Smarty wrote:

Is there such a thing as a true "instant start" CFL which produces full
intensity brightness as soon as it is turned on? I am trying to find an
indoor bulb which will not require any warm up period to attain full
brightness.

I know that claims are made, but wonder if they are exaggerated or true.
General Electric, for example, actually labels their bulbs as "instant
on" but they are not 'instant'.

I also realize that colder temperatures prolong the ionization / warm up
period, but my application is for indoor use at normal 70 degree F
temperature.

Thanks for any advice.

I use pretty much all CFLs around my house and with the exception of
some encapsulated decorative globe types in a light bar, none of them
show any notable warm up period after a few hours of use. There is
perhaps a 1/4 second start time from switch on, but they are at 80%+
brightness immediately.

I do find that most CFLs do require a few hours burn in time, presumably
to fully vaporize and distribute the tiny amount of mercury, before they
settle into the no/negligable warm up state.

Most of the CFLs I use are basic 60W equiv models, with some larger
100W+ equives in a few applications. Also, unlike what some people
claim, I have very few failures of CFLs and when they do fail it's
usually after a number of years of daily use.