Tim Zimmerman wrote:

The Commercial Electric compact fluorescent lights are very slow to
brighten compared to incandescent. I recently had four of them
installed.
Each had a light output equal to a typical 56-watts bulb within in
20-
seconds (they claim 60-watts.) Since each consumes only 17-watts of
energy I now have three bulbs per bedroom and not have to worry
about a ladder for four or five years.

I like the CE, Sylvania and some other brands CF lights for certain
applications. They are "instant on" and can even start at 0 degrees
Fahrenheit, even though as you note they have a warmup time. One other
thing worth noting is that some fixtures have a limit of 60W per bulb,
incandescent. You can substitute 23W or 28W CF bulbs and achieve better
illumination.

CF bulbs are not as good where you'll turn them off before they'll
achieve full brightness, meaning they're most effective where they'll
be on for minutes to hours at a time.

I like dimmable halogens for reading lights.

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