the current flow causes electrons to migrate through the gas from one end of the tube to the other and this energy changes some of the mercury in the tube from a liquid to a gas.

As electrons and charged atoms move through the tube, some of them will collide with the gaseous mercury atoms. These collisions excite the atoms, bumping electrons up to higher energy levels. When the electrons return to their original energy level, they release light photons. This is why it takes some time for a CFL to light up.

CFL lamps last on average between 6 to 15 times longer than energy inefficient IL’s.