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Our advice

Most CFLs produce at least as much light as the old-style incandescent bulbs they replace. Good CFLs produce substantially more.
You can be confident that a good-quality CFL will last well in applications where the lamp is frequently switched on and off.
In most cases, major-brand CFLs last longer than cheaper brands.

We’ve had some comments from subscribers saying they’ve had CFLs fail before they should. Here are a couple of things to avoid:

Most bulbs are marked “Not for use with dimmers”. Never use this type of CFL with a dimmer - even if the dimmer is left turned up to full all the time, it will kill the CFL.
The electronics in the base of a CFL are temperature sensitive. Even though CFLs produce much less heat than an incandescent bulb, putting a CFL into an enclosed fitting is likely to overheat the electronics and shorten the bulb life. CFLs are best suited to fittings that allow some air to circulate around the base of the bulb.