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One of the easiest and most economical ways to give a room in your home a new look is by installing a new ceiling light fixture. Lighting affects not only how well you are able to see your way around a room but also the way the room appears. Different types of lighting and light fixtures offer a different “feel” to the spaces upon which they shed light.
Surface-mounted light fixtures are mounted directly to a housing box, either flush with the ceiling or suspended from the box by a cord or chain. Most new fixtures come with their own mounting hardware and adapt easily to any standard fixture box.
Fixtures come in different weights and sizes, and these features determine the mounting method. Lightweight, small ceiling fixtures can generally be screwed directly into the fixture box’s mounting ears. However, heavier fixtures may need to be fastened to the box with a mounting bar, hickey, or stud. Fixtures weighing more than 50 pounds will need to be secured to a joist or beam as well as to the mounting box.
Grounding metal fixtures All incandescent and fluorescent fixtures with exposed metal parts must be grounded: • Metal boxes with the nipple or screws holding the fixture to the box will ground the fixture. • Boxes at the end of a circuit must have the grounding wire of the cable attached directly to the box’s grounding screw or clip. • If more than one cable enters the box, you will need to make a grounding jumper (pigtail).
Nonmetallic fixture boxes A nonmetallic box does not need grounding, but you must ground the fixture: • Purchase a box with a metal grounding bar. • If the fixture is at the end of a circuit, attach the cable grounding wire to the bar. • If the fixture is in the middle of a circuit, make a grounding jumper (pigtail) to join the cable grounding wire to the bar.
Fixtures hanging from a chain or cord also need a grounding wire from the lightbulb socket to the box. Most new fixtures are pre-wired with a grounding wire.
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