Never even thought of checking Farnell for them. Will have a look just now. What's the 'quality' of light like? And the spread?

CFLs have definitely come on a bit in the last year or two. I had to replace our living room light, went from old "60W" CFL to new "75W" CFL and found it uncomfortably bright for a while, til I got used to it. Much quicker to get there too.

Many of them are instant on, have been for several years.

Never even thought of checking Farnell for them. Will have a look just now. What's the 'quality' of light like? And the spread?

I'm not sure of the power level of the ones I've got, but in the kitchen (which is small) we have a quad-directional light fitting so the bulbs are pointing at exactly where they're needed...having said that, they are generally much brighter than their standard bulb counterparts, and fill the room more than the more pronounced 'spot' effect of the standard bulb.

Some of it depends on what you want illuminated...I wouldn't want light like this is a living room...I prefer a softer light from traditional bulbs, but for a kitchen, bathroom/shower and perhaps a workshop/workspace, the LED would be my preference.

I bought a load of CFLs from CPC a few months ago to replace all the Halogen bulbs in my house.

I got some "instant on" CFLs that are actually quite small in physical size that work very well and they're nearly fully bright from the start. I also got some candle shaped ones for my side lights and bedside lamps, these are dim as fuck from switch on, but do warm up fairly quick, but maybe it's less of an issue because there's 4 of them on the wall.

My local ASDA have recently had some reasonable multi-deals on the end of an aisle for CFLs.

These are the "quick start" bulbs - http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?SKU=LP07406 (but no longer stocked!!)

These are the slow starting ones - http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?SKU=LP07271

I did buy a selection of LED GU10s from DX.com a while back and found probably one or two bulbs that I liked. Could do with replacing all the kitchen and bathroom halogen GU10s with LED bulbs.

I have some Philips Hue's.  Does that count?

They're not those stupid wifi ones, are they?

No  :-((

Yes.

You daft bastard :'D

Why?  They are actually pretty kick ass.  They were also a gift, but that shouldn't matter because they are nice.  I can make the room simulate being in the ocean or a sunset or all kinds of things.

If you lived in Vanuatu you wouldn't need lights to simulate the ocean being in your living room. :/

I'm sure there are a few places like that.  But where I am if I want to simulate being in the ocean I have to use my lights to do it.

Oh I think they're pretty cool, and if someone wants to give me some I'm all for it. 

But a hundred and eighty quid for 3 bulbs?! The tech inside inside them is so basic. An MCU, a controllable RGB LED and a wifi dongle. I could make one with no economies of scale and including many unnecessary parts for what, like ten quid?

Oh I agree that they are over priced, but really, what isn't these days?  Mine has a bridge that you can send commands to to control them.

 A bridge? Ah well, totally worth it then. (nod)

The only LEDs I have are the colour changing strip under the bridging units in the bedroom. The rest are a mix of CFLs and halogens. In the kitchen I have a Phillips Tornado CFL which is definitely brighter than a standard 60W bulb. I had troube finding high lumen CFLs/LEDs when I last looked.

How about one of these, only £109 :O

So you're willing to pay over the odds so you can feel what it's like to be an impoverished Pacific islander at the mercy of global warming? Can I do your accounts?

I got them as a gift.