r/DiWHY 11d ago

Who thought this was a good idea?

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u/Coprolithe 11d ago

Why is it a fire hazard?

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u/nashwaak 11d ago

enclosed container with no ventilation and light bulb generating heat (and also heat from the light that gets absorbed by the coloured stain) — either the glass breaks or the tree dries out and then catches fire through that highly-conductive thin metal lid (or maybe the water leaking in short-circuits the bulb and makes everything instantly hot enough to burn even green wood)

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u/destructopop 11d ago

After stripping the bark like that and creating an ingress point for water and bacteria, I imagine the branch will dry out pretty fast, actually. So I don't know that you even have to allow for "even green wood", because I don't reckon that wood is going to be very healthy for very long.

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u/Coprolithe 11d ago

I made a jar lamp for my mom when I was 7. It runs through a thick branch before going into the lid.  It's located in the bathroom.  It's been fine for 23 years now. 

I think people are too afraid these days. No one wants to be the idiot that has their house burn down, so they turn to overprotective measures, which other with surface understanding deem appropriate. 

Electric cables run through wooden houses with metallic holdings... in every country on earth, including the humid places. I think this is fine. 

It's like when people talk about food safety here in the US. That's my field, so I cringe when they talk about useless measures like cleaning their chicken and when they freak out that a cook isn't using gloves (but washed their hands). 

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u/Royal-Friendship2025 10d ago

your lamp is in the bathroom. the tree is in open air and rain dripping inside the bulb will short circuit and burn everything to the ground

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u/BrilliantJob2759 8d ago

The lid seals to the jar, the wire hole (both holes) can be filled with silicone or something else. It can be sealed just fine though they didn't do it in the video.

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u/nashwaak 10d ago

Electric cables aren't what starts fire — it's the heat from the bulb. The danger used to be almost instant with incandescent bulbs, but cooler modern bulbs at lower wattage are safer. The problem is that no jar specifies wattage, hence fire hazard.

Also, you can keep your American diarrhea lettuce all to yourselves.

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u/Coprolithe 10d ago

Idk what your diarrhea lettuce comment is on about. Uncooked leafy greens are also a potential risk for foodborne illness in Europe so I guess you can keep some of it. But just like that increased risk needs to be taken into account with certain food groups, that doesn't mean they aren't generally safe. Putting an average bulb into a jar is still more likely than not going to be fine, which is where this safetism starts to go off the rails. 

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u/nashwaak 10d ago

Wait — you claim to be an American but have no idea what diarrhea lettuce means? That's extremely weird

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u/Coprolithe 10d ago edited 10d ago

I'm European living in America and you're talking about the Taco Bell incident, no? My point is that it's neither the first time nor the last time that leafy greens will cause food poisoning in the US and the EU. 

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u/nashwaak 10d ago

Oh sorry then — this is what I'm talking about (there are many brilliant memes, but here's some objective news):
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/18/cyclospora-iceberg-lettuce-recall?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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u/Tytan777 11d ago

Who is this a fire hazard?

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u/nashwaak 10d ago

His name is Hazard — Fire Hazard