Outdoor light fixtures have to be waterproof.
It's as important to have light outside the house as inside. It gives you the security of seeing what's happening when you hear a strange noise, and the safety of being able to find your way around when you come home late at night. It also provides atmosphere and a highlight for your garden or fountain. It isn't much more difficult to install a light outdoors than it is to install one indoors, but all the electrical connections must be waterproofed. If you have to run wires, they must be buried underground.
Instructions
1. Install a switch box on an interior wall for your outside lights. While it can be anywhere, it's best to place it near a door or window so you can see the lights go on when you turn it on to verify that they are working. Outline the back of a remodeling electrical box on the wall at the same height as the other switches in your house with a pencil, then cut around the outline with a drywall saw. Place the box in the hole, then turn the screws with a Phillips screwdriver to hook the anchors behind the box to the drywall. Tighten the screws to hold the box securely.
2. Install an electrical box. If it is going to be on the side of the house, mark the outline of the box on the siding, drill a 1/2-inch hole and cut out the outline with a jigsaw so you can install a recessed box. You can also install a waterproof surface mount box on the side of the house. If you choose this method, drill a 1/2-inch hole in the side of the house for the cable and screw the box to the siding so it is centered on the hole.
3. Drill a hole on the siding near the ground if you plan to mount the light a distance away from the house. Install a 90-degree access fitting by unscrewing the cover of the fitting, inserting it in the hole and screwing it to the siding. Install a waterproof surface mount electrical box on a secure surface at the location of the light.
4. Draw the power for the light circuit from a nearby electrical outlet. Turn off the power to the outlet, then remover the cover with a screwdriver and unscrew the outlet from the electrical box. Run a length of type NM cable, rated for interior use, between the outlet and the switch.
5. Strip sheathing from the wire with a utility knife, then strip the ends of the black and white wires with a wire stripper. Loosen the two bottom terminals on the outlet and wind the black wire around the brass one, the whiter wire around the silver one, and the bare wire around the green one. Tighten the nuts, screw the outlet back to the box and replace the cover.
6. Run a length of electrical cable from the switch to the light fixture. Use type NM cable if the electrical box is installed on the side of the house. Pull the wire through the back of the electrical box, giving yourself about 8 inches of slack to make connections.
7. Install type UF cable, rated for use outdoors, if the box is mounted a distance from the house. Pull the wire out of the wall through the access fitting, then feed it back into the 90-degree leg of the fitting and down into an 18-inch trench that goes to the fixture mount. Backfill the trench and run the cable up to the fixture, stapling it in place with wire staples.
8. Unscrew and remove one of the plugs on the bottom of the box and screw a watertight clamp into the hole with slip-lock pliers. Feed the cable through the clamp, giving yourself about 8 inches of slack. Tighten the clamp screw with a screwdriver.
9. Strip the wires at the switch box, then connect the black wire coming from the outlet to the top switch terminal, and the one going to the light to the bottom terminal. Twist the white wires together and screw on a wire cap. Twist the bare wires together, leaving the end of one longer than the other. Wind the long wire around the green ground screw and tighten it. Screw the switch to the box and screw on the cover.
10. Strip the wires in the light fixture box. Fit the rubber gasket that came with the exterior light fixture around the electrical box, then twist the black wire from the light together with the black wire from the switch and screw on a wire cap. Do the same with the white wires and the bare wires, but you can leave the bare wires uncapped. Mount the fixture to the box, using the adapter plate that came with the fixture, if there is one.
11. Turn on the power to the circuit and test the light.
Tags: black wire, , wire around, bare wires, light fixture, type cable