Hang a ceiling light from a firmly-attached electrical box.
Two likely problems during ceiling light installations in an old home are house wiring that does not include a ground wire and an existing electrical box that is not attached to a rafter. In the first case, you can run a ground wire from the fixture to an available cold-water pipe or to a ground rod outside the house. In the second, you may have to install a new electrical box, depending on the weight of the lamp you are installing.
Instructions
1. Turn the power to the circuit off at the breaker.
2. Install a light fixture electrical box. Cut a hole in the drywall large enough for the box and attach the box to a rafter. If the light fixture weighs less than 5 lbs., you may use a remodeling box. Fit the remodeling box into the hole and hook the attaching screws to the drywall, then tighten them with a screwdriver.
3. Run the house wire through the ceiling to the electrical box and feed it through one of the holes in the box.
4. Install a separate ground wire if your house has two-strand wire. Run the ground wire from the box to a nearby metal cold-water pipe and attach it to the pipe with a wire clamp. If your house has plastic plumbing pipes, run the ground wire outside and attach it to a ground rod pounded 8 feet into the ground.
5. Remove about 6 inches of sheathing from the house wire with a utility knife and separate the wires. Use a wire splicing tool to remove 1/2 inch of insulation from the ends of the black and white conductors. Hold the white wire from the house together with the white wire of the lamp so the ends are parallel and twist them together, then cap them with one of the twist-on connectors that came with the light. Repeat with the black wires. Twist the ground wires together and connect them to the electrical box if it is metal.
6. Attach the adaptor plate that came with the light fixture to the electrical box with the screws provided. Then push the wires into the box, lift the lamp into place, and attach it to the adaptor plate, again using the screws that came with the light.
7. Turn the power on and test the light.
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