Add lights to existing circuit in garage
December 4, 2021 1:30 PM Subscribe
How can I add more lights to an existing circuit in my garage?
I have two simple lights in my garage, controlled by the same switch. They look like this.
I'd like to have more lights at different places in the garage. I'm imagining that I could replace those two light fixtures with some kind of junction box, and then use conduit to add lights to different locations. We're not talking a million light bulbs or anything, just a few key spots.
I've never run conduit before. My electric experience is limited to replacing old outlets and changing light fixtures. Is what I want to do reasonable? If so, what are the steps?
I have two simple lights in my garage, controlled by the same switch. They look like this.
I'd like to have more lights at different places in the garage. I'm imagining that I could replace those two light fixtures with some kind of junction box, and then use conduit to add lights to different locations. We're not talking a million light bulbs or anything, just a few key spots.
I've never run conduit before. My electric experience is limited to replacing old outlets and changing light fixtures. Is what I want to do reasonable? If so, what are the steps?
Yeah, no need to run conduit. You could run romex above the ceiling, or if you don't care having it exposed, the easy thing to do would be run the romex right under the ceiling held up by cable staples. You don't even need junction boxes if you choose to; just connect the wiring of one light fixture to another.
posted by ShooBoo at 1:57 PM on December 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by ShooBoo at 1:57 PM on December 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
I had a similar situation in my garage. I just replaced the ceramic fixtures with outlets using an octagonal duplex plate, and then added some of the massive variety of LED shop lights that are available at any big box home store. Many of them are set up to be chained together, to make running lights where you need them that much easier.
posted by rockindata at 2:27 PM on December 4, 2021
posted by rockindata at 2:27 PM on December 4, 2021
Response by poster: It's a split level so I cannot access the area above the ceiling, there's a bedroom there.
posted by rouftop at 7:31 PM on December 4, 2021
posted by rouftop at 7:31 PM on December 4, 2021
Though legal I wouldn't run nmd/loomex exposed on the ceiling because it is exposed to damage. An armoured cable like AC90 (ie BX) isn't much more expensive and is actually easier to run neatly because it is round and the armour makes consistent bends easier.
A conduit like EMT would be best visually but more expensive and there is a bit of a learning curve if you need anything but straight pieces.
You can paint armoured cable to make it blend in better but nmd shouldn't be painted.
What ever you decide the steps are pretty much the same. Decide what fixtures you want and where you want them. Mount the fixtures. Add an octagon extension ring where your current keyless is (you can either keep the keyless, replace it with something else, or install a blank cover) which will give you four places to connect cables (or conduit). Run cables from the extension ring to your fixtures. Wire everything up and you are good to go. Obviously if you go with conduit you need to pull the wire into the conduit as well.
Note also that you'll likely want lights that can be surface mounted. Most of the fixtures you see in home improvement borgs are designed to get power from a box under the fixture. While you can surface mount a box and then screw the fixtures to that it looks pretty goofy and reduces your clearance by the depth of the box.
Caveat: depending on your jurisdiction and the current loading of that circuit it might not be code legal to replace the keyless with more than one fixture. Keep the added, I'm assuming, LEDs under a 100w though and you'll be safe if technically non compliant.
posted by Mitheral at 8:14 PM on December 4, 2021 [4 favorites]
A conduit like EMT would be best visually but more expensive and there is a bit of a learning curve if you need anything but straight pieces.
You can paint armoured cable to make it blend in better but nmd shouldn't be painted.
What ever you decide the steps are pretty much the same. Decide what fixtures you want and where you want them. Mount the fixtures. Add an octagon extension ring where your current keyless is (you can either keep the keyless, replace it with something else, or install a blank cover) which will give you four places to connect cables (or conduit). Run cables from the extension ring to your fixtures. Wire everything up and you are good to go. Obviously if you go with conduit you need to pull the wire into the conduit as well.
Note also that you'll likely want lights that can be surface mounted. Most of the fixtures you see in home improvement borgs are designed to get power from a box under the fixture. While you can surface mount a box and then screw the fixtures to that it looks pretty goofy and reduces your clearance by the depth of the box.
Caveat: depending on your jurisdiction and the current loading of that circuit it might not be code legal to replace the keyless with more than one fixture. Keep the added, I'm assuming, LEDs under a 100w though and you'll be safe if technically non compliant.
posted by Mitheral at 8:14 PM on December 4, 2021 [4 favorites]
Mitheral hit most of the points I would have, and more concisely. Conduit or armored cable is definitely the right way to go.
From that photo, you need to pay close attention to the clearance to your garage door. Octagon rings are usually 1.5" deep, so using that junction box as the location your conduit starts and keeping it as a light fixture would lower the light by 1.5". It's probably OK, but really hard to tell from your picture.
Further thoughts on conduit:
posted by yuwtze at 9:21 PM on December 4, 2021
From that photo, you need to pay close attention to the clearance to your garage door. Octagon rings are usually 1.5" deep, so using that junction box as the location your conduit starts and keeping it as a light fixture would lower the light by 1.5". It's probably OK, but really hard to tell from your picture.
Further thoughts on conduit:
- For EMT conduit, while a professional could make the bends and kicks necessary to use a single piece between locations, you can purchase elbows, couplers, and offset fittings to do a serviceable job without ever needing to bend anything yourself. All you need to do is cut straight sections to length, deburr the cut ends, and assemble. The unfinished ceiling should make it fairly easy to determine where the joists are; plan your runs so that you can secure the conduit mounting clips and new junction boxes/fixtures to the joists as much as possible.
- While it's technically legal to run Romex in EMT, you'll find it very difficult beyond a short length. Instead, buy spools of THHN. Match the wire size to the existing wire or larger (probably #12 or #14, so if in doubt, go with #12). You'll need Black, White, and Green. (Or since it is going to be switched, arguably you could/should use Red instead of Black. Either way, you need White, Green, and then one other color that isn't white/grey/green.) Code doesn't allow you to use tape to re-mark a conductor in conduit until you get to larger wire sizes, so you can't legally take the cheaper path of just using one color and marking the ends with some colored tape.
- You'll also want to connect the metal junction boxes to ground - they make special green screws that are designed to thread into a pre-tapped hole in the back of the junction box. Opinions vary about whether you need to ground every junction box if they're all connected together by metal conduit, but you absolutely need to ensure that it's grounded somewhere. Otherwise, if a live wire comes into contact with the inside of a junction box, the whole junction box/conduit system can become energized.
- If you do use BX cable, there are special bushings that need to be inserted into the end to prevent the wires from chafing on the cut off end of the armoring.
posted by yuwtze at 9:21 PM on December 4, 2021
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posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 1:42 PM on December 4, 2021