• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
  • Home Tours
  • Read By Category
  • Sources
    • Life On Virginia Street Paint Colors
    • Shop Our Home
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Amazon
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • HOME DECOR
    • Decorating Ideas, Tips and Trends
    • Home Tours
    • Look for Less
    • Outdoor Spaces
    • Room Makeovers + Design Plans
  • DIY Projects
    • Cleaning and Organization Tips
    • Crafts
    • Paint Projects
    • Rental Properties
    • Room Makeovers
    • Tutorials
  • TRAVEL
    • 30A Florida
    • Cruises
    • European Travel
    • Mexico & The Caribbean
    • U.S. Travel
    • Packing Ideas
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Fashion Posts
    • Hair & Beauty Posts
    • Recent Outfit Ideas
  • Entertaining
    • Entertaining and Party Ideas
    • Food & Drink Recipes
    • Tablescapes
  • Shop
    • Shop Our Home
    • Shop My Instagram Feed
    • Gift Guides
    • My Amazon Storefront
    • Sale Alerts
    • Wednesday Watch List
Life On Virginia Street

Life On Virginia Street

DIY . Home Decor . Travel . Style . Life

Light Bulbs: My Public Service Announcement

Cleaning and Organization Tips, Uncategorized

  • Share
  • Tweet

I interrupt the usual pretty photo updates with a public service announcement that hit a little too close to home for us this past weekend.

If you have ever asked yourself the question, “Does it really matter if I use a higher watt lightbulb than my light fixture recommends?” – the answer is a resounding yes. And if my description below doesn’t convince you, perhaps the photos that follow will.

Case in point. A few weeks ago I noticed that two of the three light bulbs were burnt out in the fixture in my craft room. It was about the time I was compiling this tutorial and the low light was killing me. I asked my husband to swap out the bad lights. We noticed that the two that were burnt out, as well as the one functioning light, were 100 watt light bulbs although the fixture clearly stated 60 watt maximum bulbs {this means 300 watts were trying to be produced in a 180 watt max fixture. We’re guessing the prior home owners didn’t realize the implications as this was their home school classroom and they may have been needing additional light}. Taking note, we replaced all three bulbs with only 60 watt bulbs. But, an odd thing happened. When we turned the light switch back on, the two previously burnt out lights started crackling and flickering.

We thought it was a faulty fixture {or that the old bulbs had caused it to become faulty}, so we removed the two bulbs we had replaced, and only used with the one bulb that was still functioning until we could get a new fixture. This ensued for a week or two.

This past weekend, I decided to move the old ‘boob’ light from the queen guest bedroom into the craft room after we installed the chandelier. It was actually the same style fixture that was already in the craft room but it appeared only 60 watt bulbs had been used in it when it was in the guest room. However, our progress halted once we actually started to remove the existing light fixture in the craft room {after all power to the room had been shut off from the main breaker panel}. Look at what we found:

{Although it’s hard to see in this photo, the plaster on the ceiling was noticeably burnt for several inches beyond the opening. The insulation on the light fixture was also burned.}
{You can see the wire caps are literally melted – so much so on the middle one that there is no plastic left. There were several places where the plastic wire cover had melted off as well.}
{A bad, bad, sign that the wire caps are no longer intact and the wire coating has dissolved}

That’s right – a total fire hazard that likely could have occurred rather soon. The scariest part was that if it weren’t for my addiction to changing out light fixtures so frequently, we may have never noticed it until it was too late. There was bare electrical wire touching bare electrical wire – a REALLY bad thing. In fact, it may have been to the point that it was sparking up there {hence the burnt plaster and insulation}.

I’m grateful we caught this oversight when we did. Unfortunately, the wires appear to no longer be usable so we are going to have to hire an electrician to come fix the problem that could have easily been avoided. We quickly checked the remaining original fixtures in our home to ensure there were no other potential hazards and left the power off in this room permanently to ensure we don’t have any issues until the wiring can be resolved.

Moral of the story? If you recently moved into an existing home or are guilty of using too high of wattage bulbs, check your fixtures and change your bulbs out ASAP if you aren’t at or below guidelines! Hopefully this message will resonate and prevent some potentially unnecessary home fires in the future.

  • Share
  • Tweet

October 2, 2013 · 4 Comments

free email course!

5 Secrets to Re-Designing a Room You Love

Learn my foolproof system for designing a room you’ll love that you can enjoy for many years to come!

Previous Post: « Guest Bedroom Updated Reveal
Next Post: Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. Karen says

    October 2, 2013 at 1:44 pm

    Yikes. That is scary & good thing you guys caught it!

    Reply
  2. Vel Criste says

    October 2, 2013 at 3:35 pm

    Scary and a real fire hazard, glad you still caught it Sarah!

    Reply
  3. TandTbettin says

    October 3, 2013 at 2:33 am

    Glad you found it. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  4. Laura says

    October 5, 2013 at 4:40 am

    Oh my goodness! That is crazy scary! I’ve noticed a can light in our kitchen that has a small burn mark next to it. I just don’t turn it on, but probably need to check it out soon!! I haven’t touched the bulb or anything with it since we moved in more than a year ago.

    Thanks for the tips!

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Welcome To Life On Virginia Street!

Let’s Get Social!

  • Amazon
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe By Email

Receive an email each time a new post goes live on Life On Virginia Street!

Tour Our Home

Footer

Disclosures + Photo Usage Policies
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · Farmhouse Theme by Restored 316

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT