How to Install Commercial Electric Recessed Lighting

Recessed lighting is used for task lighting, wall washing and accent lighting. Determine your lighting needs before installing Commercial Electric recessed lighting in your ceiling. Proper placement of a recessed light housing will determine the lighting effect.

1. Turn off the electrical light circuit by turning off the breaker inside the main electrical panel.

2. Test the electrical wires to verify the power is disconnected. At the ceiling junction box, use a two prong electrical tester and touch one prong to the black wire and the other to any metal on the ceiling junction box. If there is no power traveling through the circuit, the tester will not light up.

3. Remove the screws holding the existing ceiling junction box to the ceiling joists. If the box is nailed to a joist, place a piece of wood inside the junction box and hit the wood with a hammer to knock it off the joist.

4. Pull the electrical wire from the original junction box and pull it through the opening in the ceiling. Center the template provided with the Commercial Electric recessed remodel housing over the existing hole in the ceiling and trace around it. Cut along the trace line using a drywall saw, taking care not to damage the electrical wire.

5. Remove the cover from the junction box attached to the Commercial Electric recessed light housing. Press the tab with your thumb that holds the cover onto the junction box and lift the cover off.

6. Pull the electrical wire into the junction box through a knockout at the back of the box. Connect the black wire from the recessed housing junction box to the black wire from the ceiling using an orange wire connector. Connect the white wire from the junction box with the white wire from the ceiling by twisting an orange wire connector onto them. Connect the bare copper wire from the ceiling to the green wire from the junction box using an orange wire connector.

7. Place the cover back onto the recessed housing junction box. Push the Commercial Electric remodel housing into the ceiling until the lip of the recessed housing is against the ceiling.

8. Clamp the Commercial Electric remodel housing to the ceiling. Locate the four black clips inside the housing. Place a slotted screwdriver into the slot on the black clip and push up and out until the clip clicks into place, clamping the Commercial Electric recessed housing to the ceiling.

9. Turn on the light circuit by turning on the breaker inside the main electrical panel.