From a designer's viewpoint, the increasing variety in shape and colour and the small size of CF lamps have made them more versatile and acceptable than traditional long-tube fluorescent lamps. The energy-saving potential of compact fluorescent technology is undeniable. The high initial cost of purchasing ballasts and lamps can often be recouped in a short time, and utilities often provide cash rebates to reduce the payback period to one year. The long life of CF lamps means that maintenance costs can be much lower than for incandescent lighting. An ever-widening variety of compact fluorescent lamps and ballasts is available on the lighting market.
Lamps can be of varying shapes, sizes, wattages, lumen outputs, and colors.
This may be enclosed or open. Performance of compact fluorescent systems can depend greatly upon choice of the individual components selected. The use of CF lamps appears destined to continue growing for some time. What most designers should fully consider is that CF lamps are much more complex than the incandescent lamps they are often meant to replace. This variety has made the design of successful compact fluorescent lighting systems more complicated.