• Choosing the Right compact fluorescent light bulb

You can find compact fluorescent light bulbs which cost about ten times more than ordinary light bulbs. But there are also those that cost twenty or even thirty times more. The higher price does mean better quality, but if you plan to use them for general lighting as I suggest, there is really no need to pay so much more for a little improvement in the quality of light. Usually shops where you can find cheap incandescent light bulbs (the normal ones) also have cheap compact fluorescent bulbs and vice versa.
TMI LED Technology offer a bulb that will best fit the E12 and E26 with a converter provided with each bulb.

• The amount of light

The amount of light coming from a light bulb is measured in lumens. Energy efficient lighting is all about getting more lumens per watt. Usually if you have two similar bulbs the one with higher energy consumption will usually give more lumens per watt. This might seem complicated, but look at it this way. If you have two 50W incandescent bulbs and replace them with a similar kind that is 100W, you usually get more light. Or you can replace two 60W bulbs with a 100W bulb and get the same amount of light with less energy.

One TMI 4 watt = 20 watts of light output x 6 bulbs = 120 watts of light output and only consume 24 watt of power, Size only: 3.24” x 1.13”

One TMI 6 watt = 30 watts of light output x 6 bulbs = 180 watts of light output and only consume 36 watt of power, Size only: 3.24” x 1.13”

One TMI 11 watt = 55 watts of light output x 6 bulbs = 330 watts of light output and only consume 66 watt of power, Size only: 4.60” x 1.13”

If you wish to replace a 60W incandescent bulb with an energy saving alternative think about using the TMI 11 watt fluorescent bulb.
You need to look at lumens instead of watts.
TMI LED Bulbs produce the Highest lumens for one of the smallest bulbs.
TMI also offer White, Blue, Green, Red, Purple and Yellow fluorescent mini swirl bulbs with E12/E26 base.

One TMI 4 watt = 20 watts or light or 260 lumens x 6 bulbs = 1560 lumens or 120 watts of light output and only consumes 24 watt of power.   
Size only: 3.24” x 1.13” tip of bulb to bottom of base and with E26 coverter on bulb base 3.77"

One TMI 6 watt = 30 watts or 390 lumens of light output x 6 bulbs =  2340 lumens or 180 watts of light output and only consume 36 watt of power.
Size only: 3.24” x 1.13” tip of bulb to bottom of base and with E26 coverter on bulb base 4.00"

One TMI 11 watt = 55 watts or 715 lumens of light output x 6 bulbs = 4290 lumens or 330 watts of light output and only consume 66 watt of power.
Size only: 4.60” x 1.13” tip of bulb to bottom of base and with E26 coverter on bulb base 5.16"

Especially if you are buying a light bulb for a fixture with a small socket you should buy the highest lumens you can find
TMI's E12/E26 Fluorescent bulb is the smallest fluorescent and brightest bulbs available in the USA.

There are also long-life incandescent light bulbs on the market that are NOT energy efficient at all. These are in fact even less efficient than ordinary incandescent bulbs. Avoid these long-life light bulbs and use TMI compact fluorescent light bulbs instead. With normal use of four hours a day, a compact fluorescent light bulb will last for years and use only a fraction of the energy (8,000 to 10,000 hours / 4 hours per day = 2500 days = 6.8 years).

• The size

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are often bigger than standard incandescent light bulbs and a big one might not fit into your fixture. Sometimes the longer head of the light bulb can also stick out from the fixture and irritate your eyes as it is in plain sight. Many of the more expensive ones have spiral shaped tubes which take less space than straight tubes as in the cheaper models. If a normal fluorescent light bulb does not fit in your fixture you can try one of those that TMI LED offers that fit into nightlights, chandeliers and standard E26 sockets using TMI bulb converter provided with each bulb sold. 

• Color temperature

The color of the light is measured in Kelvins and is called color temperature: 2,700-3,000K will give a warmer white light and 4,500-6,000K will give a cooler white (lower temperature for warmer color - not the other way round as you might expect). The cheap models usually have a low color temperature and a warm color. Higher color temperature, sometimes called "daylight", usually means better color rendering, which is one of the reasons you might want to try one of the more expensive models. But as I said before, even the cheapest ones are fine for general lighting.

COLOR TEMPERATURE
Correlated color temperature (CCT) relates to the color of light produced by a light source, measured in degrees Kelvin. Imagine a piece of tungsten metal being heated. As it is heated the color of the metal will gradually shift from red to orange to yellow to white to bluish white. The color of light is measured along this scale, with the more orange color light being referred to as "warm white" and the whiter color light being referred to as "cool white". The table below lists the color temperature of various light sources. Realize that the color temperature of specific products may fall out of the ranges listed below.
CCT (degrees)
1500 K	candle	warm
1800 K	sunlight at dawn	warm
2000 K	high pressure sodium light	warm
2700 K	conventional incandescent light	warm
2800 K	warm white fluorescent light	warm
3000 K	halogen light	warm
4000 K	cool white fluorescent light	neutral
5000 K	sunlight at midday Best Color (Pure White)	cool
6000 K	mercury vapor light	cool
6500 K	daylight flourescent light	cool

• Color rendering

Color rendering refers to how natural colors look in certain lighting conditions. The higher the color rendering index the better. If you use compact fluorescent bulbs for general lighting, you don't need to be too concerned about color rendering. Most cheap models don't even tell you their color rendering index and if you don't see it on the package you can expect it to be low.

Color rendering comes more important when compact fluorescent bulbs are used for reading or other work which needs good lighting conditions. Even if colors are not important for your work, it is still worth taking a look at the color rendering figures.  Good color rendering means the light bulb emits light on a broad spectrum - in other words it emits all kinds of colors which together make the pure white light. Cheap compact fluorescent bulbs only emit light on few frequencies (a narrow spectrum). This kind of lighting can be more straining to the eyes and is yellow looking and should be therefore avoided when reading etc.

If you want a broad spectrum light, make sure the package says Pure White or sunlight and not daylight or it will make things look bluish. If the light has a broad spectrum it will also have a good color rendering index (CRI). A real full spectrum light will have both a high color temperature (about 5000-6000 Kelvin) and a high CRI (90 to 100).

There are real broad spectrum compact fluorescent light bulbs available and TMI offers these to buyers worldwide.

• Durability

Many of the cheaper compact fluorescent bulbs will break if the electricity is not steady. Normally compact fluorescent light bulbs last for years. Even with constant use they should last a whole year. If your compact fluorescents break soon, this can be due to voltage fluctuations in the electricity. The cheap models are sensitive to fluctuations in the voltage, but this is not a problem TMI LED Technology Models. If you suspect your electricity might not be steady and want to try a more resistant model, you should go to a specific shop that sells lamps and ask for a compact fluorescent bulb which is not sensitive to electric fluctuations like what TMI LED Technology offers.

The expensive ones are not quite as fragile, but if you don't hit the lamp and your electricity is ok, there should not be much difference in the durability. I have used cheap compact fluorescents for about four years now and during this time I have seen only one compact fluorescent break in normal use.

• Where to buy compact fluorescent light bulbs

Where to buy compact fluorescent bulbs depends greatly on which kind you are looking for. If you need the cheap ones, look in your nearest supermarket. The prices are often several times cheaper than in specialized lighting stores. You might not find any models with a small spiral shaped high output tube or with good color rendering and that is what TMI LED Technology offer. 

For better quality compact fluorescents see your local lighting store that offer TMI LED Technology Products that say PURE WHITE, or buy from the internet at: WWW.USALED.COM

• Other lighting solutions for reading and working

Many people use energy efficient lighting for reading without even realizing it. Many of the desk lights have a compact fluorescent tube If you look at the bulb closely, you will see it is quite similar to an ordinary compact fluorescent bulb - the tube is longer and there is a different kind of socket. Basically it is the same, and all the above info about handling and choosing compact fluorescent bulbs also pertains to these compact fluorescent tubes. The only difference is, that as reading and working require good lighting conditions, you should pay more attention to the quality of light.

A common problem with low quality fluorescent tubes is flicker. Flicker is really annoying and straining to the eyes, but the newer models by TMI LED Technology have eliminated the flicker completely. The tubes can also start to flicker when they are worn out. Therefore if you have a desk lamp and it flickers, it will probably because your bulb is old and need replacing.
As long as there is no flicker, the light quality can be really good as some compact fluorescent tubes have excellent color rendering.
Some bulbs seem to last forever. I have had one 15 watt desk lamp fluorescent bulb last for over 20 years and still going.

I seems you can't go wrong with Fluorescent bulbs, they produce many more time the light, plus are much more affordable and last many years compared to standard incandescent bulbs that seem to last a few months or weeks.