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CFL's are still a better deal, check out these for instance, same lumens/watt, similar CRI, better color temp, one seventh the price for one fourth the life so about half the dollars per lumen/hour =) If you want REALLY good color and high lumens/watt (62.5) check out these 98 CRI 5000K beauties. I recently had work pick some up to combat season affective disorder (winter blues) and they are great. They have just a tinge of blue to their output but are otherwise quite close to sunlight. It's was amazing seeing them next to normal tubes as we replaced them, the normal tubes gave a weak sickly color by comparison.

CFL's are still a better deal, check out these for instance, same lumens/watt, similar CRI, better color temp, one seventh the price for one fourth the life so about half the dollars per lumen/hour =) If you want REALLY good color and high lumens/watt (62.5) check out these 98 CRI 5000K beauties. I recently had work pick some up to combat season affective disorder (winter blues) and they are great. They have just a tinge of blue to their output but are otherwise quite close to sunlight. It's was amazing seeing them next to normal tubes as we replaced them, the normal tubes gave a weak sickly color by comparison.

Having said all of that, anyone who walks into a store and buys an incandescent is either a) stupid, b) very stupid, or c) they live in an apartment with unmetered electricity.

a) Fuck you, b) Fuck you twice, and c) If I did, I'd be running a carbon-nanotube production facility.

I use incandescents because there is no such thing as a CFL with anything like the spectrum of even an ordinary incandescent, let alone a broad-spectrum lamp like a GE Reveal(tm).

I have a house full of CFs, and have had them for half a decade now

Irrelevant and uninteresting

and there is zero flicker or start-up lag

I don't believe you, and unless you have performed empirical testing, you are continuing to talk through the wrong orifice. In addition, there is the issue that for thirty seconds to thirty minutes after turn-on, depending on temperature and quality of the lamp, the color is not correct.

in the entire time I've owned CFs I've changed two whole bulbs, one being used outside in -25C temperature when it was only rated for indoor use.

Congratulations. You are invited to realize that the plural of anecdote is not data.

Now, if we want to talk about actual science, Several studies (these were easiest to find out of sources that looked potentially credible - articles provide citations) demonstrate that flourescent lighting has negative implications for health, attention span, cognition, and a laundry list of other issues. Flourescents simply fuck with your head. Mind you, ordinary incandescents are insufficient as well:

The photobiologic action spectra of greatest importance to humans ranges from 290 to 770 nm. Skin reddening and vitamin D synthesis occurs in the range of 290 to 315 nm. Tanning or pigmentation of the skin and reduction of dental caries occurs in response to band light in the band from 280 to 400 nm. Vision is most sensitive to light in the 500 to 650 nm range (yellow-green light). Bilirubin degradation occurs in response to light in the 400 to 500 nm range (blue light). Natural light provides the spectral energy distribution necessary for all of these biological functions. Full-spectrum fluorescent illumination also provides substantially all of the spectral energy distribution although light levels are much lower than daylight levels. The spectra of incandescent, cool-white fluorescent, and high pressure sodium vapor light sources appear to fall short of covering the entire photobiologic action spectra of importance to human beings.

(From the first link)

We mostly rely on daylight at home and have big windows. Besides that we are typically in the living room, and have installed broad-spectrum incandescents there. I don't know about the rest of the results, but they definitely reduce eye strain while reading.

So before you call me stupid for using incandescents, maybe you should consider educating yourself. Anything else just makes you an ass. Don't tell me what works for me. If you are so insensitive that CFLs don't bother you, well, congratulations on walking through the world using your senses halfway. I am not in that situation, I realize that flourescent lighting is crap lighting, and I will continue to avoid it even if the government makes me a criminal for doing so.

The Colour Rendering Index (CRI) of a lamp reflects how accurately the colour of an object can be determined under a given light source. Compact fluorescent lamps have a CRI of 82 (out of 100), which is considered excellent for fluorescent sources and good for artificial light in general. Incandescent lamps have a CRI of 97. Incandescent lamps provide excellent colour rendering because of the full spectrum of colour wavelengths present in the light they produce.

Fluorescent lights gets a bad rap. Flourescent lights are available at various different color temperatures and are also available full-spectrum versions. (Just google for full spectrum fluorescent for many more choices).

Because of their low heat output and low power usage, they are actually preferred by some lighting professionals for photo and video work (in the full-spectrum versions, of course).

Makes a world of difference.

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I recently replaced almost all of the incandescent and standard flourescent bulbs in my place with VITA-LITE's, and I can't tell you what a huge difference it has made. It honestly feels like you're sitting in a sunlit room... (and the energy savings is nice plus too).

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