How to Hang a Ceiling Light…

A ceiling light is not jut a functional part of your home; it is also a part of your décor. You probably already have a ceiling light in your room. Changing it out is not that hard to do. But, if you do not happen to have one where you want it I suggest calling a licensed electrician to run the wires and hang the light. There are several codes that must be followed when re-wiring your home and a good, local electrician can be sure that your wiring is safe.

However, if you just need to switch out an older light for a new, more dramatic one the task is not that difficult. On this page I will describe the basic steps and offer links to other great sites which give more details.

Here is what you will need:

• Your new light fixture


• A ladder sufficiently tall to let you work comfortably on the light


• A Phillips head screwdriver and a flat head screw driver


• A pair if regular pliers


• A pair of wire snip pliers


• Wire nuts


• Good quality electrical tape

The first thing to do is turn on your existing light and make sure that it is illuminating. If the bulbs are burned out replace them now. By doing this you know that electricity is flowing to the existing fixture.

With the fixture illuminated go to your breaker box and flip the breaker marked for that room. It will save you some time to have a helper to let you know when the light goes out. You may have to check several breakers before you get the right one. Once you have the correct breaker it is helpful mark it for future reference. Do not turn off the light switch at the wall.

If you are a little skittish about electricity you can buy an inexpensive non-contact voltage detector. This little device will tell you for sure that there is absolutely no voltage to the wires that you will be working with.

The next step is to remove the old fixture. Once you have it unscrewed from the ceiling bracket you will notice that there are three wires from the fixture connected to wires from the ceiling. They will mostly likely have wire nuts holding them together. There will be a white wire (called the Neutral), a black wire (called the Hot), and either a green or bare copper wire (called the Ground). Remove the wire nuts, disconnect all the wires, and remove the old fixture.

Now it is time to install the new fixture. Some fixtures hug the ceiling and some hang down from chains or rods but they all connect the same. First, read the installation instructions for your new fixture. If your new fixture is heavy, or if it hangs, you may need your helper on a separate ladder to hold the fixture while you connect the wires and secure the brackets.

Twist the white, black, and ground wires from the new fixture with the corresponding colored wires from the ceiling. Turn a wire nut onto each pair of wires and slightly tug on each wire to be sure that it is secure. It is a good practice, but not absolutely necessary, to wrap a couple of turns of electrical tape around each wire nut. This assures that the wire nuts will not work loose over time.

Mount the fixture according to the instructions and you are almost done. First be sure that there are bulbs in the fixture. You recall that you did not turn off the switch at the wall; when you turn the breaker back on you should have light. If not, try the wall switch just in case it was accidentally flipped while the power was off. If you still don’t have light the next thing to check is the bulbs. If this doesn’t fix the problem you will have turn off the power, remove the fixture, and check your wiring connections.

That’s all it is to it, I hope you enjoy your new lighting fixture!

Mr. Handsome