Fitting compact fluorescents in antique lighting

You might think twice before screwing a compact fluorescent light bulb into that lovely antique lamp in dear old Aunt Emily's front parlor. 

And who could blame you? While CFLs have come a long way in the past decade, they still don’t match the warm glow we’ve come to expect from the classic incandescent.

Why desecrate a beautiful light fixture by using anything but the best?

Melding style with energy-saving substance, Vintage Hardware and Lighting claims it’s found a solution.

The company is offering antique reproduction lamps equipped with special electronic ballasts designed specifically for electronic compact fluorescents. Unlike traditional CFLs, these bulbs—which have four prongs on the bottom, instead of an Edison base—are more efficient, last 12,000 hours, and, according to Vintage Hardware, give off wayyy better light quality, ranging from warm white, to rosy, to a neutral white model with a “daylight appearance.”

The ballasts include an electronic chip that give the bulbs more of an "instant on" effect than other CFLs, which take their own sweet time reaching full capacity (truth is, I kind of like that about CFLs—how turning one on is like watching an early morning sunrise).

I'm not sure if these bulbs and ballasts will start a lighting revolution, but the lamps sure are pretty.

More pretty lamps:

Our gallery of schoolhouse lights