Pendant lights offer many advantages. They provide better accent and task lighting, add design touches to your indoor space, take up less space than other lighting options, and are easy to change.
But you might be wondering: What about the installation? Isn’t installing a pendant light difficult and time-consuming?
Not at all. Installing a pendant light doesn’t take much. Everybody can do it.
If you are looking to install a pendant light, this guide is all that you will ever need.
Preparing for Installation
Want to add personality and style to an indoor space? Look no further than pendant lights. Available in a number of styles, pendant lights can help you customize a space any way you want. Switching to a pendant light is something that is fairly easy and simple — and we will show you how to go about it.
Within minutes, changing to pendant lights can make a room look more desirable and stylish. So without further ado, let us look at how to install a pendant light.
- Unpack your fixture
Unpacking the contents of the package is the first step. Lay out the each part so that you can easily pick them whenever you need to.
- Turn off the power
We do not want any accidents, do we? So turn off the power of the area or room where you are installing the pendant light.
- Remove the old fixture
Are you installing the pendant light in a recently renovated house or a new house? If no, you will likely have to first remove and old fixture.
How to go about doing that? Glad you asked.
Here are the steps to follow.
- Detach the old fixture. The exact process varies from one type of fixture to another, but you should try to have someone hold the lighting fixture while you go about detaching it. Otherwise, you may drop it during the process of removing it.
- Remove all old wire connectors. We are talking about tiny plastic caps which cover the connections between house wiring and fixture wires. Generally, twisting them counterclockwise will do the job.
- Use a voltage checker. Before you disconnect the wires, we recommend using a standard voltage checker. Why is this important? Well, this will help ensure there’s no electricity running through the wires (i.e. they are safe to remove).
- Disconnect the electrical wires. Along with them, remove other such parts like a trim or base.
- Check your support
Ensure there are no structural issues with the installation location. Ideally, a beam should support the electrical junction.
Note: An inadequately supported lighting fixture or electrical box is risky to handle. It is also be likely against a building’s regulations. You should not go ahead with the installation if your fixture lacks the kind of support it needs to be held properly in its place.
Installing the pendant light
You can install a pendant light on your own. Really, there’s not much to it. Even a novice can do this. Here’s how to install a pendant light on your own.
- Attach the power wires
It would be a good idea to have someone hold your lighting fixture while you are connecting the light fixture’s wires to the wires hanging out from your junction box.
Some of the tips to keep in mind are as follows:
- Connect wires as per the instructions listed on the lighting package. Typically, this means the wires of the same colour go together — e. connect white to white and black to black.
- In the absence of enough exposed surface on wires, you might require peeling back some of the insulation using wire strippers.
- Cover and secure all exposed connections by tightly screwing on connectors/nuts. Generally, these come with the lighting fixture. However, you can also buy them separately if you need to.
- Attach the ground wire
Locate the ground wire. You can then attach the ground wire to a protruding ground wire. Alternatively, you can wrap the ground wire around a ground screw.
- Secure the wire
Secure all the wires nicely using wire nuts.
- Install a mounting bracket
Generally, new fixtures have mounting screws or a bracket. Use them to firmly attach your pendant light. Check your manufacturer’s instructions for this.
- Hang the light
The next step is to attach the base or canopy of the light to your mounting bracket or screws. Since this process varies by the lighting fixture model, check the instructions provided by the manufacturer before proceeding.
- Install a light bulb
Now screw a bulb into your pendant lighting fixture. Make sure the bulb is of the right size (and voltage) for your light fixture.
- Turn on the power
Switch on the power. Your pendant light should be now functional. If it is not, check the wiring.
- Complete installation
In case the fixture comes with a cover or trim, install it to complete the pendant light fitting.
How Do You Hang Pendant Lights Over a Kitchen Island?
Depending on your kitchen island, you may need one pendant light or a few of them. Regardless of how many pendant lights you use, ensure there is ample space (76 to 91cm) from the pendant’s bottom and the kitchen top’s counter.
For very short islands, a single pendant light may suffice. But generally, kitchen islands require two or more pendant lights. When using two pendant lights, make sure each is around 76 cm (i.e. 30 inches) apart from the island’s center. Also both the lights should be roughly 15 cm off the counter’s edge.
How Do You Make Pendant Lights Hang Straight?
Nothing is more annoying than pendant lights hanging ungainly from the ceiling. A pendant light that is hanging at an angle can be an eye sore.
Solution? Well, start by ensuring the pendant light is correctly positioned on the hanger. If it is not, it will surely look wonky. Another plausible (though easy to resolve) issue could be a bent cord. You can straighten the cord by firmly grasping it between the fingers and thumb and pulling downwards.
What if nothing works? As a last resort, install pendant light downrods. They are fairly inexpensive and can firmly hold the lighting fixture in its position.
Conclusion
Pendant lights are a great option for various indoor spaces, like an open kitchen or a living room. Thankfully, wiring a pendant light and installing it is easy, especially if you follow the tips shared in this how to install pendant lights guide.