In article , RBM wrote:

Doug, I've seen that many times myself. There are certainly types of
fixtures that mount close to ceilings that produce a lot of heat and are
fire hazards, however I still believe that a lot of these ratings are more
for liability than safety

I recently saw a "banker's light" desk lamp with a tubular 60 watt bulb
have its wires char badly enough to produce a burning odor. The fixture
was rated for 60 watt bulbs.

I suspect this was a design flaw, maybe caused by the engineer assuming
that 60 watt tubular T10 5.25 inch long "showcase" bulbs in the USA not
having a disproportionally hotter surface temperature than 40 watt ones.
Turns out, the 60 watt USA (120V) version is gas filled while the 40 and
25 watt USA versions have a vacuum. The 60 watt one gets burning hot while
the 40 watt one usually stays cool enough to touch. If there are 230V
versions of these bulbs, then I would expect even 60 watt ones to have a
vacuum and have a cooler surface - and to be safe in this "banker's
light".

- Don Klipstein )