"GregS" wrote in message
...
In article , "Michael A.
Terrell" wrote:

Peter Hucker wrote:

On Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:49:11 -0000, Michael A. Terrell
wrote:


Peter Hucker wrote:

On Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:14:26 -0000, Michael A. Terrell
wrote:

What part of CFL lamps overheating and catching on fire goes
right
over your head?

It only happens extremely occasionally.


A hell of a lot more often than with incandescent lamps.

More often I've seen excessive heat from an incandescent making the
fitting
brittle, the danger not being fire directly, but the fitting collapsing
later
on.

A lot of incandescent fixtures are not designed for safe operation of
CFL
lamps.

Explain.


You really don't know anything, do you? Some fixtures hold in the
heat. The incandescents & ceramic sockets can handle the heat, but the
thermoplastic in the CFLs melt, the electrolytics overheat and they
fail, or catch on fire.


When I first started using them about 17 years ago, I thought I had
a few light fixtures that were way too hot, and I worried about that.
By using CFL's I would be usinf less electricity and the fixtures were
much cooler.
If it was an incandescent fixture in the first place, they automatically
hold a fire for a very short period and suffocate it usually. I would
worry
more about CFL's NOT in fixtures, I have one CFL in the front yard 24/365
and it probably gets real hot in the summer day, but so far its going
without
problems. Fully air sealed anyway.

greg

PHucker was claiming that the heat from incandescent lamps can set fire to
the lampholder, I haven't heard of any such cases for a few decades. Its
been a long time since I've heard of cheap imported novelty light fittings
being set alight by the heat from a "bulb" either.

The last time I changed the hall light (to fit a CFL) the brass bayonet ring
fell out of the socket because the bakelite had become brittle with age and
heat - I leave the hall light on when I'm in except when I go to bed. There
was no evidence that it might be a fire risk.