CFLs have two characteristics which make them non-starters as far as I'm concerned. First, they can't be dimmed. Most of the lights in my house, when they are on, are dimmed considerably - I like even light, hence lots of lights on, but don't like bright light, except where I'm working. With the lights dimmed, they use less energy than a CFL, so I don't gain anything by replacing them. Worse, if I replace them with very dim CFLs, I lose the ability to have bright lights for reading.

Second, they take forever to come up to full brightness. I tried some of these bulbs in my garage and basement. I don't spend a lot of time in these areas - typically I turn the lights on, go in and grab something, turn the lights off, and leave. With CFLs, I found myself just leaving the lights on all the time so I didn't have to flip the switch, come back in a few minutes when it was bright enough to see, etc. No energy savings there.

Decent LED lighting will be available soon enough. CFLs are not the answer, unless the question is "How can I pretend to be doing something to help the environment?"

That's true - LEDs will be better.

These vary by brand. I tried some that had no discernible delay, but stayed in a hotel this weekend where the one in the bathroom ceiling fixture and a long, annoying delay (the first time I looked up to see if there was a bulb the delay was so long). I tried some at home, and results varied. In some areas/lamps, no noticeable difference. In other areas, it was pretty creepy. Every time I walked down the hall I felt like the illumination was coming from a fish tank. I am sure many people either won't notice or care about the colors of art and home fabrics, etc. showing poorly under these, but I will have to start trying some LED lights (or fill a storage unit with incandescents).

BTW, I once stayed at a motel that used these CFLs exclusively. If I had to stay a second night housekeeping would have found me hanging from the closet pole. God, it really made the place depressing.

Some CFLs can be dimmed. See here: <link>

Some CFLs are designed for use in cold areas (such as your garage or basement). See here: <link>

It took me 10 seconds of internet searching to find these bulbs. How about giving CFLs an actual chance? Maybe you can do that while we all wait for LEDs to be widely available.

By the way, the problem with LEDs as "light bulbs" is that they are directional devices. Great for spot lighting, not so good for traditional lighting.

We got LED lights for our Christmas tree this year. I was excited because they aren't supposed to get hot (as hot? I don't know). Anyway, they were blindingly bright. We tried to arrange them so all the little lights were behind branches but some peeped out and it was like AACK, MY RETINAS!