Is It More Economical to Turn off the Lights?

"Turn off the lights to save electricity" is the concept of electricity education that we have received since childhood. However, the saying that "turning off the lights in time costs more electricity" has also begun to spread on the internet in recent years. What is the truth?

To find out this problem, first of all, we should know what kind of light we usually use. In our daily life, we usually use incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps, energy-saving lamps, and LED lamps. Through comparison, we can see which situation is more energy-saving.

1. Incandescent lamp

Incandescent lamp is one of the earliest popular electric lamps, which has gradually withdrawn from the market stage. Some experiments have proved that the power consumption of incandescent lamp switch will be slightly more, but compared with the normal operation, power consumption can be negligible. But the traditional incandescent lamp has filament inside. Turn on the lights will bombard the filament every time, which will shorten the lamp life.

2. Fluorescent lamp

Fluorescent lights are the ones that flash a few times before when turned on. Because the fluorescent lamp have a lamp tube preheating process at the moment of turning on the lamp, which will consume more electricity, and frequent switching of the lamp will consume more phosphor and damage the lamp.

3. Energy saving light

Energy saving lamp save more electricity and has longer life, which is the first choice of energy-saving and environmental protection at home. The instantaneous voltage of the energy saving light is twice the normal voltage. But this "high power consumption" state only about 1 millisecond, which is very short, and then it will return to normal. Although turning the lights on and off frequently will not consume too much electricity, it will make the energy-saving lamp "life lost". It is only advocated to turn off the lamp when it is unnecessary to turn on the lamp for more than half an hour.

4. LED

The core of LED lamp is light-emitting diode. This device has good switching endurance, and the power consumption of switching lamp is almost the same as that under normal state. Even if the lamp is switched frequently, it has no influence, and it can be switched on and off at will.

To sum up, whether to turn off the light should be decided by the type of lamp, the time and frequency of lamp use. If your home is incandescent lamp, fluorescent lamp or energy-saving lamp, it is recommended not to turn off the lights when go out for a short time, such as going downstairs to throw garbage or take express delivery. If your home is led light, it is recommended to turn off the light in time.

In addition, it is recommended to use LED lights for home kitchens, corridors, toilets and other places where lights are frequently switched on and off. We can choose 15 -20W energy-saving lamp for bedroom and 20 ~ 30W energy-saving lamp for living room.