Exterior porch light stopped working. My initial assumption was the bulb blew. Replaced the bulb but it didn't work. Put another bulb from a nearby lamp that was working and it, too, didn't work. Tested the original bulb I replaced in another fixture and it worked, so I figured the fixture went bad. No biggie.
Off to Home Depot for a replacement. Get home and upon opening the box I find the glass panels are shattered. Back to Home Depot to swap out the fixture. Installation is a breeze. Black wire, white wire, ground wire. Put it all together and. . .nothing. No light. Again did the bulb testing routine to confirm it isn't the bulb. Defective fixture and another trip to Home Depot? Or something more sinister??
Keeping in mind I'm no electrical genius, what can it be?

 

Is the light controlled by a switch? Is the switch in the "on" position? Is power getting to the switch that controls the light?

 

Switch is on. I tested the hot line at the switch and it's drawing power.

 

Did you use a meter to check for voltage ?
You need to check for 120vAC between the white/neutral wire and the switched hot wire.
You may have power (hot) but no neutral.

 

If you are not getting power at the light when checked with a meter then check the downstream side of the switch when it's in the "on" position. Switches do fail.

 

Indeed. It was a bad on/off switch. Thank you.