If You Have Spiral Lightbulbs, Check Them Before Your House Burns Down
If you have any compact fluorescent lightbulbs in your house, it wouldn’t hurt to give them all a glance to make sure they’re in proper working order.
After all, it could save you the devastation of a house fire.
Jason Whitaker took to Facebook on Nov. 25 to warn the public about CFL bulbs’ dangerous potential.
Whitaker, who has already been through one house fire, knew to watch out for any sign that his property and his life could be in danger. After noticing a suspicious smell, he did some investigating.
“I kept smelling something like electrical fire,” Whitaker wrote. “I tore my house apart trying to find it and finally did.”
What Whitaker found was a CFL bulb packed to the brim with ladybugs.
“These light bulbs will burn your house down. It has been in this lamp 4-5 years. It is packed tight with nothing but lady bugs. You can see how close it came to igniting. I changed all the light bulbs. Please check yours.”
According to the pest control company Terminex, the tiny beetles often make their way into homes during the colder months. Any crack, hole or gap is like an open hotel door to these little insects.
Knowing that, it’s no surprise that they migrated to the warmest thing they could find — a glowing CFL bulb.
From the looks of Whitaker’s bulb, these tiny creatures packed themselves in tight, then died and created a virtual heat sink and source of fuel for any resulting flame.
Although it took years for the insects to accumulate to this level, the lifespan of CFL bulbs means that this could be the case in a number of houses across America.
Whitaker mentioned that he smelled something burning, so as unlikely as a fire from these small beetles may seem, it appears he found the culprit just in time.
Bulbs in places like a closet may not pose as much risk since they don’t stay on for long.
Light fixtures in kitchens, dining areas, and main rooms are a different case — their extended use means that the bulbs will reach a hotter temperature as the lights are left on longer.
If you have any of these bulbs in your house, it may be good to give them a glance to make sure there aren’t any potential tinderboxes in your home.
