Does turning off the lights always save money?

Word Count: 139

May 25th, 2007 | Alan | Rumors and Ideas

The surprising answer: no, sometimes you may be spending slightly more money by turning off the lights when you leave the room. However, this only applies to fluorescent lighting. If you use incandescent lighting, then yes, turning off the lights  will save you money as long as you leave the light off for at least 5 seconds. However, the amount of time that a fluorescent light needs to be off for it to begin saving you any money is 15 minutes. If you plan to leave the light off for any less than 15 minutes, its a waste of money to turn it off.

I read this in an article on nbc5i, and I just figured it was pretty interesting. I always thought that turning off the light would save money, even if it was only for a couple minutes!