[PBARC] Dangerous light bulbs

[E Glenn Wolf Jr]

FYI -


 
Sometimes we learn the hard way to be safe even though we are 
professionals at telling others to be safe.  Case in point, for the last 
two months I have been changing light bulbs in my home to those 
“corkscrew” energy efficient bulbs in an effort to be greener and save a 
few cents.  Saturday night our living room ceiling fan which the lights 
are on a dimmer was turned down to watch a movie about 10 minutes into 
the movie I smelled something electrically hot and both me and the wife 
got up to investigate we searched all the bedrooms and other rooms to 
find nothing.  While in the computer room I heard a loud electrical hum 
and crackle coming from the living room.  When I entered I found smoke 
and a little flame coming from one of the ceiling fan light fixture 
bulbs. I turned the switch off and allowed the bulb to cool.  Upon 
removing the bulb I found that the base had begun to melt (plastic of 
course) and brown spots around the edges.  We tried the fixture without 
the bulb and it worked fine.  Now we are dealing with a really strong 
electrical odor in the house.

    Lesson Learned:

    Upon reading the package the bulbs came in it says (in very small
    print) *NOT RECOMMENDED FOR USE ON DIMMERS”*/_Not recommended!!!!
    _/If we had left the house with the lights dimmed we would have come
    home to a burned out shell. 

    We will continue to use the new bulbs in our fixtures that do not
    have dimmers but we will watch very carefully for problems.  And Yes
    I am notifying the manufacturers