How To Wire A Light Fixture

Yes current is turned off but a good electrical safety practice is not to touch any wire that could carry current whether turned off or not.

How to wire a light fixture. Unscrew the screws or nuts holding the fixture base to the ceiling box. As an elementary safety act try not to touch the bare wires. If you just have a small green screw on your mounting plate wrap the new copper wire around that. Because the electrical code as of the 2011 nec update requires a neutral wire in most new switch boxes a 3 wire cable runs between the light and switch.

If installing recessed light fixtures no box is installed as a wiring compartment is provided on the fixture itself. Remove the wire nuts connecting the house wiring to the light fixture and replace the nuts loosely on the house wiring as a safety precaution. The power currently comes into the fixture. The same is true for lights or switches in walls.

When you re doing daisy chain wiring on a light fixture each pigtail usually contains three wires but there could be more if you re adding more than one extra light. I d like to avoid replacing the wire that s run to the switch if possible which is 12 2 and simply pass the hot through the new second fixture to. Light fixtures with more than one lamp may have a pair of black and white wires for each lamp. Refer to your light fixture instructions and your individual situation.

This is an updated version of the first arrangement. If the light you are wiring is in the ceiling you should clean any cobwebs and dust before attempting to install your new fixture. Attach the wires from the new fixture with wire nuts to the corresponding wires in the electrical box. I m attempting to add a second light fixture to an existing wiring run which currently has a single fixture attached to a single pole switch.

If there s a copper wire pre installed in your ceiling connect the new wire there. If you re just adding one the wires in the pigtail include the live circuit wire the wire going to the new fixture and the wire from the existing fixture. The black loop wire is connected to the other terminal and at the light to the hot terminal on the fixture. A clean work area will improve your ease of installation.

The open to be cut in the ceiling is provided by the template included with the fixture by most manufacturers or by tracing around the rough in housing opening.