Trying to save without doing your homework can backfire

The other day I was in a government-owned facility that had installed those motion-detector lights that come on when it senses movement. We had to keep waving our arms around to turn the lights back on when they timed off. This wouldn't be so bad in itself, but the lights were fluorescent. Fluorescent lights blow off a bit of ballast every time they turn on, shortening their life substantially. I discovered that the CFLs in my main-floor bathroom (where they are turned on and off a lot) only lasted a year, rather than the 3+ years promised on the package) because of this ballast-loss. Imagine how fast those fluorescent tubes are going to wear out going on and off all day. And CFLs are not only fairly expensive, they contain mercury...something you don't want to stuff in the landfills. I'm not sure if LEDs have a similar problem (I hope not). But, I'm going to research them before I start buying a bunch.