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I've been using CFLs for quite a while. I've found ones with a three-way switch to replace the standard bulbs in a 3-way table lamp. I've found the different temp ones, and I've found the ones for flood lights that work in our outdoor floods.
I haven't found a cfl for the following two uses:
1. my bedside touch lamp. I have a small lamp that I can touch anywhere to turn on or off - it has a three way dimmer included, that, so far at least, can only work on an i-bulb. The fixture is actually too small to try the above 3-way incandescent cfl, but in another touch-lamp, all the cfls hum and crackle, even when they are "off". This worries me, so I don't keep cfls in those lamps.
2. We want to have our outdoor floods on a timer (they are already on a light sensor, and Mom specifically doesn't want motion sensors). We'd like to use standard timer systems that we use in the rest of the house, but those timers don't work on inductive loads like cfls. The timing fixtures that do work with inductive loads are not well suited for the use we have in mind, and are much more expensive. Eventually I'll get something worked out, but eventually I'll get a new freezer too (and that's probably the larger electrical inefficiency). Btw, the timer systems would also give us a remote on/off capability, that would be neat for the outdoor floods.
I'm actually quite interested in LED-based lights, which are even more efficient, although more difficult to make very bright. I've got an LED based flashlight that is over ten years old, and I've NEVER changed the battery (I think it was rated at about 80 hours of operation per battery, and I don't think I've exceeded that yet...)
On the other hand, Mom is legally blind, although not actually totally blind, and its nice to plug in a larger cfl to replace the old 60w bulbs.
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