[Trogdor796]

Okay essentially I have I light on my ceiling and would like to use that as a power source for my projector rather than running an extension cord up the wall as I am right now. I know there are screw in adapters but they are not grounded(only two prong) and are not recommended for permanent use I've read.

So I thought I would see if I could place an actual outlet in that spot instead. Looking for some advice and I've included pictures.

I unscrewed the light fixture and it has the black wire and white wire attached to it and what I assume is the ground wire stuffed up there because it's not being used. The box, I think that's what it's called, is a round box.

I was hoping to be able to take off the light fixture, insert an outlet into the round box, and then place a round outlet cover flush with the ceiling.

I went to menards and showed the people my pictures and what I wanted to do. They said since the box was round not square there wasn't a way to insert an outlet and a round cover unless I replaced the box. It's not an attic so we don't access to the ceiling. It's already painted so we don't want to tear it open and redo it.

The employee gave me another light fixture that was wired to ground and therefor had a 3 hole outlet on the side of it in addition the screw in bulb. He said this will work just won't be flush with ceiling.

So my question is, is there no way to do a flush outlet like the guy said without tearing open the ceiling according to my pictures? Not a huge deal to me as I can paint the fixture, but if there was an easy way to do a flush outlet id want that.

Also, with the new fixture since it has the outlet in addition the bulb socket, is it safe to have a bulb in as well as power the projector? It won't draw too much power and cut off the projector?

 

[Clarence]

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-5042-Duplex-Receptacle-4-Inch/dp/B000HEHCAU
http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-1228-Receptacle-Residential-Grounding/dp/B00002NAQ3

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-5059-15-Amp-3-Wire-Receptacle/dp/B000U3I1Z8

 

[Trogdor796]

Thanks for the links!

So...do I need anything besides that, or will the black white and grounds wires hook into the back of that and I just screw it in?

 

[BIGmouthinDC]

Couple of things to keep in mind.

The socket is likely connected to a switch and that is the last thing you want connected to a projector circuit as someone may kill the juice shutting off the power and forcing the projector to power down without the benefit of the cooling fan. You need to take the switch out of the circuit.

Since there are two black and white wires in the box one set is the feed and one set goes off to power some other switched fixture(s). you need a plan for those.

 

[Trogdor796]

Yes, it is on a switch. The light fixture in question is one of three in the room on the ceiling.

You said the two sets of wires means one set is a feed, I'm assuming that this feed goes off to the next light in the room, as they are all controlled by the same switch(this one is in the middle).

We don't know if those other lights are going to be used. We talked about replacing them with dim able recessed lights but are not sure yet.

How hard would it be to take this middle light fixture off of the switch but leave the other two on the switch, assuming they are daisy chained/fed off of each other? The ceiling is not accessible(not an attic), and I'm not really willing to cut open the either for this. I also have literally no experience with wiring/electrical work.

For now, I'm just going to order the round receptacle off amazon that I linked assuming that is all I need in place of the current fixture. From some googling I did it appears that does have the connections on the back of it for the wires to hook into. I have one of those screw in switch covers I will use for now so nobody hits the switch, until I decide what to do with the other two lights in the room. I'll just remove the bulbs for now, and leave the switch on with it covered.

 

[Brian Fineberg]

You would have to run a line off the the supply BEFORE the light swtich. So you would have to run a seperate romex from the light switch area to the outlet in the ceiling

Otherwise what yor describing the light switch will turn that outlet on and off. I don't think there is another way around it other than that

 

[olyteddy]

Frankly I think that if you need to ask questions about it you ought seek professional help. Power ain't something to screw around with.

 

[Trogdor796]

Frankly I think that if you need to ask questions about it you ought seek professional help. Power ain't something to screw around with.

I completely agree, as stated earlier I have no experience with wiring or electrical work. From what I looked up installing an outlet in place of a single light fixture is extremely easy and something I would do myself.

But as for bypassing the switch I have no intention if doing it myself as it's far outside of my skill set. I figured I'd ask on here and get some ideas before contacting an electrician so I had somewhat of an idea of the situation.