Ceiling Lighting Installation Tips from Schmeg.com

  

The artificial lighting in your home falls into two categories: general lighting, which illuminates a room as a whole; and task lighting, which focuses on areas where you perform specific jobs. Task lighting, or local lighting, is needed over a kitchen sink, a chopping block, a range or cooktop, or above a desk or dining area.

Threaded Box Ear Ceiling fixtures most commonly supply the general lighting in a home. If you wish to increase general lighting, you can add a central ceiling fixture. You may also select a hanging fixture designed in styles ranging from an elaborate chandelier to a simple industrial lamp. But, regardless of the ceiling fixture you select, the following simple rules of electricity must be followed:

• Mounting Strap Always work with the power turned off.
• The source is the panel, the load is the light.
• Always follow the National Electrical Code and local codes.

THE POWER SOURCE-
The power source for a new ceiling fixture is usually a ceiling junction or major box to which you have access in the attic. If there is no attic, power is normally drawn from an existing receptacle or outlet in the room in which the fixture is to hang.

Tapping into this existing power involves fishing cable from the power source to the ceiling boxes. This is explained in detail in How-To Booklet #3131: Extending Existing Wiring. You can also create a new circuit for ceiling lights, and this could be easier than fishing for power.

If you opt for a new circuit, we suggest that you run the cable from the main electrical service panel.

Methods of mounting small ceiling fixtures-
Make the necessary connections along the line, and then have a professional electrician inspect your work and make the power hookup at the main service panel.

SMALL CEILING FIXTURES-
Examples of small close-to-ceiling fixtures used in homes are globe, open dish, and hanging light types. To install a new fixture of this type, proceed as follows:

Turn the power off at the source and remove the existing fixture or cover plate.

-SAFETY NOTE: The service panel and circuit breaker is the power source NOT the switch!

A. Determine the hot and cold wires by color. Black or red is hot, white is neutral, and green or bare is ground.
- NOTE: If the wires are not color-coded, test the wires with a wire tester. Ask your local retailer for details or call an electrician.

B. Attach the mounting strap to the ceiling box in one of two ways. The more common way is to screw the strap into the corner tabs of the box. If the box is plastic, the strap must be grounded.

C. Wire the black and white wires to the respective leads with approved wire nuts. If the fixture is a metal one, run a short pigtail from the grounding screw to the grounding wire.

D. Thread the fixture nipple through the mount ing strap. Fixtures not using a nipple to hold the fixture in place may skip to the next step.

E. Loop the wires into the box, place the fixture base over the nipple, and push flush to the ceiling. Thread the locknut or mounting nut over the nipple to hold the base secure to the ceiling. For fixtures that do not use a nipple, use long screws through the fixture base into the screw threads on the mounting strap.

Install light bulbs, turn on the power, and test the fixture by turning on the switch.

-NOTE: Some fixture covers mount over the nipple and are secured with a finished cap nut against the glass dish or globe. Be careful not to overtighten and break the glass.

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