To be code-compliant, lights in clothes closets must be enclosed fixtures. Clearances from those, if any, would be specified by the manufacturer of the fixture. Bare bulbs of any type are not permitted under current code.

When were the current fixtures installed? I'm confused, because electrical inspectors don't just show up at houses and look in your closets. Are you renovating?

The minimum clearance for a light in a clothes closet is 6in. That is for a surface mount fluorescent or recessed incandescent and is the distance from the fixture to the nearest point of storage space.

Can you rearrange the storage space to meet this requirement?

the inspector was there because of some work we were having done under a grant, and switches were added to the existing lights, but by doing that they no longer were code compliant. i dont really want to get into a his fault, your fault over who is responsible for the cost and replacing the lights... this thing has been headache enough i just want to get them taken care of.

our closets are hard to describe, but basiclly are built on a half wall... where the top part of the wall is slanted. the slant starts right at the top of the door, and the cloths bar is pretty far forward. our house was built in 1892.

but the point is i have to find some kind of light to work in the sitiation as rearranging the closet is not possible.

Unless you spend a lot of time looking in your closet, you might want to consider going to a wall mounted battery powered light. These are usually installed above the door and you could probably find a fixture that utilizes Light Emiting Diodes that would result in longer battery life.

A small, inexpensive fluorescent fixture will be fine. Most of the mass market manufacturers make acceptable fixtures for this application.

I put small Lampi fluorescent fixtures (9 watt? 15 watt?) in our closets. I think Lampi is out of business now, but their fixtures still float around on the surplus market. Here's one example.

The battery fixtures are OK, but I have yet to see one in actual use that worked. The stable condition for these gadgets is "it needs a new battery." ;-)

If it comes down to function vs. aethetics, simply put in a surface mount hardwired flourescent in a code-compliant location, then use surface mounting wire channel to run the wire on the surface of the wall from the switch to the light. Not the prettiest, but it gets you a code-compliant, hard-wired light.

How about undercabinet fluorescent lights, 9" or 10", convert the existing lamp socket to outlet and plug the new light in.

"How about undercabinet fluorescent lights, 9" or 10", convert the existing lamp socket to outlet and plug the new light in."

couldnt we just use the existing wiring from the light to hard wire it in? it is already using wire mold.

If the fixture is hardwireable (?), sure why not.

To be code compliant, you still have to meet the "6 in to storage area" rule. Will a UC fluorescent fixture meet this?

Instead of UC fluorescent what about UC low voltage? I.e. 12V hardwire or plug in transformer to 3 or 4 or more low voltage xenon pucks, surface mounted where you need them.

Low voltage should not be a problem right?

At the present time, the National Electrical Code only allows the following types of luminaires (fixtures) in a clothes closet and they are completely enclosed surface or recessed incandescent and surface mounted or recessed fluorescent.

Low voltage surface mounted incandescent fixtures would be permitted but would still need to meet the 12"clearance requirement.

Does anyone have a recommendation on a good surface mount fluorescent fixture? Fast on? I have my new house wired with a wire coming out each header inside each closet door... I want a light that will light the top shelf and down the front.