100-Watt Hundred Year Light Bulbs

Pros: Low power consumption Long life Cooler temperature
Cons: Higher price Short delay in light output as lamp heats up. Contains mercury

After several years I have finally accepted the fluorescent type lamp as a replacement for standard 60 and 100 watt incandescent lamps. Several "big box" stores such as Home Depot have begun to sell these light bulbs in multiple bulb packages priced in the $2 - $3 per bulb range. Rated life is 9 years. So far my oldest bulb is about 4 years old. The really good news is the (new) quality of light emitting from the "soft white" versions by the several manufactures. They compare favorably in light output and light color-quality with the incandescents at about 25% of the power consumption and resultant cool operating temperature.
The noticeable negative is a 30-40 second delay before reaching full light output.

Pros: None
Cons: More expensive and half the life of the classic bulbs.

For the past four years I have been purchasing the five and seven year light bulbs from Home Depot. They are manufactured by Commercial Electric which I am sure is a cloned name for a dozen other super hardware store brands.
My beef: they don't last five to seven years. They don't last five to seven months! This is no exaggeration. I keep thinking I got a bad lot and the next grouping will do better...wrong. The final straw: I have one of those bedroom fans with the three lights. One of the old lights burned out so I replaced it with the new seven year light bulb. Today, I replaced the seven year light bulb. The other two old ones are just cranking along at about a third the price of the long lasting bulbs. What a joke. I'm guessing fools like me keep them in business because we keep thinking the next lot will do it.