That isn't correct. I placed an order for some US bulbs that have a bayonet fitting only a few days ago.

There are elements of truth in there, but suffice to say (i) bayonet or similar (non-screw) bulbs in the US are confined to certain special situations (bulbs for some appliances), and (ii) in many lamps, adding in any sort of adapter is going to either leave the bulb sticking up/down out of the shade, or (if the shade is supported by the bulb), going to leave the shade riding too high/low.

All that said, in the US it is much easier to get replacement parts for many household gadgets, including electrical fittings, appliances, locks, taps, etc. than it is in the UK, so I would expect it will be possible to find suitable replacement bulb holders fairly easily and not have to to färting around with adapters.

The fact that you had to "place an order" proves that what Marc is, for all practical purposes, true. You cannot walk into any mainstream retailer in the US and buy bayonet-fitting bulbs for anything but a few special situations.

Which is why I didn't say "all".

I would say that Amazon US is a mainstream retailer, even if it is online, given how large and ever-present it seems to be in many people's lives. I could have substituted the words "placed an order" for "bought", given that the bulbs were already in stock.

I have seen bayonet cap lights at my local Ace Hardware store too, although I would agree that bayonet cap type fittings are more niche than screw fittings. However, to say that all US fittings are screw type is wrong.

Argue whatever you like, but that is not what I meant, and I think you know that.

I have tweaked my post (one word), to more precisely say what I meant. But taking your argument at face value would enable you to argue that Marmite is a popular grocery item in the US because it is readily available on Amazon, however that would obviously be nonsense.

It's fun to argue semantics, eh? It seems to be the British thing to do.

As others have suggested, I didn't bring anything electrical over from the UK, except for a few things that charge via USB, like my electric toothbrush, or explicitly support dual-voltage, like my Macbook Pro charger. I had bayonet cap lights in the UK and left them there. If I need new lights over here, I'll just buy some.

Now there's some good advice that I can get behind.

On topic, I have a Christmas decoration that is US wired that I brought back to the UK. The bulb specifically said it was 120v stamped on the top of the screw, so I got a 220v equivalent (E12 fitting, common in night lamps) and plugged it in via my international travel adapter and it's working fine.

The wiring and switch are rated for European voltages - it's a schwiboggen that I bought in Berlin. Actually, I bought it round the corner from the Breitscheidplatz, so it's a bit more poignant now.

Its a global trend - its just easier in the factory - if you make something that needs mains power you would try to make one that you could sell and would work everywhere.

For anything with a transformer like small electronics, led bulb based lights etc, this is easy, where its really based on input mains, not so easy. If it has a box in the power line, get out the magnifying glass and read the certifications, typically you might see 'input 100-250 volts' ergo it works everywhere if you have the right plug or physical adapter.

Ok electro-boffins - upping the ante here.

I have a Mathmos lava lamp decorated with 12 years worth of dust. I'm sure that the sproutlet would love it, but any ideas how I go about converting this bugger? I've done a few searches over the years to try to find a US voltage bulb but turned up empty-handed.

Asking now on the incredibly slight off-chance that someone's solved the same problem.

Thanks in advance.

On paper the "best" way would be to replace the lamp holder to take a US bub - it has to be an incandescent bulb because the "lava" needs the heat to function.

Yes - that would make sense. Problem is with a lava lamp is that the bulb and holder are of a special type that fits low in the housing so that the glass lava thing fits on top.

Yes, my daughter has one. ..... I can take a look at my daughter's and take a look at what might be involved.

the Mathmos website sells spare bulbs - you could have a look at the different types and see if you can source US equivalents?

I'd tried that (albeit most recently a couple of years ago) and that's where I finally failed and gave up. Was hoping that someone else had succeeded somehow (e.g. specialist bulb place I haven't found yet).

Have you tried these folks?

https://www.1000bulbs.com/