What do I have to do to get a light on the ceiling in the middle of my room?

Question

I know I probably have to call an electrician. Does anyone know approximately how much this will cost? Also to avoid paying a lot of money, can I do this by myself or is it complicated?

Answer 1

Installing a light fixture is a reasonably simple project that most people can do.

But... I know you know this... the power must be turned off first. The safest and surest way is to turn off the breaker that supplies power to the light fixture.

Sometimes... turning off the power to a light fixture can be as simple as turning off the switch... but not always. It depends on how the wiring was initially installed.

The simplest way to tell is by removing the screws that hold the fixture to the ceiling, to get a look at the wiring in the junction box.. Obviously, the glass globe or cover must be removed first.

* If there is only one cable (a cable is a group of wires bundled together by a wrapper) in the junction box, (like the example in this article) then the power must come from the switch. (Note that this means that the switch's junction box must contain at least two cables, because one goes to the light, and the other must be an incoming "hot at all times" cable.)
* If the junction box behind the light fixture has more than one cable, then one of those cables is possibly "hot at all times", in which case the only way to kill the power to the entire junction box is to turn off the circuit breaker.

I strongly recommend buying a non-contact voltage tester, which lets you check for power without removing any wire nuts. This neat little device (about $12 at Home Depot) looks like a fat pen, and beeps when the tip comes near a live wire. But... don't ever trust the tester's silence... always check that it works by first verifying the tester on an outlet that you know is working.


Cutting wires to length

The junction box is ready to go.

The wires were spread out and cut to a reasonable length. I used a sharp knife to carefully make a slit along the center of the cable jacket, then pulled the slit jacket away from the wires and lopped it off.

I left about 6 inches of wire sticking out.


I stripped about 1/2" of insulation from the end of each wire. Strip insulation


Examine parts I spread out the parts on the floor to make sure everything was there.

I almost always use my own wire nuts instead of the tiny nuts provided with the fixture.


The metal bracket was installed into the plastic junction box.

I often use a cordless drill/driver here... but use caution... too much torque can strip out the plastic.
Install bracket


Install long screws The ground wire (the bare copper wire) was installed under the green screw in the bracket. The wire must be snug.

I pushed the ground wire into the back area of the box, to keep it out of my way.

Next, the long machine screws were threaded a few turns into the holes in the bracket.


The fixture had a white and a black stranded (flexible) wire.

Most fixtures have the wires stripped already.
Examine fixture


Hold wires adjacent Making proper connections is crucial.

I held the supply wire (the top wire) beside the the fixture wire, so the ends were aligned.


Then I twisted the bare ends of the wires about three turns. The flexible, stranded wire will wrap around the stiff, solid wire.

Sometimes I strip the stranded wire an extra half-inch, so it can wrap around the solid wire several times, otherwise the stranded wire may come out of the wire nut.
Twist wires together


Twist wire nut I screwed the wire nut onto the bare wire ends. I twist the nut firmly, until the insulated portion of the wires start to twist. I always tug at each wire to see if it pulls loose.

Some electricians wrap all their wire-nutted connections with electrical tape. This extra step takes a minute or two, and probably can't hurt anything. I don't normally wrap wire-nutted connections in tape.
Light fixture connections are basic:

The white (neutral) wires connect together...

And the black (hot) wires connect together.
Light hangs from ceiling

If a fixture or device (such as an outlet) has screw terminals instead of wires, then the connection protocol is:


Green screw: Bare (ground) wire.
Silver screw: White (neutral) wire
Gold screw: Black (hot) wire.




Tuck wires away I tucked the wires into the space in the junction box. I try to keep the white wires separated from the black wires, just in case something ever goes wrong, such as a wire nut working loose. Physical separation can't hurt, might help.


I held the fixture base next to the mounting screw, to determine if the screw hung down far enough.

I hate it when I'm trying to install the fixture and the screws aren't protruding far enough to poke through the holes in the metal base. I'd rather the screws stick out too far than not enough.

Note the keyhole shape of the holes in brass base.
Compare screw to base


Push base onto screws I slid the base upwards so the screws poked through the holes.

Since this fixture had fiberglass insulation in the base, it's hard to see the screw heads while orienting the base.

It took several attempts to get the screws to come through the holes.


Once both mounting screws were through, I rotated the base slightly, and then tightened the screws. tighten screws to base


Completed light The completed light fixture after the bulb and glass globe were installed.





Tools Used:

* Cordless Drill/Driver
* Screwdrivers
* Wire Cutters
* Wire Strippers



Materials Used:

* Light Fixture
* Wire Nuts

Answer 2

Yes....and no. It depends on how familiar you are with home wiring. You can install a new light and light switch by wiring into the closest wall outlet, or if you are close enough to your breaker box, run a new circuit from the box for the light. However, if you have never done any wiring, be safe and call an electrician. It will cost you less for the electrician in the long run. This is not a project that you want to learn by. An alternative is a light fixture that attaches to the ceiling and plugs into an outlet.

Answer 3

First of all number one question is there already a existing fixture or fan there? and no you should have a electrician come and install that for you unless you are familiar with power and hooking up wires, i work for a electrical contractor I'm a manager of our office, if there is no problems it would be a min, 1 hour service call you can go bye your light fixture your self that would help out on the cost but normally it would run you depending on where you live it would cost proble 100.00 or so,if you went and bought the light fixture your self and if there is already a existing fixture there that makes a difernt too so call your local electrician

Answer 4

If you have to ask the question then you don't have enough skills to do it yourself. If you don't have an attic then holes will have to be cut in the ceiling and walls to fish the electrical from a switch to the ceiling fixture. Even with an attic, electrical will have to be fished down the wall to a switch. Either way, you have to know what you are doing. Get a good handyman or electrician. Remember, holes in walls need to be repaired and finished to match your wall. An electrician will not do that. Ergo...a handyman.

Answer 5

If you're looking for cheap and easy: what about a swag light...Plug in at the wall then the cord and a chain are hooked where the wall meets the ceiling and then hooked again in the middle of the room where a light with any kind of shade is hung.

Answer 6

You can always get a light fixture with a cord and plug it in the wall, It's not the best looking thing, But I have seen many like it. They will come with a chain and a small wire that you run thru it and will have a small on/off switch already on the cord.

Answer 7

dont call an electrician. call a home renovation guy that knows enough about electricity to put in a light. it's not hard at all. but an electrician will charge you more than a reno guy you can pay in cash

Answer 8

You'd have to climb into the attic and drill a hole in the cieling.

You'd have to connect to a circuit already present, and accessible from the attic, or run a line all the way to the breaker box.

And you'd have to make sure the hardware and installation was up to code by having it inspected.

Answer 9

unless you have good experience in the handyman world i would call an electrician its pro bally worth it rather than electricuting your self

Answer 10

Easiest way is they make a light that plugs up and has long cord so you can hang wherever.