[Mannaggia l'America]

But longer life and energy savings come with a caveat — the fluorescent bulbs must be used for at least 15minutes once they are turned on and ideally for at least several hours at a time. Turning them off quickly after you have turned them on dramatically reduces their life expectancy.

How about if Algore invents a hybrid bulb... incandescent for short usage and fluorescent for longer usage.

[AmericaUnited]

LED lights will solve these problems.

[Blood of Tyrants]

the fluorescent bulbs must be used for at least 15minutes once they are turned on and ideally for at least several hours at a time

Not true at all. This myth was soundly busted on Mythbusters. It takes only a second or two for a fluorescent bulb to reach peak efficiency and the poser it consumes during that 1 or 2 seconds is barely enough to power it for 5 seconds at operating temp.

Also, a secondary savings is realized in the summer by using fluorescent bulbs is that they produce much less HEAT than an incandescent bulb, which uses only 5% of the energy it consumes to produce light, the rest is heat that must be removed from the house during the summer.