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>>Yes, we have one or 2 of those "green" bulbs, Esp. on the landing and in the hall (lights that tend to be left on most of the dark time) and haven't had to replace one for years now. OTOH, I don't think they're compatible with dimmers (not the ones I have anyway). BTW, i presume you mean the ones that take a wee while to actually come on, and that don't yield all their light straight away - a bit dim but then, imperceptibly get up to their working brightness. There are those who don't like the quality of light from them but I don't mind.
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>>BTW, they may be good for the reasons you state but wouldn't look too cool in recessed ceiling lights et al :-)
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>I think you are right about dimmers.
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>The current generation of them take a second or so to come on - not too bad. Some (not consistant) do seem to slowly bring their light output up to full strength.
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>Also some also tend to glow after they are shut off. Our master bathroom has 4 of them over the mirror - they make a fairly good night light after you turn them off at night. They glow for over an hour.

Jeez, how much light do you need to put on your makeup with!?

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>In our kitchen we have recessed indoor floodlights in the ceiling - they are florescents that look identical (we use them).

I'm talking like the spots or halogens, in wee rings set into the ceiling. Imagine them with twisty fluorescents dangling from them :-)

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>So far I haven't seen anything readily available that gives the combination of low energy use, long life, and good light like florescents. They do have limits though.
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>If I could replace everything with equivalent LED's for a non-astronomical price, I'd probably jump on it.

Talking LEDs: Years ago I had an old Casio red LED calculator. The battery was too low to power it. A mate said, "here, let's have your battery." He then put the battery in his LCD calculator and it ran on for ages after. Now we have low energy and really bright LEDs - how technology has moved on. I wonder how little energy LCD lights would consume! :-)