Green Daily

If you bought your CFL from someplace like Ikea's $1 bin, you might be regretting it. In fact, you may hate every moment you have to spend reading or watching tv or scanning Green Daily by the light of that antiseptic light bulb.

I have two solutions for you. One option is to get a new type of bulb. There are several out there that put out better light--not to pick on Ikea. Your second option is to burn through your long-lived pack with a Lunet light cover. I'll start there.

These are basically plastic covers that fit into your ceiling fixture. Four styles are available: frosted, Roman, antique glass and Art Deco. Of course, if the offending bulb happens to be in a lamp, I've got no Lunet light cover to help you. You could perhaps design your own and market it at home expos as Lunet has done.

Or, you could put that bulb into your recessed light fixture, add the cover then purchase different CFLs. Last year Popular Mechanics ran a lab test for the best compact fluorescent. Researchers found that all the CFLs they tested beat the Sylvan Double Life Soft White. That is, the quality, color and brightness of the light as well as the life of the bulbs were better. N:Vision tested the best, and the MaxLite Micro Max wasn't great for reading but it offered color like,"the sun at the beach." How can you go wrong with that?