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After finding the light fixture of her dreams, Brigitte faces the not-so-daunting task of replacing her old, minimalist light bulb on a cord with her new treasure.
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DON’T forget to turn the breaker off before working with electricity. Now say this: “I am Elmer the Safety Elephant.”
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DO repeat this mantra to yourself whenever you attempt to work with electricity. Now put it together: “I am Elmer the Safety Elephant. I never forget to TURN OFF THE BREAKER!”
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DON’T hurt yourself! If you are unsure about what to do, DO hire a licensed electrician.
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Light-Hearted
Here’s how Brigitte lights up a room (and not just with her mega-watt smile and wicked sense of humour):
- Turn off the breaker before working with electricity. (Remember your mantra?)
- Disconnect the wires attaching your old light fixture to the ceiling.
- Using a wire cutter, snip off the “used” ends of the wires. Strip off the wire by squeezing the cutter and pulling downward on the plastic sheathing. You want to expose about 1/2” of wire. (This might be difficult if you have old wires – they may be short.)
- Brigitte’s light fixture has a plate that goes against the ceiling. Push the plate up so that the big screw comes through the middle. Mark the spots where your will need to drill holes.
- Fill those holes with your old friends, the self-drilling anchors. Then, fill those anchors with the screws for the plate. The plate should be very secure against the ceiling.
- The wires are usually colour-coded. Match the white wire from the ceiling to white wire on the light fixture, the black wire to the black wire, and finally the ground wire (usually bare copper or sometimes green) to its corresponding colour. (positive to positive, negative to negative, ground to ground.). Twist the exposed wires together (If the wire on the light fixture isn’t stripped of its casing, you’ll have to strip it with the wire cutter.) Twist a wire nut (marret) onto the joined wires and tape around this cap with electrical tape. Do the same thing for the matching black wires. Here’s a tip with wire nuts – they need to be screwed over the exposed wires in a clockwise direction – this allows them to “thread” into place.
- Tuck the wires into the ceiling and screw your light fixture in place. You may need an extra set of hands to help you if your light fixture is especially heavy. (Brigitte used Anthony the handyman to help her. We cannot guarantee that he will help you, too!)
- Once the fixture is in place, put in your bulbs and shades/covers.
- You may now switch the breaker back on and light up your life.
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