Breaker is OFF. Removed old ceiling fan and plastic box.. Install brace bar and metal ceiling box. I have 2 black wires, 2 white wires and 2 copper gnds. coming into box on the left side. On the right side coming into box I have the same , 2 blacks, 2 whites and 2 copper gnds. The control is a wall switch. How do I make the connections for the new fan with all these wires? This circuit wanders around, kitchen overhead, bedroom recepticals and garage door opener. Thanks for all help.

I'm swapping out a handful of outdated fixtures and all the new ones have black and white wires. Coming out of the ceiling I have white and red, is it safe to assume that the black goes to red, and white to white? I don't entirely trust the people who rehabbed my place so I'm not really sure if the wiring is correct. I've been putting plack to red and so far everything seems ok. What would happen if the wires were switched? Would anything happen? Would I be able to tell if something was wrong? Would the fixture not work at all? I know it's simple, but I'm curious, don't want to wake up in the middle of the night with the place engulfed in flames. Also, in the kitchen (a fixture I haven't tackled yet), light bulbs burn out at a ridiculous rate. The fixture is just a bottom of the barrel flush mount three bulb jobber. Any ideas?