How hot can incandescent light bulbs get?
Well the truth is that they can get VERY hot—hot enough.
Inspectors are always harping about how hot heat lamps and electric heaters can get. The following pictures were from an inspection of a home that was less than a year old. It may be trying to have the shortest life.
When the door is left ajar it parks itself right under the heat lamp with the obvious result that the heat lamp heats up the door. Given enough time the door will catch on fire.
It was really hard to get a good picture of the top of the door but there is a large depression in the edge where the wood has become charcoal.
It makes one to ponder the function of the smoke alarms in the home doesn’t it?
But then again, when we realize that ionization type smoke detectors (the type in most homes in this country) are lousy at detecting this very kind of fire, it becomes but another example of why all smoke alarms in homes should be photo-electric type.
My buyers seemed to take it all in stride and just said they would be sure to remind their teenage son to be careful not to park the door under the heat lamp.
This time it was the inspectors turn to “freak-out” at the inspection, and I told them (politely), “NO—this was not acceptable—-and MUST be fixed.”
Someone needs to relocate the heat lamp so that it is not in the swing of the door—and install Photo-Electric smoke alarms.
By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle
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