Lights Out

People. Start buying and installing these.

Consumer misconception is at least partly to blame for the significant decline in national CFL sales. Performance issues that plagued earlier bulbs remain in the minds of many shoppers who believe believe these malfunctions still persist, despite the fact that for the most part they do not. The best way to discern a quality CFL from crap is to spot the ENERGY STAR label on its packaging, and to not buy it from IKEA.  Early pressure from government and environmental advocates to saturate store shelves with inexpensive, high efficiency, eco-friendly lighting, birthed a fair amount of bastard manufacturers who sacrificed quality control on the assembly line in favor of a fast-to-market product and hopefully higher profit margins.

BEWARE.

Consult the ENERGY STAR website for common myths, what features to look for, and typical benefits from switching to compact fluorescent.  Though more expensive to buy, CFLs operate at 75% less energy, last 10 times longer, and output quality light comparable to that of an incandescent.  Energy efficiency campaigns, like this awesome one, offer instant, in-store rebates that make it so you can get a bulb for a buck.  If you live where I live, that means for one dollar you will save $50 in electricity over the bulb's lifetime, which is great, especially if you, like me, are a cheap, shameless bastard.

Still need convincing? Then here.