They work, but they don't dim. I've seen dimmable flourescents, but they're hard to find. LED lamps would be the right solution -- a chip could turn individual diodes on or off depending on the current -- but they're hell of expensive and not widely available. Yet.
The one thing I don’t like about CFL’s is that it is hard to find consistency in the lighting. Their expensive enough as it is but some have real nice lighting and others are harsh. Some make noises at times, others light right away and others have to warm up. Oh well, gotta do the part to save the planet. After all, it’s for the children!
In 1989 I worked for the FAA and we had a trtaining room we were setting up in our hangar in an unused space that had fluorescent troffers with 40W 4’ tubes.
The instructor wanted a three-way dimmer system wired in so he could lower the lights for projection presentations.
We installed the commercial versions but they were muddy and caused a lot of flickering.
The better way would have been separate switches to turn out the center overhead rows and leave only the perimeter rows on.
3/4 of the lights in our home are on a dimmer. So unless they can come up with CFL that can dim, I’m out of luck.
I have nothing against the idea of CFLs, I love lowering my power bill, but before they pass any laws they better make damn sure the next generation of bulbs can do everything and more than what they are replacing.