The $4.03 was for the 7watt. My guess is they're not as common. But you can get 4/6/8 packs at Home Depot, grocery stores etc, that are less expensive (ie, might be $5/4pack). And where I live SCE is underwriting the 100Watt (23W) so it's 4/$1.

Actually I've had the CFL in my home office for the last 4 years (haven't replaced them; they're still going strong); the rest I just added in January. As MichaelColey says, the savings will outweigh the cost of the CLF. And it helps to reduce the electricity bill, as it offsets the increase in the gas bill due to the increase in oil prices

Michael my kitchen/dining room dimmers don't hum, but go full bright (ie, no dimming option). My bedroom dimmer hummed a bit, but I found by switching it to the middle or full the hum went away. Good to know about using the 1 normal bulb & 3 CLFs. In the bedroom my lamp on the side table is a standard one (no dimmer)) so I have a tendency to use that rather than the overhead fan/light dimmer structure anyway.

FWIW - I've already amortized what I've spent on the CLFs (just checked my checkbook registers from last year's bills (J-J compared to this year's J-J).

Hopefully they'll get sponsors soon for '09 & offer them up again. Also, you might want to check w/ your local electric provider. Maybe they've got some type of deal like SoCal Edison does where they're underwriting them.

Cheers.