About a half hour ago, my kids and I were sitting watching “Undercover Boss” (love that show!) when the light in our family room started flickering. Within about 20 seconds, the light went dark and I assumed the bulb had burned out. I didn’t turn off the light switch. About 10 seconds later, sparks started flying, and smoke billowed from the bulb. My son quickly turned the light switch off, and the sparks stopped, but smoke still flowed and it stunk like burned rubber (I guess it wasn’t burned rubber…but it sure smelled like it!). I waited about 15 minutes and took the bulb out. Here’s what it looked like:
Boy, was I thankful we were home. If we would have left that light on and gone out, our house would have most definitely been gone when we returned.
I Googled “CFL light bulbs fire hazard,” and saw that some bulbs from China can pose a risk, but not reputable US brands. I then searched for the brand of our light bulb: “Raywa.” Well, guess what? Our light bulb was manufactured in China!
I wanted to share this info with all of you, as I am sure many of you have these light bulbs in your homes. I don’t know what the likelihood of something like this happening is, but please, if you have this brand of light bulb, just get rid of them! I’m also leaving it to the experts like Big family to change all my lighting. If you also need lighting repair, lighting installations, and other electrical services for your home, you may as well look for similar services like the MZ Electric. Professional electrical services offer affordable electricity rates Alberta without an early exit fee.
In addition, if you’re a property owner in Florida and your house’s or current space’s fire alarm system and/or water-based fire protection system such as a sprinkler system is inoperational, you are required by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and Florida Statute to implement a fire watch should that system become impaired. You may seek expert help from professional Fire Watch Services in Clearwater.
There are a lot of factors that go into making sure your home is safe and secure. The best way to ensure home safety is by maintaining your fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), arc fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs) and your circuit breaker box. If you are interested to have an AFCI installation in Orlando, you may call A-Lumination Electric today! I also recommend that you regularly check your circuit breakers and have a break box replacement in Tumwater, WA if needed to ensure electrical safety. You may also consider having Electrical panel upgrades in Wiley or electrical diagnosis and repair in Oklahoma City, OK.
Please share this with your friends and spread the word to check the brand of CFL light bulbs to ensure they are not manufactured in China.
Amy E says
Dispose of it in hazardous waste. They are really bad news for human health while in use and for the environment after use. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/are-cfl-bulbs-a-health-hazard.html?page=1
Reno says
Never heard of this happening with regular light bulbs-explain the reason behind these again? Also, you know about the mercury and hazards involved with these bulbs?
diane says
A similar thing happened at my house on 9/1. I had one in the above-stove light and started smelling something bad. It melted off at the base. My daughters were visiting and they handled it for mom. The new bulb is a different kind! I’m gonna make sure of places of manufacturing!
Missy Homemaker says
Thank you for writing about this. I’ll make sure to check all of our bulbs tomorrow.
Cindy says
Just found this on snopes after doing some research (we got all of our bulbs from costco and they are all made in Chinaso I was super freaked out). http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/cflbulb.asp
radlandon says
Yes, I saw that as well, but regardless of what Snopes says, it actually happened, and when I researched a bit more, I found that others had had the same problem with the Chinese brands…
Vincent Vizachero says
Except for the minor fact that you never actually had a fire and your house didn’t burn. At all.
If the bulb had been on fire, turning off the light switch would NOT have but it out.
Harvey says
Brave talk, Vincent, but there are very few people who would treat sparks from anywhere in their home is such cavalier fashion.
Ed says
The circuit breaker in your home would have tripped long before that bulb posed an actual fire threat.
Angel Burch says
My husband and I were in the commercial lighting business for years. When CFL’s first came out they were so expensive, then the manufacturing in China started and we would always tell our customers to buy American made bulbs because the quality control in China is not as stringent. We saw many many things with China made bulbs, including sparks and electrical arching.
Good post! And I am glad you and your house are ok 🙂
Heather K says
Sorry that happened but noone should be using CFL Bulbs since they are an environmental hazard and CFL’s keep your eyes and brain in a constantly active state when on unlike traditional bulbs. I’m surprised people concerned about their health would want to use them.
radlandon says
Well, when we were at Lowe’s, there were NO other options except CFL bulbs.
Laura B says
If I’m not mistaken, you can’t get any other kind of bulbs but CFL in California.
Also, if you ever notice a fishy smell in a room, sniff the bulbs, switch plates, and receptacles. It’s the smell of melting/burning plastic.
Toni K says
I spoke to an electrician about the CFL bulbs (Mine were burning out rather fast) and he told me they aren’t designed to be hung upside down. So, if you hang them from the ceiling, don’t expect longevity. Upright or sideways is the way they work.
radlandon says
This was just in a floor lamp, not hanging upside-down. Thanks for the info, though!
Taya says
I would be equally concerned about the levels of mercury that spewed into your living room. I refuse to use these light bulbs because of my concern over their toxicity. What will happen to our ground water as billions of these things wind up in our landfills scares me.
Kathy H says
I refuse to use these lightbulbs. AS for bulbs made in the United States, that doesn’t happen anymore. If you were to research this you would find out this fact. I use LED lightbulbs. I have seen too many articles about fires started by CFL’s in general.
AS for SNOPES, I trust it as far as I can throw it, and well I can’t throw it. I recommend researching things yourself. As SNOPES is tainted in it’s research.
Clint says
I don’t think ANY of those bulbs are made in the USA – the contain so many toxic substances, the EPA wouldn’t allow it. Some claim to be “assembled in the USA” – after the nasty bits have already been made in China.
Jeff Schnitzer says
I did stock up on tons of incandecent lightbulbs before they all dissapeared. I hate CFL’s and will be so happy the day this country loses its obsession with Chinese made junk.
duhhhhhhhhhh says
Snopes—–
There have so far been no reported or confirmed cases of fire involving Globe-branded CFLs. In October 2010, however, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of the Chinese-manufactured Trisonic brand of CFL bulbs due to “four reports of incidents, including two fires that resulted in minor property damage.”
Sommer says
If some one wishes expert view about running a blog afterward i suggest him/her to visit this weblog, Keep up the
good work.
Andrew says
These CFLs are complete and total garbage and… a fire hazard. Yeah, I love that we are supposed to fill up our houses with these (sarcasm).
By the way, all the brands of CFLs are made in China, even the “reputable US” ones, and the difference in quality is quite little among the different brands, so it doesn’t really matter what brand you get, because it’s crap either way. You’re best to avoid these bulbs altogether. Get LED if you can afford it, or stock up on incandescents you can round up while you can still.
Michael Jordan says
I just had a Sylvania CFL made in China, start to burn and emit a very disgusting smoke and smell. It was in a small lamp on my night stand next to my bed who do you report these too.
Calvin says
I don’t think CFLS will burn your house down unless you buy the wrong kind. It is usually the cheap crap from China that is hazardous. I am still using CFLs for 12 years and they last a long time. If you are concerned about quality, just get General Electric or Sylvania lamps instead of off brand stuff that is unpredictable. Also, a little side note: Never use CFLs in enclosed fixtures or any fixture where it can build up heat. That is what will cause the CFL to overheat and possibly catch fire. Safety first!
c says
Just had a Sylvania bulb (does say made in China) start to do this. I noticed the smell right away- thought these were supposed to be so energy efficient and the casing where the glass connects to the screw in part is all black and the plastic is burnt. Have used these bulbs before without a problem….. just great. i do always turn this floor lamp off when I go out… wonder if these have cause fires elsewhere. 🙁