...My inspector said pull-chain was not code compliant anymore, and made me put a switch in the hallway to turn on the attic light...
Probably too late for this then, but what my take is that a pull chain is fine, so long as the chain can be reached from the opening.
Section 210.70(C), at least one
lighting outlet with a switch or controlled by a wall switch (or a listed wall-mounted control device) is required in attics, underfloor spaces, utility rooms, and basements.
As for what bulb to use, you're in a pickle of a problem. Any highly efficient LED bulb that's rated to be used in an enclosed fixture (so it's designed to handle high temperatures) should serve your purpose in an open fixture. One with a plastic shell is what I use (so I don't have a broken glass risk). The problem is that these tend to be rated to 40C, because they're rated for 40C in an enclosed fixture (where the bulb gets MUCH hotter).
Looking at Home Depot, even an incandescent 40W appliance bulb shows a 45C rating, so if you're strictly looking to go by the book, I think you're **** out of luck here.
My take is that LED bulbs come in many flavors. Older designs were less power efficient, so they needed a lot of airflow to dissipate heat, and those sort of bulbs may give you problems (premature failure is far more likely than actually burning up). Newer high efficiency designs put out so little heat, and ones rated for use in enclosed fixtures are designed to withstand quite a bit of heat, so you should be fine. Something that draws 9W for 850 lumens in an A19 (a 60W incandescent equivalent) should do the trick, so long as it's rated for use in an enclosed fixture, AND you use it in something open.
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