Fluorescent bulb - Compact fluorescent bulb. Some people complain that fluorescent light is 'harsh' or 'cold' or some such nonsense. The fact is, as long as you have a modern flicker-free high frequency electronic ballast such as you find in almost every compact fluorescent bulb, the light from a fluorescent bulb is far more pleasant and nature than light from an incandescent bulb. Incandescent light is dingy and yellow in comparison. It makes white walls look dirty and faded, and it comes nowhere near approximating the color of daylight, which is the gold standard against which light is judged, because daylight is what we are evolved to like.