Amplification on CFL power factor

In response to my earlier post “Germans stock up on incandescent lamps, American trashes CFLs,” a commenter asked asked a question relating to power factor. Other commenters did a good job of explaining that, but if you want more, Margery Conner discusses the issue at length in “Utilities suffer from CFLs’ poor power factor.” If you want to help out your poor, suffering utilities, you’ll stick with incandescents.

If you really want to delve into the topic, you can read “Power Quality Implications Of Compact Fluorescent Lamps In Residences” from the NEMA Lighting Systems Division. It covers harmonic distortion as well as power factor.