I don’t have a bulb for my ceiling fan but it has a glass cover. Is that safe? The bulb popped and I haven’t got a new bulb yet and was wondering if the open socket would be safe.
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By "popped", do you mean the bulb itself exploded, or that it simply doesn't work any longer? I typically just leave the dead bulb in place until I get a new bulb (if ever; sometimes, your lighting needs simply don't require a full set of bulbs.)– chepnerCommented Mar 17, 2023 at 14:17
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Consider that a dead bulb is just as much an open circuit as an open socket, the main difference being the open circuit is encased in the bulb. If the socket itself has a cover, an open socket is similarly encased.– chepnerCommented Mar 17, 2023 at 14:19
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3 Answers
That is safe. The concern is if the socket is (a) uncovered and (b) within easy reach. You indicated it has a glass cover and ceiling fans are generally not within easy reach. Don't worry about it, unless it is the only light in the room - and then the concern is safety if someone walks into the room at night, not about the empty socket.
answered Mar 16, 2023 at 3:39
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If it isn't where someone will stick their finger or other object into the open socket, it's entirely safe. To make it even safer, leave the old bulb in place until you get the new one.
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4or you could put a "socket adapter" in there that screws in to the bulb socket and exposes only the typical outlet, if seriously concerned– davidbakCommented Mar 16, 2023 at 16:23
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@user253751 - What if Spiderman comes by and is crawling around up there on your ceiling and accidentally sticks a finger into a live socket! Boy would you be in trouble! Save yourself the worry and use one of these adapters to block it. As I said: if seriously concerned!.– davidbakCommented Mar 17, 2023 at 13:52
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Not all light sockets are out of reach of toddlers, unfortunately. So there may be cases where some form of safety cap is a good thing. Of course the right fix is to change the situation to remove that access. In the other hand, I remember the time five-year-old me thought shooting a hit light bulb with a water gun made sense... Humans, even small ones, can be annoyingly creative.– keshlamCommented Mar 17, 2023 at 14:14
If you removed all the bulb remains from the bulb socket, you should have no fire or circuit short risk.
The main concern here is to how acessible this socket is and how prone to accidents or curious the people living in your place are... For example, kids... They will stick their fingers everywhere and if the socket is easily acessible, you may have some problems there.
If your ceiling fan has some kind of dome in the light fixture, you will most likely not have any trouble.
Other than that, you should be fine.
