Easy to maintain. Lamp life is greatly affected by the average number of hours the lamp is cycled on and off. The lamps are also low cost and available in a wide range of sizes and colors. Relatively low surface brightness and heat generation, and are relatively insensitive to small changes in building voltage. This can be very important where brownouts are common.
Most lamps are relatively large and require a relatively expensive fixture.
Ballasts are now given a noise rating. Quiet ballasts are recommended for office areas, louder and less expensive ballasts can be used in industrial facilities. Fluorescent lamps are temperature sensitive and may have difficulty starting at low temperatures. Also, lumen output drops at low and high temperatures. Special ballasts are available for low and high temperature applications.