Do low energy bulbs use more electricity at startup?

[gobbledegeek]

I know that fluorescent tubes need a surge of power at startup (equivalent to about 20-30 mins of normal use), but do low energy light bulbs do the same?

[raysparx]

They really are just miniature fluorescents,and work on the same principle,they have a built in starter which ignites the gas, but obviously they last longer,are cheaper to run than filament lamps,but cost a fair bit more to buy, Ray

[buildersmate]

Since a fluorescent start-up lasts about 5 seconds max, your question would imply that such a bulb uses at least 240 times the normal amount of energy at start up. Since most of these bulbs consume between 10W and 18W in 'running' mode, that's at least 2.5kW. I don't think so - it would trip the 6A circuit breakers that protect the lighting circuits in a domestic house. Sounds like a story put about by the makers of conventional light bulbs.