One approach to increase the curb appeal of your house and make your home safer would be to replace that old outdoor light fixture with a bright, stylish one. Whether the light fixture that you want to replace is above your door, then at the opposite side of the entryway, on a post in the end of the driveway or in the conclusion of your walkway, then you can replace it yourself. This is a job that the beginner can accomplish without any problems.

Preparations

Always switch off the circuit breaker on the service panel powering the branch circuit the light is linked to. Do not anticipate a light switch to help keep you protected from an electric shock, particularly when working on outdoor lights, that are controlled by photoelectric eyes or timer switches which can energize the circuit suddenly. When you’ve turned off the circuit breaker, check in the light with a noncontact voltage tester to be sure that you have turned the right breaker before starting to utilize the light.

Entryway Lights

These lights are possibly the simplest to replace, although you might have to use a stepladder to reach them. Once you’ve removed the lamp bulb’s cover and the wax, then remove the screws securing the fixture into the lighting socket box. A tiny force might be required to separate the fixture in the box because of the silicon sealing compound that was used to safeguard against water entry. Disconnect the old fixture’s wires in the circuit wires by unscrewing the wire nuts. When installing the new fixture, then place the rubber gasket above the wires first and the link the black, black and bare fixture wires into the matching circuit wires. After mounting the fixture to the box, run a tidy bead of silicon around the fixture for extra protection against water entry into the outlet box and also the walls of your property.

Pole-Mounted Fixtures

Replacing a pole-mounted light fixture differs because the fixture is generally screwed on the threaded tube which runs through the support. After you have disassembled the light, as you did with the wall-mounted fixture, and disconnected the wiring, then you should be able to unscrew the fixture in the support by turning it counterclockwise by hand. In some cases, you might have to use a pipe wrench to split up the fixture loose, particularly if the threads have become rusted. After you’ve replaced the fixture, then use silicon sealant to keep water from entering the support surrounding the pipe mount.

Tips

Silicon sealants are cluttered and extremely difficult to get off your skin, so you might choose to wear gloves when working with it. As an extra precaution against water entering the mounting support for pole-mounted lights, you might choose to fill the gap around the center mounting pipe having an expanding foam insulation created for electric work, prior to screwing the new fixture in place. Should you use expanding foam, be careful to avoid getting it on the pipe threads. If it gets on the threads, you will need to clean out the threads with a wire brush until you will be able to screw the new fixture in place.

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