{"id":23016,"date":"2020-09-21T14:08:56","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T14:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/?p=23016"},"modified":"2020-09-21T14:13:21","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T14:13:21","slug":"how-to-turn-a-light-fixture-into-an-outlet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/how-to-turn-a-light-fixture-into-an-outlet\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Turn a Light Fixture into an Outlet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- SEO Ultimate Plus (https:\/\/seoultimateplus.com) - Code Inserter module -->\n<script async>(function(s,u,m,o,j,v){j=u.createElement(m);v=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0];j.async=1;j.src=o;j.dataset.sumoSiteId='b68b392479b5981b8acf46565e9fe32a0734fc21a1f7c1e60121eaa6ca1a1c64';v.parentNode.insertBefore(j,v)})(window,document,'script','\/\/load.sumo.com\/');<\/script>\n<!-- \/SEO Ultimate Plus -->\n\n<p><span><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-23018 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lighting-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"362\" height=\"554\" \/>Do you need more outlets in your house? Sure, you do &#8212; everyone does! Each member of your household probably has at least one device they need to plug in and charge &#8212; a phone, a tablet, a laptop, or a handheld gaming console &#8212; and that\u2019s not even considering the TVs, DVD players, lamps, desktops, speakers, and other electronics in the average household.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Paying an electrician to add more outlets to your home can be expensive, and while the job isn\u2019t hard, it can be dangerous to do yourself. Plus, it involves pulling wiring through the walls, which can be annoying and tricky even if you do know what you\u2019re doing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>One safe and relatively easy alternative is to convert light fixtures into outlets. This strategy works especially well if you have wall sconces since they\u2019re placed ideally for outlets. Even ceiling fixtures can be replaced with outlets, however &#8212; here\u2019s how.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span>Shut Off the Power to the Circuit<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ahs.com\/home-matters\/quick-tips\/13-steps-to-fix-light-fixture-into-outlet\/\">When you set out to turn a light fixture into an outlet<\/a>, the first thing you should do is shut off the power to the circuit you plan to work on. Go to the breaker box and turn off the appropriate breaker. You should also turn off power to the fixture at the light switch. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If your breaker box isn\u2019t adequately labelled and you can\u2019t figure out which breaker operates which circuits, turn off power to the whole house. Once you open up the fixture, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.familyhandyman.com\/project\/how-to-use-cheap-electrical-testers\/\">use a voltage tester<\/a> to make sure the power is definitely off.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span>Remove the Fixture and Disconnect the Wiring<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span>With the power shut off, it\u2019s safe to climb a ladder and remove the fixture from the ceiling. You\u2019ll usually need to do this by removing the mounting screws that attach the fixture to the electrical box. You might need to take off the glass globe cover to access these screws.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Once you\u2019ve removed the mounting screws, you should be able to pull the light fixture down and expose the wiring. You\u2019ll see wire nuts connecting the wiring in the fixture to the wiring in your house. Remove these and set them aside. You should be able to untwist the connected wires. There should be three wires coming out of your drywall &#8212; a black, a white, and a green or bare ground wire.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span>Wire the Receptacle\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-23017 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lighting-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"364\" height=\"558\" \/><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span>With the wires exposed, you can wire up the new receptacle. You may need to use a pair of wire strippers to trim off the frayed wire at the end of the wires protruding from your drywall and strip off the wiring insulation to expose more fresh wire. Connect the black wire in your home to the black wire in your news outlet, the white wire to the white wire, and the green or bare ground wire to the green grounding screw on the back or bottom of the new receptacle. Connect the wires by twisting them together and securing them with the wire nuts.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span>Mount the Receptacle<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span>Use the mounting screws that come with the receptacle to attach it to the electrical box in the ceiling. Some receptacles require you to attach the faceplate to the receptacle first and then attach the whole thing to the electrical box, while others allow you to attach the receptacle to the electrical box and then put on the faceplate afterwards. The method will depend on what type of receptacle you have.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span>Patch the Drywall Around the Receptacle<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span>The biggest issue most homeowners face when replacing a light fixture with an outlet is the fact that light fixtures and receptacles are typically different shapes and sizes. Some people resolve this problem by installing a round receptacle. Others simply patch the drywall around the new receptacle after it is installed. There are drywall patching kits available for this very situation, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2nJUzEHnrWs\">the patching process is fairly straightforward<\/a>. If you need to install a drywall patch, leave your faceplate off until the patch is dry.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span>Finish Up<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span>Now that your receptacle is all wired up and the drywall is patched, you can turn the power back on and enjoy your new outlet. Congratulations &#8212; now you finally have a convenient place to charge your phone!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6>Ref number:\u00a0THSI-1939<\/h6>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you need more outlets in your house? Sure, you do &#8212; everyone does! Each member of your household probably has at least one device they need to plug in and charge &#8212; a phone, a tablet, a laptop, or<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/how-to-turn-a-light-fixture-into-an-outlet\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wl_entities_gutenberg":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"wl_entity_type":[602],"modified_by":"THS","_wl_alt_label":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wl:entity_url":"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl0502\/post\/how_to_turn_a_light_fixture_into_an_outlet","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23016"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23016"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23022,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23016\/revisions\/23022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23016"},{"taxonomy":"wl_entity_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wl_entity_type?post=23016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}