On Compact Fluorescents

James Lileks has some commentary on them:

I hate fluorescent bulbs. I can’t stand the ghastly chalky light, the flicker, the slow warm-up, their incompatibility with dimmer switches. But it’s been a while since I investigated the situation; it’s possible they have bulbs that meet all criteria now. In which case I will install some, because they last longer, and I don't get enough mercury in m y diet. . Until then, however, I prefer the tone and quality of “Reveal” bulbs.

We have some CFs at our place. I replaced most the lights we use regularly with them because it makes the most sense. Some bulbs are good and some suck. We have two 3-way 150W torch lamps in the living room. One has a good bulb that gives warm light with no flicker and no warm up. The other does is it's evil twin and exhibits all the breeds failings. How annoying.

But the real reason we aren't using them more is that the compact fluorescents just aren't compact enough. Several of our fixtures (like the 2 3-way lamps upstairs) require bulbs of such size that you have the choice of CFs or a lampshade, but not both. We went with lampshades. Perhaps I'll rework the shades upstairs so we don't have this problem anymore at a later date.