For a garage type scene illuminating a car, like you talk about in the area lamp lesson, would you prefer to use mesh emission if you can actually see the lights? Or is this just as well done with area lamps and textures?
The most efficient option would probably be to find a high-quality HDR environment map of a garage. That would likely render the fastest and give the most realistic result with the least amount of work.
But yes, if you can see the lights, try mesh emitting objects for flourescent bulbs. Though I'd say they need to be really apparent to warrant the extra render time.
