ight balbs?

The new energy efficient bulbs can be turned off and it doesnt effect them becaause there is no warm up time on them. So your best bet for saving money on your electric bill is to buy these energy efficent bulbs and yes turn them off because it wont effect the bulb. In the days of when these bulbs first came out the statement that your husband claims was true but now it is not an issue any longer. So turn out the lights...

When first lit, all fluorescent bulbs take a quick in-rush of current that is higher than what they use when they are operating. But this in-rush of current lasts for seconds (or perhaps less).

There used to be rumor that you should leave them on because the bulbs last longer that way - but that is not true unless you are literally turning the bulbs on and off every minute or two.

You should use these bulbs exactly the same way your used your original incandescent bulbs - turn them off when you aren't using them.

Good question.

Always turn the lights off when you leave a room. "Starting up" a light bulb does not use as much energy as leaving it on. Light bulbs aren't like cars.

they did a test on mythbusters using various light BULBS and the amount of power that they used being turned on and found that the amount of power used starting up was negligable. it's recommended to turn them off when not being used.