Retrofit Lights Wiring With Junction Boxes
Don't wish for something less intrusive, somehow just finding wires at-hand that enable screw attachment of a surface-mount luminaire. Pulling wires demands at least the access of a forearm at most wished light positions. Then, know that joist interference is usually avoidable. Accept that a joist must never be notched to accommodate a junction box. Want the freedom to place a light anywhere distant from a joist. Want freedom to place lighting with limited access to ceilings including an attic floor.
Want this box to be sealed airtight in the ceiling for a purpose including blockage of bugs that would be drawn to any lighting leakage above a luminaire.
Opportunities for junction-box-mounted LED lighting include the replacement of a can light or a clip-in edge light. There, place the junction box in a patch ideally employing the divot of the found luminaire. Hope that a thoughtful person had placed the divot nearby above the ceiling. We must learn that lighting will be replaced with new technology and style, over time. Let that presumption be stated in building code!
For ceiling lights wiring, prefer a RACO 175 steel octagon box, 2 1/8” deep, offering ability to securely capture wires that enter the box, from within the box. Do not prefer plastic or fiberglass boxes that won't accessibly anchor the involved wiring cables and that defy airtight sealing and fail to block bugs against seeking light-as-guiding-stars, in a luminaire below. There is no economy in using octagon boxes 1 1/2" deep. Find no reason to electrically ground this box. Where this ubiquitous box is designed for capture of jackets of heavy Romex cables, let there be imtermediate jackets that surround and restrain cables much smaller than 14/2 Romex. Wish further that, as in Japan, lighting wire cables should not include ground wires. Absent ground wires, metal lighting device safety is preserved if a circuit has ground-fault circuit breaker protection. A grounded junction box is only a maintenance hazard, where there are temptations to work despite absence of circuit breaker panel labels, or to avoid work in room darkness.
Here is a new ceiling cut or an opening provision in drywall of a ceiling patch kit.
As a new cut through textured ceiling drywall, the divot is valuable for the freedom to reconsider lighting positions, then resetting the divot and gouting it in, invisible. Practice and expect to find, placement of a divot near the hole, atop the drywall.
A kit tips into place easily with 2x8 framing. Bevel cuts help.
Here is a junction box kit including patch-out of a can light.
A RACO 175 kit with a can light patch ring can be inserted even within the 5.5" space of 2x6 framing. With kits, a luminaire upon junction box may be placed as remodel anywhere with box center more than 1 3/4" from the face of a joist. Joists must not be notched for insertion of a junction box. With evolving lights technology, expect that most lights will be installed as retrofits. Avoid the difficulty and imprecision of fitting ceiling drywall to accommodate preset junction boxes.
Where a new luminaire doesn't fully cover a patch, be prepared to duplicate the found ceiling texture. Learn to achieve this with the grout material. Any texture detail is easy with my kitchen-compounded Flexible Grout . At the link please find mention of readily-available Custom Fusion Pro grout as an alternative to the grout material invented by my twin brother, Paul Norman. Paul's grout material has many other uses due to its sandability and formability as any kind of texture.
Luminaire replacement needs include rectangular patches. Here an over-sink light bulb luminaire box was with very thick texture upon a ceiling with electric radiant heat. For each opportunity, choose appropriate wood scraps to achieve the patch and ceiling alignment.
This kitchen had very dim illumination from silly bulbs in can lights.
At this stage I have quickly replaced four of the cans with large LED edge lights wired to junction boxes set with drywall rings.
The fifth light resists replacement where, as is common, the light over the kitchen sink is something odd.
This arrangement surely is in violation of building codes. Any light or fan appliance must be capable of replacement without demolition of the ceiling.
The contraption must have been expensive. I have hacksawed-away much of a square plate that supported the circular can already disposed. At last I am able to twist plate and junction box remnants through the 8" cut of the drywall.
This inexpensive junction box upon the ceiling will look perfectly ordinary, sealed airtight, patching invisible. I should create a little business manufacturing the drywall rings of a variety of diameters for inexpensive sale to anyone. Is lighting a job exclusively for electricians?
Should lighting and fans ever be installed before ceiling drywall, inviting the nasty capture of appliances?
Sometimes a cruelly-captured can light may be extracted in a large ceiling cut demanded for added wiring.
A junction box accessible only by demolition, is a crime.
There are very many new light-on-junction box positions. The ample access cuts will be patched with invisibility. Would an electrician subcontract the patching?
The work can be an inexpensive assembly-line process.
Sometimes a can position is abandoned. There is a patch for that.
This is a sewing projects room. The better lighting, to last now without service, forever, adds great function and value to the home.
700 Lux was wanted in the work area. Symmetry demands it everywhere.
(Here is a portion of the Google search result.)
Recommended Lux Levels by Activity and Area
Lux Level [1, 2, 3] | Space / Activity Type | Example Applications |
0 – 50 lx | Ambient / Low Light | Security lighting, outdoor parking at night, pathways, and bulk warehouses. |
50 – 150 lx | Orientation & Casual | Hallways, corridors, building entryways, warehouses with casual perception of detail [Recommended Light Levels |
150 – 300 lx | General / Continuous Use | Dining rooms, public toilets, bedrooms, archives, and general retail sales floors Mastering Lux Level Standards: A Complete Guide to Office & .... |
300 – 500 lx | Regular Work Environments | General office work, classrooms, libraries, meeting rooms, and domestic kitchens. |
500 – 750 lx | Detailed Work & Retail | Supermarkets, laboratories, RECOMMENDED LIGHTING LEVELS - General Lux and standard engineering tool shops. |
750 – 1,000 lx | Precision & Technical Tasks | Technical drawing, Mastering Lux Level Standards: A Complete Guide to Office & ... electronics assembly, and detailed ROOM ILLUMINATION LEVEL GENERAL BUILDING AREAS ... mechanical workshops. |
1,000 – 2,000+ lx | Highly Detailed/Specialized | Operating theatres, jewelry making, very fine soldering, and quality control inspection. |
For a deeper dive into the exact lighting metrics and building codes, you can consult the Recommended Illuminance Levels Chart | PDF.Most homes have large needs of additional overhead lighting. Overhead lighting shall consist mainly of distributed not-glaring LED disks. The US government must require conformant glare ratings among luminaire package labeling. Home and institutional lighting for the confined elderly shall have ample brightness, but with dimming.
