A little technical question about CFL bulbs.

RipplesOfLife

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
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Location
Ontario, Canada
I was looking at a 15 W CFL bulb and noticed the voltage and amp rating.

120 V and 220 mA (varies between brands). When I calculate that, it comes out to 26.4 watts.

So does that mean that it consumes about 26 W of electricity to output 15 W of light? (does that even make sense?)

If I where to approximate or calculate how much electricity I'm using up, do I calculate using 15 W or 26.4 W?

Now, if it's 26.4 W, then the energy savings is only about half of a 60 W incandescent bulb.

I have an apartment that I'm going to replace all the bulbs with CFL, and some of them will probably be left on even when no one is using the room. Like the hall and laundry room.

I want to calculate the budget/utility more correctly, as far as lighting goes.

Thanks
 
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