My Thoughts and Observations on Modern Vs Vintage Lighting - Part 1: Safety
Firstly, let's define the terms used - there's no exact cut off, but I consider modern lighting to be most lighting made since around 1990 and almost all (probably all) lighting made since 2010 when used in the market it was made for.
I will be focussing on lighting made for the UK and Denmark (EU) markets although many of my comments will broadly apply to other similar countries like Australia and Canada.
Electrical Safety Regulations
Modern lighting bought in countries like the UK and Denmark should all be 100% compliant with current electrical safety standards in the country they were made to be sold in. There have been a series of incremental electrical safety enhancements introduced in the last 50 years, and all lighting made since the early 1990s should have been made to incorporate all of these.
Some safety features can be retro-fitted when rewiring vintage lighting, as I did with this stunning Fase Boomerang lamp. But they cannot always be added, because the lighting was just not designed to incorporate them. The regulations do allow for alternative ways of improving the safety, so that's plan b, but sometimes even that isn't possible and I sadly have to advise clients the lighting cannot reach a sufficiently high safety standard.
Vintage Lighting & Current UK Electrical Safety Regulations
I am based in the UK so work to British electrical safety standards. But this isn't a bad position to be in because they are some of the, if not the, highest electrical safety standards in the world - you could describe them as 'Belt, braces and also holding your trousers up with your hands!'
Although, how current rules for new products apply to vintage lighting is a little vague, I interpret the legislation as applying to all lighting sold to consumers, regardless of when it was made which means that:
It should be fundamentally safe, and incorporate as many current safety enhancements as it is possible for it to take, and if it cannot be made sufficiently safe it should not be sold; and
UK safety regulations apply to all lighting sold to UK consumers, whether that’s at a car boot sale, on eBay or via an online store, regardless of where that online store is based, because it's consumer safety legislation so covers the market you are selling into, not the location of the seller.
But I think lighting sold in, or to, the UK at a premium price, on one of the numerous online portals that specialise in vintage and high value items, really should be only sold if it is compliant with current UK electrical safety standards and if it isn’t that should be made clear.
And sadly that just often isn't the case - all too often I see vintage lighting sold to UK customers that is just not safe to use.
Vintage Metal Lighting
Most of the modern safety enhancements apply to all UK/EU lighting but there is one key rule divergence - if you are in the UK and buy vintage metal lighting it must either have enhancements to isolate metal components or be earthed.
Buying Direct From China?
One final point, I referred to modern lighting designed to be sold to the UK as being compliant. So if you are in the UK, and buy something new from a reputable seller, it should be safe to use. However, if you buy direct from Chinese-based sites - you know the ones I'm referring to - they might not be. I have seen lighting bought from these sites that fails to comply with UK electrical safety standards in several key ways.