Jay Honeck wrote:
[Compact fluorescents] burn out far less often, and put out far less
heat. They're probably more efficient, too

All true. Remember, in the summer, you get to pay for much more than
the power an incandescent lamp draws - you put, say, 60 W into the lamp
and get, say 5 W of light and 55 W of heat. Then you have to run the
air conditioner longer to pump that 55 W of heat outside. Swap that for
a 13 W CFL and not only does more of that 13 W turn into light, less of
it turns into heat that you have to pump outside. The flip side with
CFLs is that in the winter, you have to run the furnace longer to make
up for the heat that you aren't getting from incandescent lamps.

-- but, damn, it makes the hallway look like something out of "The
Matrix". In fact, that's what our staff calls that hallway now.

As has been mentioned, you can get them in different color temperatures.
Unfortunately, even though most lamps (incandescent, CFL, whatever) have
the watts and lumens clearly marked on the packaging, the color
temperature is not often marked or is not marked clearly. I did see
some CFLs at either Lowe's or Home Depot that had packages marked "cool"
in blue letters or "warm" in red letters, which is at least a start.

Lamp geeks will talk about color temperature in degrees Kelvin, like
"2800 K". Fluorescent lamps are sometimes marked this way, but sometimes
they use a code like "28" for 2800 K, "30" for 3000 K, and sometimes
aren't marked at all. The big fusion reactor that runs the world has a
color temperature of about 5785 K. A plain old incandescent lamp is
about 2800 K. Some CFLs are way over 3500 K, although ones down to
2700 K are available. A higher color temperature is usually described
as "colder" light, while lower is "warmer".

There is another number called the Color Rendering Index or CRI that is
supposed to show how well colors appear to human vision. I think it can
be computed for any lamp, but it is most often quoted for fluorescent
lamps. A CRI of 100 is "perfect"; a good-quality fluorescent lamp will
probably be in the high 80s or low 90s.

Most of the "big name" manufacturers have lamp catalogs with a lot of
technical data online, and this can be a good way to find out the real
specs of what you can get in the local stores. (It's safe to assume
that the employees at the big-box store will be clueless.) They may
also have "recommend a lamp" features on their Web sites, either
automated or with a human. Another option might be to talk to a local
or regional lamp distributor; the salesman there should be able to give
you some level of advice on what lamps will look good in what situations.
Also, if you're in a restaurant or another hotel, look at the fixtures
to see what they're using. If they are CFLs and you like the way they
look, get a part number from the lamp (if you can reach it) or inquire
of the management.

LEDs would sure be nice, but none of the light bulb companies
apparently want to put their "bread & butter" at risk.

The reason that there aren't white LED lamps is the same reason that
there aren't battery-electric airplanes. Right now, for "white"
light, fluorescent lamps are just about the most efficient thing
around. To make money, LEDs have to beat fluorescents and they aren't
quite there yet - but probably will get there within the next few years.

If you want a particular color of light, LED lamps are already about the
most efficient way to get it. LEDs are catching on for stage lighting
in a big way; not only are they not nearly as hot, but you can have one
fixture with red, green, and blue LEDs in it and a knob on the back (or
a computer connection) so you can dial up any color you like. LEDs also
last a long time, which is part of the reason why they are popular in
applications like traffic lights, where labor cost to replace is a good
chunk of the budget. In the past few years, some of the red warning
lamps on radio towers and other aerial obstacles appear to be LEDs as
well.

Matt Roberds