Growing Under Lights: Fire Hazard?

Edward Gilding (egilding@lava.net)
Sat, 2 Mar 96 10:01 WET

Hi, I've been using a flourescent light fixture (two 40watt, 4 foot tubes)
to grow my cultures beneath them. I have been using them for about 4
months. It is in my closet hanging from chains. This morning it overheated
and began to smoke. Luckily I was there to catch it. It overheated,
because of the heat build up. The light had a habit of blacking out, I even
put a fan next to it to move the air to keep it cool.

The type of light is the common type you can buy from any hardware store as
a shop light that costs about 8-15 dollars. I am glad I didn't have to pay
more for this lesson (like my house!).

I am wondering if there are others out there who had a similar experience.
But more importantly, I am looking for recommendations on what kind of light
I should buy. Are there any lights that run cooler?

Sincerely,
egilding@lava.net