Compact flourescent lights

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I cannot hear CFLs. Can you hear them, or 'sense' them, in the way you would sense the static next to an LCD TV?

Out of the ones I've tried only 1 out of the 6 has made noise, so I threw it out.

They're a lot better than hot cathode/tube fluorescents, because they don't visibly flicker (because the electronics inside work at a much higher frequency then the mains A.C. 50-60Hz, more like kHz), so no more headaches.

I can't hear them, and I like the ones that have warmer looking light (more like an incandescent bulb).

I have no problems with them either, and currently nearly all the bulbs in my house are of this type.

This might sound silly but I can smell them.

I don't know if this is some neuro cross-circuit in my brain but I can tell that they are on before I even see their 'different' light.

Besides, they contain mercury and should be outlawed.

LED lighting is the way to go.

I can hear them. I thought I couldn't, and even told my doctor so when we were discussing it, but that night I went home and turned on my bedside light. It buzzed. At a different volume and pitch than the tube fluorescents (god, those are awful), but it definitely buzzed.
However, if velodog has said that only some of them make noise, perhaps some brands or wattages are different than others? I have only tried it with the brand in my home, and those I definitely can hear. Perhaps I'll go and try out a couple of neighbors' CFLs and see if I can hear those.

The cheap nasty ones do buzz and flicker (I still got headaches from those). It's down to how fast the electronics run. You can make a really cheap one with slower parts, but to be more efficient you have to use a higher frequency than the A.C. coming into the thing.

All of mine are made by Philips. From experience with their other electrical goods, I'd have to say they must take a lot of pride in making such high quality products.

Arghgghh.... pet hate. Pet hate.

They're dreadful... some of the newer ones seem to be ok, but they're noxious and full of mercury and not exactly eco-friendly, despite what they may tell you, so sod 'em. Give me standard light any day.

Some of them are terrible...the lighting is too yellow...and wrong. Some are loud, and some I can see flickering. However, that being said....I have found some that are acceptable. And seeing as how they save me so much money...and I dispose of them correctly, I use them.

I used to use full-spectrum flourescents...expensive...but worth the light in the winter...but after they aged...the flickering would drive me around the twist.

Yes, some of them I can "sense"....but I don't think I've ever smelled them.

I can usually tell when a room is lit with CFLs, but it doesn't bother me. Some of them put out very natural-looking light, too. Oddly, I generally have better luck with "store brands" than with big name brands like GE. Most of the bulbs in my house are CFLs. Putting the bluer "daylight" ones in the living room helped with my wife's winter-time depression, too. She calls them her lizard lamp.

The only time I've ever heard one buzz was when it was quite old, and this is coming from a guy who can hear the 60Hz hum of a regular fluorescent light from across a building...

I didn't realise that have so much mercury in them.

bummer...

i really hoped they were an energy conserving improvement on the old bulbs.

I am ok with them...I can hear them....I do notice something about the light quality that can cause me to ahve a headache....with only some of them....but there are so many noises from everywhere not to mention headache contributing factors and whatnots.....

they are infinitely preferable to the big flourescents...which scramble my brains.

Well if they've got transformers in them then when all the metal plates delaminate from age, the magnetic field can make them vibrate. Lots of things with old transformers do that, and it's bloody annoying.

While the bulbs do contain mercury, look at it this way.

Even if you broke every single CFL bulb you owned at the end of its lifespan and released that mercury, you'd still be putting less mercury into the environment than if you use oldstyle incandescent lights. Reason being, the energy saving means that less coal was burned to power your lights. And burning coal releases mercury (as well as radioactive material) into the atmosphere. The amount of mercury released by burning that coal to power your "safer" incandescent light greatly outweighs the amount of mercury in the "dangerous" CFL bulb.

Not to mention that even a single CFL bulb in your house means literally tons less carbon released into the atmosphere per year. I think the benefits far outweigh the "risks".

CFL's give me a headache. I'm going to continue to get incandescent bulbs. I hope someone crushes this stupid proposed ban of regular lightbulbs. I'm pro choice on lightbulbs.

I don't think I can hear them, but they have an unpleasant effect on me. You know how a lot of stores and other public buildings basically cover their ceilings with them? When I'm in a place like that, I feel sleepy, dazed, and disoriented. My whole body slows down - thoughts and movements. It's like these lights trick my brain into thinking I'm asleep when I'm actually awake. Does anyone else experience this? What could it be?

On a related subject, I have to use one of these lights in my bedroom. It sits on top of the lizard's enclosure, which is by my bed because I live in a small studio apartment. It's not just a regular fluorescent light. Not only does it contain mercury vapor, it emits UVA and UVB radiation. This is supposed to imitate sunlight for the lizard. I have read that these lights can be harmful to the lizard owner and even the lizard because no one knows how much UV radiation they need and there is no safety standard or regulation for these UV bulbs.

Fortunately, I just learned that my lizard species just needs a regular fluorescent light, not the UV kind, because they spend most of their time burrowing. Unfortunately, I have to keep using the UV bulb until I get a regular one.