Jul232009
Can three 20-watt CFL bulbs overwhelm a generator?
Filed under Alternative energy by david brooks at 8:22 am
Those of you who love the details of real-world electrical systems must read this post from Granite Viewpoint, a Seacoast blog, about some weird effects of compact fluorescent bulbs when operating the house on a generator during power outages. It turns out that these bulbs have a very large instantaenous power draw when starting (perhaps 200 watts for a 20-watt CFL). It’s a good read, with a detail-filled aside about the reality of hooking up a generator to a home system.
(Yes, that’s my comment at the end of the post. So maybe we’re doing a bit of blog-rolling here ….)
July 23rd, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Looks like site may have been “slashdotted” I was unable to access.
I find it hard to believe a CFL has higher inrush current then an incandescent.
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:37 pm
It must have been down temporarily; I had no trouble opening it from the link.
“Inrush current” - cool phrase!
July 24th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Was able to access it today without problem.
CFLs are like other electronics that use switching power supplies. They draw power for only a portion of the AC cycle so current is higher then expected, even though actual power consumption is low.