<p>For personal usage, indoor, I'm doing some experiments with following lamp (v0.1):</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/SrEhy.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/SrEhy.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Lamp is a led bulb enclosed in a methacrylate tube and with a 3D printed finish at the top using PLA (my first 3d print ;-).</p>

<p>In some www pages (by example, <a href="https://www.lifx.com/blogs/the-latest/19032975-how-hot-are-led-light-bulbs" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>) I've read that the led buld radiator can reach 90º C. Experimentally, the methacrylate and the PLA feels only slightly hot, I suppose around 40ºC.</p>

<p>According to www info, PLA has a melting point of 150ºC, far from this usage, but a continuous operative temperature of only 40ºC ( !? this made 3d printing unable in a country as my own one, where ambient in summer is around 40ºC).</p>

<p>So, my question, is PLA a valid material for this application? If not, some other one better?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot. </p>

[{'answer_id': 4488, 'author': 'EvilTeach', 'author_id': 1397, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/1397', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>I had a PLA print that would weaken and deform when sitting in the car on a hot day.   I think you should try it with ABS.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 4502, 'author': 'eyashin', 'author_id': 8128, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/8128', 'pm_score': 4, 'selected': True, 'text': '<p><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/4488/5740">EvilTeach\'s</a> answer is correct, ABS is a more reliable plastic for any kind of work which may get above what feels "hot to the touch." </p>\n\n<p>Just to elaborate on the why: the property you\'re looking for in the thermoplastic (which will determine the continuous operating temperature) is <strong>glass transition temperature</strong>. This is the point at which the plastic begins to flow, and becomes deformable as EvilTeach described. PLA reaches this state at around <strong>60&nbsp;°C</strong>, whereas ABS is around <strong>105&nbsp;°C</strong>, just suiting your specifications. To go a bit further, polycarbonate offers a glass transition temperature of around 150&nbsp;°C, and Ultem at 217&nbsp;°C. So there\'s a thermoplastic for everyone, you just need to know what you\'re looking for!</p>\n'}]
['https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4487', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/8103/']