do you save electricity by leaving fluorescent lights on overnight or by turning them off?

Question

does it take a lot of power to switch on a fluorescent light

Answer 1

You always save electricity by turning off the lights...

Answer 2

Fluorescent Lighting

For most areas of the United States, a general rule-of-thumb for when to turn off a fluorescent light is if you leave a room for more than 15 minutes, it is probably more cost effective to turn the light off. Or in other words, if you leave the room for only up to 15 minutes, it will generally be more cost effective to leave the light(s) on. In areas where electric rates are high and/or during peak demand periods, this period may be as low as 5 minutes.

Incandescent lights (or bulbs) should be turned off whenever they are not needed. Nearly all types of incandescent light bulbs are fairly inexpensive to produce and are relatively inefficient. Only about 10%–15% of the electricity that incandescent lights consume results in light—the rest is turned into heat. Turning the light(s) off will keep a room cooler, an extra benefit in the summer. Therefore, the value of the energy saved by not having the lights on will be far greater than the cost of having to replace the bulb.

Answer 3

turn it off. with todays electronic rapid start ballasts they are most energy-efficient when lighting.

Answer 4

they suck a bit to fire up but nowadays they have much faster starters than bak in ur grannys day.