We haven't bought any compact fluorescent light bulbs for our house yet, and to tell you the truth, I've been dreading CFLs in my own home due to simple vanity: My hair and complexion look terrible under fluorescent lighting.

But what I really wanted to cheer you on about was dating your light bulbs with a Sharpie. I am a "dater" myself ... and I write who, where, when, how much I paid on everything large and permanent enough to withstand the notation.

Deborah, you really ought to check out the CFL options. They come in a wide range of color temps, with some that exactly mimic incandescent lighting, if that's what you like. You can also get them a bit whiter, but still not as blue-white as traditional fluorescents. (I always flash back to Tom Hanks in "Joe vs the Volcano" and the way the light tubes physically beat him down.)

As far as being a "dater," I'm discovering it's often much easier to mark the item itself for later reference than to dig out the paperwork (although that doesn't stop me from being a "filer," as well).

I'm waiting on the swirlies to get down below "dirty bomb" levels of mercury. The instructions for cleanup and disposal are hysterical.

The other problem we have at Random Manor is the Random Daughter. She has a rather esoteric superpower: she can detect an empty room with a light on from distances of hundreds of feet. Sensing such a room, she swoops into action from wherever she happens to be and turns off the offending circuit, giving (usually) me a baleful glare when I return to the scene moments later.

With CF bulbs, this apparently lowers their lifespan considerably, in extreme cases (and she is that) approaching "normal" incandescent bulbs.

But don't worry -- I'm buying carbon offsets.

My swirlie light lasted about as long as...I don't know.

My short and absent-minded memory makes me prime material for marketing swindlers and false product loyalty. I can't remember when I put the thing in, so I can't tell you how it compares.

"I'd go buy another one."

I probably would, too.

It's swirlie.

I believe they're making "daylight" swirlie bulbs now. But I could be wrong as I haven't done a ton of research since Tim swears up, down, back, forth, and cylindrically that the only florescent bulb that will ever be in our house will be in the kitchen (with a possible exception to the workshop, should he ever, you know, hang the lights in there). It comes of his dad being an early adopter - long before they were compact enough to fit in a regular socket and not hang out, looking odd. Imagine, if you will, a rather nice (if ordinary) dining room chandelier with tall, swirled florescent bulbs in it, making it impossible to put the globes back on. Yeah, he grew up with that. It seems to have left inordinately large scars. :)

With CF bulbs, this apparently lowers their lifespan considerably

I hadn't heard that. I guess it has to do with the life of the ballast...? The implication is that on a TCO basis, it may be more cost-effective to leave your lights on continually. The sleep-mask manufacturers are probably behind that research.

Julie, if Seinfeld was still on TV (with new episodes, that is), I'm sure that "swirlies" would make recurring appearances, somehow.

I'm starting a "Sharpies for Julie" campaign, by the way, so that you, too, can date your light bulbs.

Beth, I foresee a new category of interviews on daytime talks shows: "I was traumatized by ill-advised fluorescent lighting." Oprah will have a field day.

Because you will need to buy and install so many new light bulbs at one time, this could be a splendid opportunity to buy a variety of brands and deploy them---where practical---side by side.

Those of us who are obsessive/compulsive would appreciate knowing which of the swirlies live up to the hype.

Yeah, I think my wife would really be all over the idea of turning our home into a consumer reports laboratory for light bulbs! ;-)

Perhaps with CFLs there's something to be said for not going cheap, but I'm pretty disappointed with the performance of the CFLs I have installed currently. They do take a considerable amount of time to "warm up" and a couple of them have a very noticable flicker.

The lights we run most often are non-incandescent bulbs, but there are some applications where I can't convince myself to switch away from my beloved Reveal bulbs. Dede & I are both very diligent about turning unused lights off tho...

We have a few swirlies around here. There's one in the living room lamp and it has been in service for at least five years. It even survived the move from Cleveland!

I'm not sure where the others are, but they're around somewhere.

and a couple of them have a very noticable flicker.

Shouldn't be any flicker whatsoever. That sounds like a defect.

I also am borderline psychotic about turning lights off.

It even survived the move from Cleveland!

At first, I overlooked the reference to the lamp and though, "man, this guy's even more OCD than me; he moves his light bulbs!" But I guess everyone packs their lamps' bulbs when they move them, so you're off the hook for that neurosis, anyway.

I'm sure that bulb got packed because it cost like a gozillion dollars. The incandescent bulbs did not come with us when we moved.

Several good comments on the "swirlies". I heard an electrician on one of the radio talk shows and he encouraged everyone to bypass the Big Box Stores and go directly to an electrical supplier for their bulbs. All bulbs available at the regular retail outlets are 120v. The electrical supply places offer 130v and they last a heck of a lot longer.

The electrical supply places offer 130v and they last a heck of a lot longer.

Interesting. I had never heard that. I guess the implication is that the higher voltage rating makes the bulbs less susceptible to damage from spikes in the current? And I presume that might also shield them somewhat from the problem Bret mentioned above about frequent on/off switching reducing the lifespan.