For a good long while I have flirted with using CFLs to replace my older style lamps and I have to say that I am pretty underwhelmed regarding the long life claims.

Most of the standard supermarket CFLs I have bought have a far shorter life than their tungsten counterparts.

Symptoms of failure are typically chosen from the following list:

- output "strange" spectrum blue light that makes you feel really ill after a while

- just refuses to come on

- whistles

Oh, and the other thing is that they are typically slightly bigger than tungsten lamps and are therefore useless for close fitting enclosed bathroom enclosures.

Oh and another thing while I'm at it - they take so long to "warm-up" that they are useless for garages, cupboards and stairs.

Oh and they are more expensive.

Is there any reason why people are NOT flocking to buy them?

The first two comments are surprising to me. I have been using CFLs for too many years to remember. Nearly all the first generation (phillips globe) are still working perfectly. They were expensive (£6), slow to get to full power, but had a warm colour.

Which would suggest, your correspondents did not use these or had an electricity supply or use that destroyed them.

Subsequent CfL of the 'rod' variety were very much cheaper - 49p seems to be the norm nowadays. Some are good, some from cheap factories are blue and dodgy. Could this be what your correspondents are judging from? As for size, the normal inexpensive CfL is a little larger. But I have never had a problem getting a compact version of that would fit in the space of the old 60w. Yes, these are more expensive (~£2) but still are much cheaper than 60w when consumption is taken in.

Sorry, these people are either rather thick, or deciding (like that NI minister yesterday) that their agenda is more important than fact.

But then 19% of the UK population believe the earth goes round the sun once a month so I guess alllowances must be made ....

Yeah got a few kicking about the house now, they do take a little while to warm up but are fine after that and are brighter than the bulbs they replaced, also do remember

60w for the old bulb, 11w for the new one.. Work it out

Cost of bulb + cost to power it over it's a timespan (approx what 3,000hrs)

say 60w bulb at say 50p ..

3,000 x 0.06 Kw = 180 Kwh of power required for this 1 bulb.. what's power these days 9p/Kwh something odd.. -> £16.20 + 0.50 for the bulb - £16.70

Now for the CFL - cost £1.80 say (it's a phillips one) so that's

3,000 x0.011 Kw => 33Kwh of power at 9p/Kwh = £2.97 + £1.80 => £4.77

So even if it only lasts 3,000 hrs dues to lots of spikes / blips / repeated on/off which kills many things quicker, your still saving..

So I'll stop there, yes it's a pain you can't use them in certain fittings but it doesn't say you can't, it just says that it will reduce it's lifespan.

Now if they could get them to work with a dimmer switch I'd be loving it as 5 x 9 w much better that 5 x 40w.