Closet Fires & Closet Light Fixture Fire Hazards

Incandescent closet light fixtures can easily cause closet fire and this fire hazard is very often ignored by the home owner.

We rarely pay attention to our closet light fixtures for as long as they work. Stacking cardboard boxes and plastic bags filled with old clothing or Christmas gifts wrapping paper against that exposed, glowing light bulb can easily and pretty fast result in a closet fire.

Would you please go and check you closet light fixtures right now…

Don’t start a closet fire and burn your house down either; it doesn’t take that much effort. Improperly installed closet lights and wrong types of closet light fixtures might easily create a closet fire. All it takes is a turned ON exposed incandescent type light bulb, and a piece of your clothing, or other combustible type material touching it or just being close to it.

Every time you turn that closet light fixture ON, ignition temperature of a combustible material next to the light bulb will gradually drop. You might not even notice when the closet fire starts until is too late… at least make sure that you have functional smoke alarms.

There’s a simple and not that expensive way to take closet fire out of the equation – replace closet light fixture with a proper type or correct installation of the existing one if possible. Since you should always update to the latest building / electrical code, this is what 2008 NEC (National Electrical Code) says about the closet lights.

Permitted closet light fixtures that minimize possibility of a closet fire :

• Surface mounted or recessed type incandescent light fixtures with a completely enclosed light bulb – this eliminates still popular pull chain (or no chain) plastic / porcelain base light fixtures with an incandescent (regular type) light bulb from being used in closets. Simply because there is no enclosure that would completely cover the light bulb and the lampshade is not a solution!

• Surface mounted or recessed fluorescent type light fixtures

• Surface mounted fluorescent or LED type light fixtures that are listed / identified as permitted in a storage area

Not permitted closet light fixtures, these can easily result in a clothes closet fire:

Open or partially open incandescent type light fixtures (already explained above), and pendants

Locations / minimum clearances between the closet light fixtures and the closest storage space that improve your chances for preventing closet fire:

Closet light installed on the wall above the closet door or on the ceiling

1. Completely enclosed surface-mounted incandescent or LED closet light -12”
2. Surface mounted fluorescent – 6”

Closet light recessed in the wall or ceiling

1. Completely enclosed incandescent or LED light source – 6”
2. Recessed fluorescent – 6”

Surface mounted fluorescent or LED closet lights are permitted only if identified for such installation.

There’s actually one more, very safe and not listed in the electrical code book – battery type 🙂

Now it is time for you to check if your closet light fixture presents a hazard and can be responsible for a closet fire.