An Invesitigation of the Effect of Operating Cycles on the Life of Compact Fluorescent Lamps

摘要

While compact flurescent lamps (CFLs) and associated ballasts are undergoing rapid development in the US, and manufacturers and energy advocacy groups promote them as having lifetimes greater than ten times those of incandescent lamps, little public data exist to verify long-term performance characteristics of these products. Furthermore, the standard life testing procedure of 3 hour-on and 20 minute-off cycles requires many months to assess long-term impacts, and may not be representative of the conditions in which the products are actually used.