How to Install an Interior Light Fixture
- 1). Drill a 1/2-inch hole in the top or bottom plate of the wall directly above or below an outlet from which you can draw power. Count the elements on the circuit to which the outlet is wired, including all appliances that are plugged into outlets, and add up the current draw. Compare this to the current rating of the breaker that controls the circuit to make sure you won't overload it by adding the light.
- 2). Turn off the breaker that controls the outlet, and unscrew the cover plate from the outlet. Unscrew it from the electrical box and pull it out.
- 3). Feed one end of a length of electrical cable through the hole in the top or bottom plate, and pull it through the back of the electrical box. Use the same-size cable that was used to wire the outlet, as electrical codes forbid changing wire sizes in a circuit.
- 4). Mark the outline of a switch box on the wall at a convenient location. It is easiest if you place the switch over the outlet, but it's not necessary. Cut out the outline with a drywall saw, and then run the other end of the cable to the switch, making another hole in the top or bottom plate of the wall if necessary.
- 5). Mark the outline of an electrical box on the wall or ceiling where you want to install the light fixture. Cut out the outline with a drywall saw. Run a separate cable from the switch to the light. If the light is going to be located in the wall, drill another hole in the top or bottom plate of the wall over it through which you can pass the cable. If it is going to be located in the ceiling, you can run the cable to it directly from the switch. Staple all the cables you run to rafters or floor joists with wire staples to keep them secure and out of the way.
- 6). Strip 6 inches of casing from the ends of both cables with a utility knife, and then remove 1/2 inch of insulation from all the insulated wires with a wire stripper.
- 7). Connect the cable to the outlet by connecting the black wire to the bottom brass terminal and the white wire to the bottom silver one. If there are already wires connected to these terminals, double up the new wires with the old ones. Connect the bare wire to the green ground terminal by loosening the screw, twisting it around the wires that is already there and tightening the screw.
- 8). Pull the cables coming out of the hole you made for the switch box through the back of a remodeling electrical box. Fit the box into the hole, and then turn the screws until the anchors in back engage with the back of the drywall. Secure the box to the wall by tightening the screws.
- 9). Attach the two black wires in the box to the brass terminals of a wall switch. Twist the two white wires together and screw on a wire cap. Twist the ground wires together and twist them around the ground screw, then tighten the screw. Push the wires into the box, screw the switch onto the box and then screw on a cover plate.
- 10
Install an electrical box at the location of the light. You can use a remodeling box for a wall light or a ceiling light that weighs less than 5 pounds. Nail an electrical box to a rafter if you have a ceiling light that weighs more than 5 pounds. - 11
Pull the cable through the back of the box, and then screw the adapter plate that came with the light fixture to the box. Twist together the black wire from the light and the black circuit wire, and then screw on one of the wire caps supplied with the light. Do the same with the white wires and the ground wires. The ground wire from the lamp may be coated with green insulation, or it may be bare. You don't need to cap the ground wires. - 12
Screw the fixture onto the adapter plate with the screws provided. Turn the breaker back on and test the light.