Electronic – Why are Edison screws allowed to be used?

lightsafety

Why are the Edison screws allowed to be used? They seem unsafe. Why are they designed that way?

They require a complete grounding system to ground devices for the rare situation where the hot wires somehow touches the metal case of the device

While they let you use a lamp fixture which has an exposed hot contact when you remove the lamp, and nothing is there to protect your finger from touching it.

I would expect this socket to have a different design which will cover the contact from accidental touch.

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Best Answer

Here's your opportunity. The market's looking for that right now so build a better mousetrap.

The USDOE and California CEC want to murder the Edison base to finally stop people from using incandescent bulbs, and enable fixture designs that don't have to worry so much about dissipating heat. They mandated GU24 in 2008, which solves some of your concerns. Take a look at how that's going 8 years later. LOL.

There are several flaws in the GU24 that you should address in your new design.

  • Ease of installing "blind" when you just can't see the socket or it's deep in a recess.
  • Equipment Grounding Conductor.
  • 3-way lamp support.
  • Or since dinosaurs called and want their dual-filament bulbs back... how about a standard for a signal pin and protocol to command the bulb to "dim". In track lighting, the signal line could be bussed to each outlet and controlled by a single dimmer.
  • Multi-voltage, either standardize that all bulbs must be multi-voltage, or have different keying for 120V, 220-240V and 277V.

Good luck!

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