Replace a Ceiling Mount Kitchen Light With Recessed Pot Lighting
Recessed lighting, also known as pot lighting or can lighting, is used for many lighting applications. According to Cooper Lighting, recessed lighting is used for general task lighting in kitchens and family rooms. You can also find it in multiple areas of the home for accent lighting and wall washing to highlight pictures and make rooms appear larger. Having some previous electrical knowledge to replace a ceiling mount kitchen light with recessed pot lighting is a plus but not necessary to complete the task.
Instructions
1. Turn off the electricity to the lighting circuit by turning the breaker to the "Off" position inside the main service panel.
2. Remove the shade and light bulbs from the kitchen fixture. Remove the screws holding the fixture to the ceiling junction box, using the appropriate screwdriver. Disconnect the ceiling light fixture from the house wiring by untwisting the wire connectors holding the wires together.
3. Remove the original ceiling junction box by unscrewing the screws holding it to its support. If the ceiling junction box nails into the support, place a small piece of wood inside the box and strike the wood with a hammer, knocking the box from the support. Remove the wire from the original junction box and pull it through the opening in the ceiling.
4. Place the template provided with the remodel recessed pot lighting fixture over the original opening in the ceiling and trace around it. Carefully cut along the trace line with a keyhole saw, avoiding the wiring to remove the drywall from the ceiling.
5. Open the junction box attached to the recessed pot light fixture by pressing the tab with your thumb and pulling the cover from the box. Pull the original wiring through a knockout in the junction box.
6. Twist an orange wire connector onto the black wire from the original wiring to the black wire from the recessed pot light fixture, connecting them together. Repeat this connection for the white wire from the original wiring and the white wire from recessed pot light fixture. Finish the wiring of the fixture by connecting the green wire from the recessed pot light fixture to the bare copper wire from the original wiring with another wire connector.
7. Thread a remodel recessed pot light fixture through the opening you created until the lip of the fixture sits against the ceiling. Hold the pot light with one hand and with the other, place a slotted screwdriver into the slot on the black clip inside the fixture. Push up on the screwdriver until the clip clicks into place, clamping it to the ceiling. Repeat this for the remaining clips inside the pot light.
8. Install the recessed housing trim and light bulb. Turn on the electricity to the lighting circuit by turning the breaker to the "On" position inside the main service panel.
Tags: wire from, light fixture, recessed light, recessed light fixture, from original, original wiring