ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 9, 1997 TAG: 9701100036
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
EXPLODING BULBS AND torched draperies are among the disasters they're accused of causing.
Halogen lamps offer powerful light and sleek looks at a relatively inexpensive cost.
Their sizzling bulbs also can start fires.
Blamed for a blaze that destroyed the Manhattan apartment of jazz great Lionel Hampton on Tuesday, halogen lamps have bulbs that approach 1,000 degrees. Since 1992, the lamps have been tied to 100 fires and 10 deaths, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Underwriters Laboratories grew so concerned about the lamps that the testing group next month will enforce tougher standards for getting the U-L seal of approval.
Exploding bulbs and torched draperies are among the dangers associated with popular models known as torchiere lamps - floor lamps that wash a room with light from an exposed tubular bulb atop a 6-or 7-foot pole. U.S. consumers own about 35 million to 40 million of them, the commission said.
Torchieres range from about $13 to $40 at general retail stores. Some specialty lighting stores charge upwards of $1,000 for a range of halogen lights that includes desk lamps, work lights and ceiling lights.
The 300-watt bulbs used in torchieres can be as hot as 970 degrees, and other halogen bulbs can reach 1,200 degrees. In contrast, a 150-watt incandescent bulb reaches about 340 degrees.
General Electric Co., the conglomerate that makes a range of halogen replacement bulbs, said all of its bulbs come with appropriate warnings. But as the number of fires blamed on the bulbs has grown, safety watchdogs have boosted their efforts to inform people of the dangers.
Underwriters Laboratories will begin adding a new test to the dozens it runs on halogen bulbs. The lamps will have to be able to run for seven hours without burning a double layer of cheesecloth draped across the top.
``If any charring should occur it's an automatic failure,'' said spokeswoman Sandy Bedzis.
To protect students, some colleges have banned the torchiere lamps from dorm rooms. Brown University instituted a ban this semester but lets students keep halogen desk lamps, which have covered bulbs. The school even started a program that let students turn in the lamps in exchange for $10.
Safety groups warn people not to leave the lamps near any combustible materials such as drapes or bedding and not to leave them on unattended.
Once the bulbs come in contact with something flammable, fire can strike suddenly and powerfully.
Kevin Cargill said it was only minutes after he sent his two sons upstairs to bed one night last month that he saw black smoke pouring down the stairwell of their rented Chesapeake, Va., town house.
A blaze that firefighters said was ignited by a torchiere trapped his sons and caused $25,000 to $75,000 in property damage, Cargill said. The boys were rescued by firefighters and suffered only smoke inhalation.
Cargill said he was unaware of the lamp's potentially lethal power.
``There's no way I would have had a lamp like that in my house if I had known it was that volatile,'' he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB