I currently have a wall mounted light fixture in the middle of a 16 foot long hall that will take one 60 watt chandelier bulb. It has a switch at each end of the hall. I would like to remove the current lighting fixture and either put in two ceiling lights or 3 wall sconces. I have changed out light fixtures before but one for one. How do I go about adding more than one fixture on the same switch and do it correctly? The current lighting is a little better than a night light but not by much. Any advice would be great.

 

Well the first thing you have to do is find out where you want to put the lights at on the wall and tap off the same light in the ceiling . There should onlt be two wires there a Black and White wire there you will tap off of that wire and feed the wires to your new lights on the wall

 

Go to the nearest library or home improvement store and get a book on home wiring. It's a good investment in time and money and you have diagrams and pictures to refer to.

 

Rule #1: Don't touch the switches!

If there is an accessible attic above this hallway, the job could be pretty simple. Drill a hole in the top plate from the attic above the existing light and above each place where you want a new light. Run a 14/2 cable down to the existing light and connect it to the first new light. Continue from the first new light to the second new light, etc.

At the existing light, connect the black and white wires of the new cable to whatever wires the existing light is connected to. Don't even try to figure out how it is wired now. There are many possibilities, but you don't care. Just blindly connect the black and white wires of the new cable to whatever wires the existing light is connected to.

There are some techniques and hints that are best described by home wiring books, available at your library or home improvement center.

Good luck.

 

My house is about 40 years old. We had the electrical service updated from the pole along with a new box. I was told that was what I needed to do to stop the breaker from tripping when using the table saw or the blow dryer. Why does the breakers still trip when I use the table saw, or the blow dryer? Do the circiuts need to be split and how and who does that? I don't think this is a do it yourself job but I want to know how to go about getting this problem taken care of. Thanks. You answered my other question so clearly, I thought you might be able to help me out with this one also.

 

Breakers trip for two reasons: (1) a short circuit, or (2) an overload. You appear to have reason (2), and the solution is a new circuit or two. This is not a job for an electrical novice, but it's done by more experienced DIYers every day. Once you read the books on home wiring for your other project, you'll also know how to do this project. If you do not want to devote the time to learn this skill, then you can call an electrician who can easily take care of both of your projects on the same visit.

 

Ok, I went up in the attic. There are no wires going from the attic down to the light fixture in the hall. The light fixture is in like a knock out in the center of the hall on the wall.

 

It doesn't matter that there is no existing cable in the attic going down to the light -- that's why you need to add one. My earlier instructions still apply. You'll need to do a bit of measuring to make sure you drill the hole through the top plate into the right stud cavity. Then you can use a trick that you'll read about in a home wiring book in which you drop a chain through the hole and fish that chain into the lighting fixture with a coathanger. Use the chain to pull the new cable through. There are a number of other possible ways to do this too.

I suggest that you just leave the existing light fixture there. It will be easier than trying to remove it.

If you add ceiling lights, you can complete the rest of the wiring in the attic alone. If you add wall sconces, you'll need to cut holes in the wall for "old work" boxes and run new cable into those similar to how you ran the cable to the existing light box (but a lot easier).

Read the books before you start.