Damaged wires are more of a shock hazard than a fire hazard but it depends
on the location and kind of abuse.

To have a shock hazard all you need is some bare wire showing. To make that
into a fire hazard, you need that bare wire (actually the hot and ground or
hot and neutral) to come in contact with something moderately resistive so
the current can be turned into lots of heat or have it contact something
metal (low resistive) so that sparks land on combustable materials (before
the breaker trips)

Your plan sounds fine unless the wall is insulated or covered in paneling
such that many nails protrude into the wall cavity. It might be a bit more
asthetic than a hanging wire.

you can get surface mount conduit for that as well. Save you from putting a
hole in the wall but you still have a track on the surface to look at.


wrote in message
oups.com...
I just bought some small reading lights that I'd like to install over
my bed and I was hoping to run the wire (single wire for power) behind
the wall down to a power outlet at the baseboard. My concern is that
the power wire is very thin and I'm wondering if this is a potential
fire hazard; any ideas on that? My overall plan is to drill a small
hole just behind the light and let the wire dangle behind the wall, it
would come out near the baseboard where it will be connected to a surge
protector connected to a standard power outlet. Any issues with that
plan?
Thanks,
Dan