Sealed up ceiling light opening and electrical box: is it safe or should I redo?

[Letareus17]

Hey all. I'm working on sealing my new apartment against bugs and dust/air leakage prior to moving in. I caulked around most of the pipes and cables behind appliances without much issue. But there are two openings that have presented a challenge. The first is the ceiling light and the second is this electrical box I found behind the kitchen drawers. I sealed them with tape and caulked around wires that went through the tape.

I now have concerns that this might be a fire hazard or be unsafe in general because these things might get hot and won't have ventilation. Or at least, I might need to use something else to seal these openings because the tape might melt or catch fire. Afterwards, I did some research and I found out that spray foam might be better. Something like this: Amazon.com

So my questions are:
1. Is the way I have these two openings sealed up right now in any way dangerous or unsafe?
2. Would it be better to reseal them with spray foam and would that remove any safety concerns?
3. If spray foam wouldn't work either, are there any better alternatives?

Here is the ceiling light sealed up with plastic tape:




And after my "pro" caulking job:


Context photo for kitchen drawer:

Electrical box before I sealed it:


Box after I sealed it with painter's tape and caulk:


Some other examples of my sealing opening with caulk:

 

[bud16415]

IMO from the photos shown you have wasted your time and money on this. It is always better to ask in advance with such projects.

I would also like to you to the forum.

 

[Letareus17]

IMO from the photos shown you have wasted your time and money on this. It is always better to ask in advance with such projects.

I would also like to you to the forum.

Thanks. I didn't spend much money on this. Some tape and caulk. It was a rush job and late in the day because I spend most of it doing something else there and I wanted to get this done so I didn't have to deal with it another day. But I can always redo it, it's not a big deal.

The question is what would you recommend doing now? By the way, I realized I probably don't have to deal with the electric box because it looks like it's just an electric outlet that comes out the other side, but I'll need to confirm. If that's the case I'll just remove everything from the box. So I just need to deal with the ceiling light. If I could just spray foam that it would be great.

 

[afjes_2016]

The ceiling box is mounted to the surface of the ceiling. There usually is no hole in the ceiling so no bugs would get thru that way. Except the screw/bolts that mount the box to the ceiling but don't think bugs will get in that way The only opening is the line going to it along the ceiling. This is probably coming from a light switch box on the wall. I doubt any bugs would be getting into that box unless it is on a interior wall that shares an exterior side. That is where you would want to stop any bugs from getting in way before tthe ceiling box.

 

[Letareus17]

The ceiling box is mounted to the surface of the ceiling. There usually is no hole in the ceiling so no bugs would get thru that way. Except the screw/bolts that mount the box to the ceiling but don't think bugs will get in that way The only opening is the line going to it along the ceiling. This is probably coming from a light switch box on the wall. I doubt any bugs would be getting into that box unless it is on a interior wall that shares an exterior side. That is where you would want to stop any bugs from getting in way before tthe ceiling box.

That's exactly right, I don't think they're coming in through the ceiling. They would come in through the hole in the wall near the ceiling that the wires pass through. And if I could seal it there that would be much easier. But that is sealed up with that metal conduit you see below so the only way I can do anything about it now is to seal the base of the ceiling light .


By the way, I'm no longer concerned about the box behind the drawers. I've determined that probably doesn't have anything going into it from above or behind.