How to Replace Ceiling Light Fixtures

It doesn't take an expert electrician to replace a ceiling light fixture. Even a novice home owner can learn how to replace a light fixture safely. Whether you want to change a chandelier or a simple single-bulb light, it only takes a few easy steps and less than ten minutes!

No matter how a fixture is suspended from the ceiling, the wiring is simple. Other wires may pass through the box, but you only have to deal with three wires: a colored (usually black) wire, a white wire, and a green ground wire. These three wires are joined together with twist-on wire connectors.

1. Turn off the power.

   Be safe: Use a circuit tester or turn off the power to the whole house to be certain that all the wires in the box are dead.

   You may find several pairs of wires in the ceiling box. Some of these wires may be wired to different circuits than the fixture you are working on.

2. Remove the light-bulb cover and bulbs from the fixture.

3. Unscrew the screws or nuts holding the fixture base to the ceiling box.

4. Lower the fixture base and then use a circuit tester to make sure that all wires in the box are dead.

   The circuit tester should read 0.

   If you are unsure, it’s better to be safe. You can turn off the power to the whole house to be certain that all the wires in the box are dead.

5. Remove the electrical tape or wire nuts from the black (hot) wire, white (neutral) wire, and, if present, green (ground) wire.

   Once the wires are disconnected, the old fixture is completely separate and can be entirely removed.

   The colored or black wire is hot or live, meaning it carries the power.

6. Attach the wires from the new fixture with wire nuts to the corresponding wires in the electrical box.

   The wires in the new fixture will be color-coded to match the existing wires in the electrical box, following the colors listed in step 5.

7. Raise and position the new base plate so that you can screw the new bolts through it to attach to the mounting strap.

8. Screw in new light bulbs, install the cover (if present), and turn on the power.