How To Install Ceiling Light Without Attic Access

Maybe y'all've idea almost illuminating your room with ambient lighting or adding emphasis lighting for artwork you lot have on display. Ceiling recessed lighting would be the perfect solution, but you lot have one major problem keeping you from installing them. No cranium. When rooms are on the first floor of a home or in that location isn't attic access you'll have to think of some other style to put in your recessed lighting. Luckily, there are steps that you tin follow for proper installation even if you don't have cranium access.

Showtime, it's extremely important that you lot contact a professional person before you fifty-fifty begin. Dealing with annihilation electrical is unsafe if yous're inexperienced. Earlier you begin, create a blueprint. Then, become all the necessary materials. Buying recessed lighting may exist a little confusing merely luckily there are tips yous can take reward of. Go on in mind, this project is no easy task; it will crave a lot of time and labor to complete. However, if you cull to install recessed lighting on your ain, it will save you a ton of coin and yous'll finally have the await you've wanted for your space.

Materials Needed

Y'all will need a lot of materials for the projection so be sure you take them all before starting the labor. It would exist a shame to have to stop in the middle because yous forgot to pick upwards wire cutters!

• Housing & Trims: Recessed lighting has two parts – trim. The trim is the exposed role of the fixture and comes in various finishes, sizes, and shapes. Housing is the lamp holder. It is subconscious because the housing is installed into the ceiling. You'll want remodel housings considering they are for houses with existing ceilings. If yous desire to cast a spotlight, then get a reflector trim since it produces a narrow beam ideal for making a focal point.

• Go on a pencil handy for marking the ceiling and a hand del-drywall saw to cut through it.

• Become a stud finder to locate whatsoever joists, which supports the construction, that will obstruct the placement of the lights. Add wire strippers, wire cutters, 100ft long wire connectors, drill and wood boring drill fleck, tape measure, and screwdriver. It'south easy to overlook whatever of these items. That is why you lot demand to make sure yous accept all the supplies start.

• If yous want to crusade minimal damage to your drywall, yous'll need a drywall panel, spackling chemical compound, and drywall screws to comprehend those holes and supervene upon those missing drywall pieces. Information technology's best to use gloves and condom glasses for protection.

• Lastly, have a ladder at the ready but be careful while using information technology.

Note, it's important to have the correct recessed lighting for your project in order to have adequate lighting and prevent overheating that could cause a burn. Then be sure to consult with a professional when purchasing your lights.

How to Buy Recessed Lights

At that place are many types of recessed lights, from shapes to sizes, that you lot can choose from. For ambience lighting, 5-inch bore fixtures are ideal. Get with 4-inch diameter depression-voltage fixtures if you lot're looking for accent lighting. Housings must be compatible with the trim styles and lamps so wait at the labels in the housing packages for a listing of compatible parts. Buy standard housing for open framing, which includes mounting brackets. Recall, you need remodeling housings because you don't have attic access. Housing that will be covered with insulation need insulation contact (IC) rated housing every bit a safety precaution against combustible material.

For non-IC housing, you will demand to leave a minimum of a ½ inch from the combustible textile. Thermal insulation requires a minimum of 3-inches of space from the housing. You can choose airtight housings for energy efficiency. Low-voltage housings utilize standard 115-volt wiring, but they have congenital-in transformers assuasive them to convert for use on a 12-volt MR-16 lamps. Low-voltage recessed lights are useful because by changing lamps and trim styles you can command the accent lighting.

You can use element of group vii calorie-free bulbs, but they produce a lot of oestrus and consume a lot of energy. Dimmable sixty-watt CFLs are a suitable alternative. They aren't equally practiced as incandescent and element of group vii bulbs because CFLs have lower quality dimmers. Simply if you're willing to overlook that considering CFLs are more practical, become a CFL dimmer.

Y'all can go to habitation centers for fairly priced housings and trim. If yous have a need for a harder-to-find light, such as a 4-inch low-voltage fixture, and then you tin special club them. If you're looking for a wider selection of fixtures, then lighting showrooms are go-to. They can give you tips and ideas about lighting pattern as well. You can bank check out our in-depth guide on ownership recessed lighting for more tips.

How to Install Recessed Lighting

And then, y'all want to install recessed lighting merely y'all don't want to destroy your ceiling in the process. Or you'll wind up paying the very expensive toll of repairing the harm and hiring professionals to do the recessed lighting installation. Knowing a fiddling virtually wiring and installing electrical boxes is a must so educate yourself beforehand.

1. Sketch an authentic lighting plan

To make sure you become the installation right the first time around, draw up a lighting plan. Utilize graph paper and measure out the room to scale, with ¼ inches equaling 1ft in your sketch. Include your furniture arrangement and any features you lot desire to emphasis, such as artwork or accolades. Your sketch volition show you the number lights you lot will need and the spacing of them. Yous should keep the lights 4ft apart from each other. Know your lighting purpose – is it for art, chore lighting, ambience? If yous're unsure whether your cartoon is a expert reference to utilize for your project, then take information technology to a lighting showroom. A lighting pattern adept tin help you with your plan. They can prove you which fixtures and parts to cull and where it'south best to install them. If you'd similar to save money then go to a domicile center. However, the selection is not every bit broad as a showroom.

2. Locate a circuit

Yous tin use an existing power source, only if that is not an option and so utilise a switch controlled ability outlet. Notice a junction box that has a "hot" or black wire. Exercise not connect to any "dedicated" circuits, or circuits that are already plugged into an appliance. Otherwise, the circuit may overload. Shut off the circuit in the main panel or unscrew the fuse.  For boxes that have more than one circuit you volition need to use a non-contact voltage tester so you know that the circuit is off. Then do a walk-thru, turning on all the switches throughout your house and so you tin can see what'southward already connected to the circuit. Insert excursion tester plug into the electrical outlet you turned off. For safety, move to another circuit if whatever is connected to it turns on.

Add up the wattage for what doesn't plough on. Side by side, add to this full the wattage of lights you're installing. Don't connect more than 1,440 watts for a 15-amp circuit and ane,920 for 20-amp circuit. Connect to another circuit if your watts are more your circuit can handle. Or you can replace the box with one that has congenital-in cable clamps and can handle the wattage. If y'all have aluminum wiring, which is gray in color, telephone call a professional who volition help you safely install the box. Junction boxes should exist listed for "through branch excursion wiring" so you can run 1 cable in and 1 out from fixture to fixture.

Tip: How to Calculate Box Sizes

The National Electrical Code requires a minimum box size. To calculate the size, add 1 junction box for each hot and neutral wire inbound the box, one junction box for all the ground wires combined, ane for all the clamps combined, and two boxes for each device, such as a switch or receptacle merely not light fixtures, installed in the box. Multiply this number by 2 if it is a 14-approximate wire and 2.25 for 12-approximate wire for the minimum box volume in cubic inches. Calculations aren't necessary for plastic boxes because their volume is labeled inside the box.

3. Cutting slot in ceiling and fish cable

Cutting a hole in your wall will help you install the housing and wiring if you lot don't have access to an attic. If you tin can't get to the joist spaces, then y'all volition demand to remove most 12 to 16 inches of drywall from your ceiling with a hand-held drywall saw. Your joists should be in your lighting design plan. Use a stud finder to locate your joists, which supports the structure.  The piece yous remove should exist 6 inches from the wall and be big enough to include all the joist spaces that volition have fixtures and power sources. You volition need to make a path to run the cables and then drill through the meridian wall plate of the joists for running the cables. Drill a pocket-sized hole into the joist to see if it is at least vii inches deep to concur the housing.

Measure and mark the ceiling with a pencil where you want to the install lights, making sure at that place are no joists or other obstructions. The marker should be at the center of each recessed light. The recessed light packaging might come with a paper template for tracing circles to correspond the light's diameter. Otherwise, but trace around the housing. Then use the drywall saw to cutting out the circles. Note, that it'south best to contact your local health section to notice out whether you may be exposed to asbestos. Some insulating materials, sprays, and plaster and joint compounds may contain it if you take an older house.

4. Tips for selecting and installing your cable

The cable you select depends on the circuit rating. You need a xiv gauge for a 15-amp, or current, and a 12 gauge for twenty-amp. Keep your cable 15 pct longer than needed, with about 2ft of actress cable hanging from each opening you've created. If you lot tin can, staple the cable to the joists. All drilled holes should take no more than one or two cables running through it. Make sure you drill the holes 2 inches from the acme and lesser of the joists. Strip 12 inches of capsule with your cable cutter then slide it into the electric box. The sheathing should extend ¼ more from clamp.

5. Wiring and installing lights

For a switch-controlled power outlet, run wires from the outlet up to the ceiling from inside the wall. Pull the cables through the recessed lighting holes, with fish record if necessary, leaving about 6 inches hanging from the holes. Also have 6 inches hang from the outlet. Connect the red wire from the switch to the black wire you are running to the ceiling. If necessary, cut a piece of the drywall where the ceiling and wall meet to run the wire from the wall to the ceiling. Grab a fixture and remove its junction box encompass. Use your wire cutter to cut 3 inches from the outer insulation jacket of each finish of the electrical cable and then the internal insulated wires and copper grounding or light-green insulated grounding wire are exposed. Be careful not to damage the copper wire. Then insert the electric cable through the hole on the light fixture's electrical box.

To attach the wires to the box, just connect the white wire to the other white wire, black to black, or green to green past twisting the wires together. You lot tin screw on a wire nut, or splice, to secure the connection if yous want. For an electrical outlet, wrap the black wire counterclockwise around the contumely-colored terminal screw. Then use your screwdriver to tighten the screw. Twist the 2 blank copper grounding wires with the metal stop of the green insulated pigtail wire and place the light-green splice on information technology. Spiral the pigtail into the junction box. Do this for all lite switch wires because it will basis them. Be sure to not cross wires while you are attaching them to the light switch.

Place the junction box and housing into the ceiling hole and push in the calorie-free fixture until it's flushed with the ceiling. There are 4 tabs within the fixture that you printing against the fixture to lock it in place. Insert the light bulbs, plough the power on and scout your lights illuminate the room! In one case you're done installing the recessed lighting, use the ceiling pieces you saved and patch the wall and ceiling with spackling compound and drywall screws. If your ceiling has a knockdown feature, or a textured ceiling to hide blemishes, so employ a knockdown texture spray if you'd like.

Note: you lot must get an electrical allow and have the local building department inspect the lighting subsequently you've installed information technology all.

Difficulty, Fourth dimension, and Cost

Installing lights is a very technical procedure that requires basic electrical cognition and heavy labor. Unless yous are familiar with electric components, it is best to contact an electrician for safety. Recessed lighting fixtures have a wide range of prices. They typically toll about $17 each and trims will run about $20 each. Habitation centers may sell housings and trim inside that price range up to nearly $40 only are limited in pick. If you decide to hire a professional, then installing 12 lights could cost you shut to $one,000 for just the labor! The professional volition accept almost 2-3 hours, depending on the room and number of lights, merely the cost is pretty high. The entire fixture itself has a wide price range. Some fixtures volition cost $50 and below to $100 for each fixture. If you lot choose to install LED lights, then that number increases past a fleck. They run for $150 each merely will last for years. So, if you're comfortable with the process, it's best to just take on the projection yourself.

Installing recessed lighting in your room can brighten a poorly lit space, add style, and create your desired atmosphere. Make sure you draw up a program and gather all the materials that you volition need earlier you begin your project. Call up, it is important to know how to buy recessed lights and to not stray from specs or y'all take chances improper lighting and dangerous overheating. Exist conscientious during the installation process. This DIY project is cost effective but but do information technology if you are confident about the process and willing to put in the work.

Sources

https://world wide web.remodelaholic.com/install-recessed-lights-without-attic-access/

Installing recessed lighting when there isn't admission to an attic is a common problem. You'll need remodeling recessed lights, a pencil, a mitt-held drywall saw, wire strippers, wire cutters, and a apartment screwdriver. The project requires electrical experience, then hire an electrician if necessary. Mark the ceiling where you programme to install the lights. Joists may obstruct yous from making whatsoever holes in the ceiling so use a stud finder to locate them. Once you make a small-scale hole in the ceiling, bank check for obstructions within with a bent glaze hanger. Trace a circumvolve using the paper template from the recessed lighting package where the lights will be installed, then cut around it with the drywall saw. Remove the junction box from the fixture. Pull the wires from the hole in the ceiling and feed them into the junction box and connect them. Strip about ¾ of an inch from the end of the insulated wires using the wire strippers without dissentious the copper wire inside. Connect the aforementioned colored wires to each other. Identify the junction box and the arm of the low-cal fixture into the ceiling hole, making sure it'southward flushed with the ceiling. The four tabs within of the opening of the fixture must be pressed flushed confronting it and locked into place. Next, insert the light bulbs and plow the power back on. Your light should now work once turned on. A professional can complete the install in near ii-3 hours. 6 remodeling fixtures will run y'all well-nigh $50. A skilful quality, long-lasting LED light seedling will cost y'all well-nigh $150.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/install-recessed-lighting-admission-attic-29524.html

Finished rooms crave remodeling electric boxes or former-piece of work boxes to install electrical outlets, light switches, and lights. Without an attic, recessed lights must be installed from below the ceiling instead of the top. Remodeling recessed light housing is the required model for the project. Its wires are held inside an electrical box that is connected to a metal light can. When the can is installed into the ceiling, clamps on the side expand, securing the fixture. Recessed lights may be used for ambience. To install recessed lights, locate the main circuit breaker and turn the power off for the room where you're installing the lights. Put a circuit tester plug into an electric outlet to ensure the excursion for the room is off. No light should turn on. Place the light upward to the installation location and trace around the housing or housing template with a pencil. Drill a ¼ hole in the center of it. And then use a key hole saw to kickoff cutting from the hole and around the traced circle. Remove the confront plate of a nearby electric outlet or junction box for the light switch and lite. Split the electrical outlet and the electrical box by removing the screws to expose the wires. If you take a junction box, and then pull wires from it instead. The low-cal switch should exist installed halfway between the recessed calorie-free and electrical outlet. Make a marking on the wall 52 inches in a higher place the flooring and center the electrical box for the switch around it. Trace the box and drill a pigsty in the middle of information technology. Cut it out with the key hole saw. Then pull the electrical cable out from the recessed lighting hole to the light switch hole. Pull half-dozen inches of the cable from the wall using fish tape and cut with wire cutters. Cut cable from the ceiling hole and so that it's six inches long.  Run the electric cable into the hole on the remodeling electrical box and put the box into the light switch up. Press it until the clamps click to secure the box. Put the cablevision through the cable clench on the housing. Use a utility knife to cutting 3 inches from the outer insulation jack of each cablevision terminate. This volition expose the wires and grounding wire that will be either bare copper or dark-green. Twist the 2 bare copper grounding wires around the metal stop of the green insulated pigtail wire. Put the green splice on it and screw the pigtail into the junction box to stop installation.

http://diy-recessed-lights.fidke.com/

Recessed lighting are a modern and stylish way to light a room. Yous tin can purchase $17 lights and $20 trims. Withal, labor can price you $720 to install 12 lights. You'll demand retrofit recessed lighting housing fabricated of 3 inch halogen. Exist sure it'south non construction housings. If you use halogens bulbs, note that they use a lot of heat and energy. You can use dimmable CFLs (60W) bulbs but they dim less than incandescent or element of group vii. Your recessed lighting trim model should be a reflector for focused light beam similar to a spotlight. You'll need 100ft of wires, which are thick and firm, and wire connectors to adhere them together.  Accept the post-obit materials at the read: wire cutter or stripper, pliers, utility knife, record measure, ruler, drywall saw, stud finder, a drywall console, spackling compound and drywall screws to repair holes, a ¾ drll and wood ho-hum drill scrap for drilling through ceiling joists, ladder, gloves, and safety glasses. A knockdown texture spray is optional. The first step is installation planning. Notice the joists in the surface area where you're installing your lights and wiring. Calculate the number of lights and its spacing by dividing the ceiling peak by 2- "ceiling height rule of pollex." Create a sketch for a visual. Give 4ft of space between each light. Determine how you programme to run the wiring to the lights. A switch controlled power outlet tin be used if no existing power source is available. Measure 4ft along the edge of the ceiling. From there, describe a 4ft line towards the eye of the ceiling to the installation location. When measurements are not exact, avoid uneven spacing by starting from the corners of the ceiling, instead. To utilize an existing ability for powering the lights, remove the existing lighting. If you're using a switch controlled power outlet you'll need to run the wires through the wall to the ceiling. Connect the red wire, the power from the switch, to the black wire, which runs to the ceiling. Cut a hole into the drywall where the wall meets the ceiling to pull wire inside the wall to the ceiling. A hole must be cut beside each joist so that y'all tin reach information technology with the drill. Proceed track of drywall pieces so you tin can patch the wall later on. When drilling, be sure yous're follow edifice codes. Once you accept done the wiring, follow the manufacturer's instructions for connecting to the lights. Cover the holes past patching them with the saved drywall pieces.

Source: https://www.lampsexpo.com/blogs/diy-and-how-to-guides/recessed-lighting-without-attic-access

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