[Guest]

You have two light switches in one room. switch one controls one 240 watt bulb, switch two controls four 60 watt bulbs. You would like to save money on your electric bill, so you decided to only use one switch in the room which one are you going to use and why?

[Guest]

You would use the four 60 watt bulbs, because, even though the wattage is the same, the four 60 watt bulbs would be distributed throughout the room (I'm guessing) and would therefore light your room more effectively.

[itachi-san]

He is not asking whether the room is lit better with one or another... The guy would use the 240 watt bulb, because it costs more to use 4 fixtures over 1 fixture even though they add up to the same wattage.

[EventHorizon]

You have two light switches in one room. switch one controls one 240 watt bulb, switch two controls four 60 watt bulbs. You would like to save money on your electric bill, so you decided to only use one switch in the room which one are you going to use and why?

would you use the second switch and just remove one or two bulbs from their sockets?

[Guest]

Use the 240 watt it has less wasted power. The 4 60's have more power going to each bulb that is wasted.

[Guest]

You have two light switches in one room. switch one controls one 240 watt bulb, switch two controls four 60 watt bulbs. You would like to save money on your electric bill, so you decided to only use one switch in the room which one are you going to use and why?

Ok, by request i will share a few of the details of this room with you.

There is no window, or any other natural light coming into the room.

The 4 bulbs are in a line on one side of the room

The single bulb in by its lonesome on the other side of the room

You do not have the option to use lower watt bulbs or any other means of light

Take all this into account before answering and then answer using this idea as well

The single bulb is a heat light

[Guest]

The single bulb is a heat light

So I was right... the four 60 watts are a better use of energy.

[Guest]

Ok, by request i will share a few of the details of this room with you.

There is no window, or any other natural light coming into the room.

The 4 bulbs are in a line on one side of the room

The single bulb in by its lonesome on the other side of the room

You do not have the option to use lower watt bulbs or any other means of light

Take all this into account before answering and then answer using this idea as well

The single bulb is a heat light

The single bulb is a incandescent bulb? You haven't given any detail on the wiring so I'm assuming line loss is negligible. I don't know much about the efficiency of lightbulbs but can we assume a linear relationship between lumens and wattage? Are we allowed to unscrew lightbulbs?

[Guest]

Ok, by request i will share a few of the details of this room with you.

There is no window, or any other natural light coming into the room.

The 4 bulbs are in a line on one side of the room

The single bulb in by its lonesome on the other side of the room

You do not have the option to use lower watt bulbs or any other means of light

Take all this into account before answering and then answer using this idea as well

The single bulb is a heat light

If saving money is the goal, it's simple. Unscrew a couple of the 60W bulbs and use the second switch.

However, based on your tip about the heat light, I would say ...

The 60W bulbs are more efficient because resistance increases with the heat of the wire, which in turn increases due to resistance (to infinity and beyond!), so the 240W will no doubt lose more to energy to heat loss than the 60W's.

[Guest]

It doesn't seem this is a brain teaser but a question about energy efficiency. So at least for now...off to "Others".

[Guest]

The 4 60W if the 240 is a heat lamp the difference in what the bulbs use doesn't matter to what you will have to spend extra to cool the room down!

[Guest]

Does it not use more energy to actually turn on a light then maintain its luminescence? If that's true, then turning on FOUR bulbs would use more energy than ONE bulb.

[Guest]

Does it not use more energy to actually turn on a light then maintain its luminescence? If that's true, then turning on FOUR bulbs would use more energy than ONE bulb.

Stumbled on this topic! Stumped too.

Some use less energy to turn on than othes, depends how long you leave them on too.