Light bulbs?!

Over the past year or so, I've seen a lot of PF Bloggers writing about the merits of replacing your light bulbs with compact fluorescent (CF) bulbs as a way to save both energy and ultimately more money. I used to think it was a bit crazy, but they have a valid point: why not save the planet and money at the same time?

A few months back, I joined in and bought a few CF bulbs myself and have been very pleased with the performance. They're bright, no flickering and they come on instantaneously. Frankly, I don't notice any difference, which is great.

Now, as we're settling into our house more and more, we're finding more things that we want to "make our own". You know, customize. It's the American way, right? Well, my wife is pretty hell-bent on replacing many of our normal light switches with dimmers. I'm fine with that, but one thing I'm not sure how to handle is the combination of CF bulbs with dimmers. My understanding is that they just don't mix -- is that right? Are there any CF bulbs that can be dimmed?

If I go around and replace all of my light switches with dimmer switches, am I doomed to use normal, high consumption bulbs for eternity? On the other hand, I'm guessing that that dimmed bulbs use less energy, so perhaps it's a wash. Normal "dimmable" bulbs vs. compact fluorescent "non-dimmable" bulbs.

Anyway, it's a bit of a mind exercise that I'm throwing out there. For us, it's more of a comfort of life issue than a savings issue, but if you know me yet, I'll take any savings I can get. Either way, drop a comment if you have any thoughts on the subject...