Fluorescent bulbs have come a long way...they don't make any sounds? The sounds you might be hearing are your ballasts in your light fixture itself.

The CFL bulbs to not make as much noise as a 4 foot flurescent bulb does. I would just change them out as the others go bad.

Yeah, a lot of the old complaints about CFLs are no longer valid. They aren't noisy, they don't take a long time to come on, and they offer more natural light than before. They are also getting a lot cheaper, and they last far longer. So I would say that between electric bill savings and replacement cost savings, it is worth it to change out the bulbs.

Also, LEDs are even better. They use less energy, don't have any mercury (though I think ...»

And added to the noise, don't forget about the health problem factor. It is well known in the holistic medicine community that fluorescent lighting can cause or contribute to health problems.

Cindy, do you believe this is still true of the natural daylight bulbs?

I haven't researched the natural daylight bulbs enough to give a qualified response, but that's something worth looking into!

They're not noisy at all, in my experience, and I've got one sitting above my head in my ceiling fan on at the moment. Good point on the naturopathic factors, Cindy. That's why I have a salt lamp also : )

I'm sure your salt lamp would be deemed a health risk if someone could get credit for his "green" discovery on a blog somewhere. These risks are minute and overblown and are usually more a result of the author's ego than fact. Use the "off" button on the TV remote during the nightly news/gossip/talk shows, as they will create a medical disaster if there's not one to report on.. [collapse expanded text]

Hahah. Of course, there's always that special human compassion story to compensate.