If you are looking for a great spot to mount a light fixture, you may notice an electrical box on the ceiling that would be a convenient spot to mount the light fixture. Depending on the electrical box's previous use, it may or may not be suitable for mounting a light fixture to it. Light fixtures can have some weight to them, and if the box isn't properly secured in the ceiling, the electrical box could pull right out of the ceiling when the light is mounted to it. However, it is easy to find out if a ceiling electrical box is suited for a light fixture.
Instructions
Instructions
1. Plug in a light fixture to the ceiling electrical box. Look for a wall switch in the room and see if the switch turns the light fixture on and off. If no switch controls the box, either you'll need to rewire the box to a switch or you'll have a light that's always on.
2. Turn off the power to the electrical box by turning the appropriate breaker off in the circuit breaker panel.
3. Climb into the attic and remove all the insulation away from the electrical box. The electrical box either needs to be screwed directly into a ceiling joist or needs a metal bracing that spans two ceiling joists. If it's just sitting in the drywall, a light cannot hang from it.
4. Remove the drywall around the box if you can't get into an attic or there isn't an attic space above the electrical box. Look to see if the box is screwed directly into a ceiling joist or has a metal brace that spans two ceiling joists.
Tags: light fixture, ceiling electrical, ceiling joist, , directly into