Adding additional lighting can change the mood and the overall look of a room. Softer lighting can make for a more romantic feel, while brighter lighting can energize an area. Wiring new lighting in your home can present challenges especially if you cannot install an additional electrical circuit. Finding a circuit that is already present can offset these challenges simply by tying into it. Using a receptacle for your power supply will overcome the obstacles in wiring your new light fixture. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Turn off the electricity to the area at the breaker panel. Test the circuit by plugging a lamp or radio into the receptacle and see if it will turn on.
2. Remove the receptacle cover plate; one screw holds the cover plate to the receptacle.
3. Pull the receptacle from the electrical box by removing the screws at the top and the bottom that hold it to the electrical box. Do not remove the wires from the receptacle.
4. Thread a fish tape from the electrical box for the receptacle to the electrical box that will hold your new light fixture. Follow the manufacturer's directions on use the fish tape. Attach 14/2 nonmetallic (NM) cable securely to the fish tape with electrical tape. Gently pull the fish tape back through the new lighting electrical box and though the electrical box that holds the receptacle, pulling the NM with it. You should have approximately six inches of additional NM in both the electrical boxes to finish your wiring.
5. Strip four inches of plastic sheath from the NM cable; take care not to strip the insulation from the black and white wires located inside. Strip 1/2 inch of insulation off the black-and-white wires. Connect the black wire from the light fixture to the black wire from the electrical box by twisting an orange wire nut to the wires. Connect the white wire from the light fixture to the white wire from the electrical box in the same manner. Attach the bare copper wire to the green ground screw located on the fixture cross bar. Follow the light fixture's installation directions for install the fixture cross bar. Finish installing the light fixture according to the manufacturer's directions.
6. Strip the sheath and the insulation as in the previous step. Connect the black wire around the copper screw on the receptacle and tighten. Connect the white wire around the silver screw on the receptacle and tighten. Attach the bare copper wire around the green ground screw at the bottom of the receptacle and tighten. Push the wires and the receptacle back into the electrical box.
7. Attach the receptacle to the electrical box with the screws you took out previously in Step 3. Screw the cover plate back to the receptacle.
8. Turn the power back on at the panel box.
Tags: fish tape, from electrical, light fixture, wire from, black wire, cover plate, receptacle tighten
