How to Select And Install a Pendant Light
Selecting the right lighting for your home can sometimes be a difficult task. The type, color, and size of the light are all crucial considerations before buying your light. Pendant lights are perhaps one of the most important lights you can incorporate in your home. Pendants not only add stylish decor, but they are also practical in illuminating the dark spaces of your home. These lights are helpful, because you can place them in virtually any room of the house. Before picking a pendant light, it is important to know a little more about them, and understand more about the installation process.
First, you must decide the room your pendant light will go in. You must also decide whether or not an inverted pendant or a downlight pendant best suites your room. Inverted pendants have lamps that face the ceiling, thus creating better ambient lighting. These are great fixtures for subtle lighting; however, if your space requires more direct illumination, a downlight pendant may be better. As the name implies, the downlight pendant directs the light downward, creating more direct illumination. Downlights are great for kitchen islands, desks, or work spaces.
If you have a small area that requires illumination, the mini pendant may be a better option for your home. If you have a cozy reading nook, or book shelf that needs some extra light, the mini pendant is a nice alternate. These lights are great in the small nooks-and-crannies of your home that never seem to get enough light. Clustering these mini pendants together is an attractive and effective way to get more light when one pendant just isn't enough.
After you have selected the type and location of your pendant, you must learn how to install your new pendant.
Tip: Make sure to determine the correct length of your pendant light before beginning installation.
Step 1: Turn off the power.
The most important thing to remember while installing your pendant light is safety. Make sure to turn off the power in the home's main circuit box. Use a circuit tester to ensure the power is off before beginning the installation.
Step 2: Remove the old fixture.
Loosen the screws holding the fixture in place, and carefully remove the fixture from the mounting brackets. Once, the fixture is off the mounting brackets, remove the mounting brackets as well.
Step 3: Install the new mounting bracket.
Attach the new mounting bracket to the junction box. New mounting brackets will often times have open bolts at the bottom that must be capped with cap nuts.
Step 4: Attach the wires
Carefully read the manufacturer's instructions, in order to attach the wires on your new fixture. Generally, black to black and white to white is a good guideline to follow.
Step 5: Secure wire connections
Use wire nuts to secure connections. On the mounting bracket, attach the bare ground wire to the green ground screw. This wire may also be a black wire with a white stripe. Place the pendant over the bolts of the bracket, and begin attaching the mounting caps.
Step 6: Enjoy your new light.