howstuffworks.com and other websites implied that today’s bulbs don’t use a hot filament as a starter anymore. They have something that works quickly to excite the gas and shuts off. Another webpage says today’s instant-on bulbs have the starter preheated, so turning it off and on just moves the circuit, so turning it on doesn’t generate the heat that early fluorescents did by turning it on. Where did you get the K temperature you quoted? I saw that for an incandescent tungsten filament, but not for a fluorescent starter.
