How To Install A Light Fixture Bracket
Fine Homebuilding Project Guides
Wiring
How-To
Mounting Light Fixtures
The most important thing is to attach the box to a surface sturdy enough to support the weight of the fixture, and there's oftentimes more than one way to practise that.
At that place are many mounting options for light fixture boxes. The main choice is whether you nail or screw the box directly to a stud or ceiling joist or utilise an extendable mounting bar to which the box is attached. Either method works fine, but a box that slides forth a mounting bar means you can more than easily position the light fixture just where you want information technology. If you have access to the framing from above, or if there is no drywall on the ceiling yet, you could besides add some solid woods blocking between the joists to fasten a bones light box too.
Ceiling Fixture Elements
In this basic setup, the ceiling box mounts to an adjustable bar, which is screwed to ceiling joists. The bracket is attached to the box and the fixture is screwed to the mounting bracket. All metal boxes and brackets must be grounded to be condom. Many electricians employ grounding screws in both the box and the bracket, but one ground is sufficient. The metallic mounting screws provide grounding continuity to box and bracket.
If the fixture has a basis wire, it must be attached to either the ground wire in the box or to the grounding spiral on the mounting subclass. Information technology'south best to leave the ground wire in the box long plenty to adhere to the basis screw in the box, and extend out the box for attaching to the fixture ground wire.
Mounting fixtures to boxes
If mounting screws on all calorie-free fixtures were exactly the same diameter and spacing as the screw holes on all boxes, life would exist uncomplicated and you'd screw the fixture directly to the box. Merely at that place are many different box sizes and configurations, and light fixtures vary considerably. Consequently, there are many mounting brackets to reconcile these differences.
Always examine existing outlet boxes before ownership new fixtures and make sure that fixture hardware can be mounted. Otherwise, a routine installation could turn into a long, drawn-out affair with a lot of trips to the hardware store.
Safety Alarm:Most bar and box assemblies are rated for 50 lb.; if your lite fixture weighs more than that, install a fan box instead.
Here's an overview of how diverse fixtures mountain to outlet boxes. All metallic brackets, boxes, and lamp fixtures must be grounded to be safe. There are special grounding screws (10-32 machine screws, colored light-green) that ensure a positive connection to metallic boxes or plates when installed in a threaded hole. Do not employ a wood spiral or the like to adhere the ground wire to the box; information technology doesn't provide a practiced enough connection.
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Play it safe!
Electric codes require that all fixtures and devices—everything that gets installed—must exist "listed" and must be recognized past the say-so having jurisdiction (AHJ), usually the local inspector checking your installation. Typically, light fixtures will take an Underwriters Laboratories (UL) listing or an NRTL list. If an inspector doesn't come across a UL or NRTL sticker, he or she could ask you to remove the fixture.
Pay attention to a fixture's wattage rating, usually specified on a sticker on the fixture's base. Substituting a seedling with a higher wattage can overheat and damage the fixture and, in some cases, ignite nearby combustible surfaces.
Flat-mounting brackets
Typically, a mounting bracket is screwed to a fixture box, and the fixture is attached to the bracket, either by motorcar screws or, as is more common for chandeliers, past a threaded postal service that screws into a threaded hole in the center of the mounting subclass. Brackets can exist as simple as a flat bar with screw slots, but some adapt past sliding, whereas others are offset slightly to provide a little more room for electric connections—and fingers. Ring brackets tin be rotated so the slots line upwardly perfectly with outlet-box and fixture spiral holes.
No brackets
Some fixtures don't require a mounting bracket. The fixture has its own junction box; once inserted into a hole cut in the ceiling, the fixture is supported by the ceiling. Integral clips and trim pieces pull the fixture tightly to the plaster or drywall ceiling. Recessed cans tin exist IC-rated (they may be covered with insulation) or may be not-IC-rated (cannot be covered with insulation).
Excerpted from Wiring Complete, 3rd Edition (The Taunton Press, 2022) past Michael Litchfield and Michael McAlister
Available in the Taunton Shop and at Amazon.com.
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Source: https://www.finehomebuilding.com/project-guides/wiring/mounting-light-fixtures
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