>>>Yes these are several years old. Generally the hall light is switched on when it gets too dark and is switched off at bedtime. The current oldish bulbs take a second or two to come on, and tens of seconds to brighten up, I wouldn't say minutes, but one never notices when they reach their optimum.
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>>>We just received some new ones free in the mail, and they come on and brighten up almost immediately.
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>>A pal of mine has installed some of the early models in his downstairs bathroom about fifteen years ago. The tiles in that room are dark brown, and the window isn't too big either. There's little to no light coming from outside at night, because there's a tree outside. The wall-mounted piece of ceramics is also coffee color. So when it takes two or three long seconds to show up, when time rushes at relativistic speeds... he regretted the decision to go into CFL tech so early, at least for this one room.
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>Yuck! He thinks the bulbs are his problem! He installed them 15 years ago, and the decor, what, 30? he should regret his execrable taste, not the bulbs. And, after all, it's not rocket science to replace them if he's dissatisfied.

The colors were actually cute - well fit shades of coffee, chocolate and what have you - it's the suspense while standing there for those three seconds with a bladder about to burst, and you have no clue where to aim.

He probably solved the problem soon, or just trained himself and his sons that it's never too far if you get going earlier.