How to Add Automatic Lighting to a Closet | Ask This Old House
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- Опубликовано: 14 ноя 2015
- Lighting expert Scott Caron shows a homeowner how to brighten up a dark closet and never have to flip on a light switch.
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Scott brightens up two dark closets by installing automatic closet lighting.
Scott installed linear fluorescent fixtures. On one, he used a motion-activated switch. On the other, he installed a transformer and a low voltage roller ball switch.
Some of these items are available at home centers. They can all be purchased through an electrical supply house.
Shopping List for How to Add Automatic Lighting to a Closet:
- 14-gauge, 2-conductor indoor, non-metallic wire
- T-5 fluorescent light bulbs
- Ball switch
- Motion-activated light switch
- Electrical junction box
- Plastic old-work electrical box
- Low-voltage wiring
- Transformer switch
Tools for How to Add Automatic Lighting to a Closet:
- Wire cutters
- Screwdriver
- Power drill
- Wire connector nuts
- Sliding saw
- Spade bit
Steps for How to Add Automatic Lighting to a Closet:
1. Find an existing power source near the location of your closets and shut off the power.
2. Cut the current power source line with wire cutters.
3. Add in an electrical junction box.
4. Splice new 14-guage wires to the old connection using pliers and wire connecting nuts.
5. Locate space between the studs in the ceiling and drill a hole using the power drill. This will be the location for the switch.
6. Place two pieces of 14-gauge wire down the hole to the closet location behind the drywall-one to power the switch and one to power the fixture.
7. Drill a second hole in the ceiling where you want your light fixture to go.
8. Feed one of the 14-gauge wires through the hole and make the electrical connections to the light fixture using pliers and wire nuts.
9. Cut out a square hole in the closet drywall using a jab saw.
10. Feed both sets of wires through the plastic old-work electrical box, then install the box in the hole by tightening the screws in the box to secure it to the drywall.
11. Splice the wires together with pliers and wire nuts and add in a spare piece of wire to serve as a connection to the switch. Connect the motion-activated light switch to these wires using a screwdriver.
12. If using a ball switch instead of a motion-activated switch, only one power wire can be fed from the power source. A transformer is connected to the light fixture to convert 120 volts to low voltage, then low-voltage wires are fed from the transformer to the ball switch.
13. To install the ball switch in the doorjamb, drill out a hole in the frame of the closet door using a power drill and a spade bit. Insert the ball switch and low voltage wiring through the framing. You’ll likely have to take off the trim and nail it back on.
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How to Add Automatic Lighting to a Closet | Ask This Old House
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I wonder if we can get a 2022 version of this to see how much lights have changed.
My favorite part is 3:25 when he splits the piece of wood with his drill.
Nah, I like where he has the drywall dust fall all over the nice neat closet and its contents.
He didn't even clean after drilling.
Armchair expert much?
@@gtoger Hey! Never expected you here! Lol
I like when he pushed the piece of drywall into the wall.
Client : “I’ve seen you use LED lights on other projects, why wouldn’t you use them here?”
Electrician : “ This is what I bought for your house, and this is what you’re getting. “
Client : “Why don’t you put those fluorescent lights back in your truck and hit the road, I will tell YOU what we are going to use in MY CLOSETS “
I understand this is 6 years ago and I know technology gets cheaper as it ages so maybe the LED light fixtures were expensive then but this guy seems unprofessional af. I can't imagine a 2 ft fixture being more than $30
I honestly don't know who's worse. Scott ripped off the client while the client didn't stand up for herself. If I was her, I would've insisted on LED no matter what the script says
@Just DC you have to compare the cost of the fixture vs the electricity cost to use the cheaper option. LEDs are slightly more energy efficient than the fluorescent, but the cost even to this day, can be higher than most would want to pay. Not to mention, LED fixtures often fail way earlier than they're supposed to, and the fact that they have no lamps, means you're replacing the entire fixture.
COST! You can get a can fixture with a bulb for less than $50. Probably less than $20 if you shop around.
@@brendangrace1432 we are beyond that point for at least 3 years. the LED replacements for the fluorescent tubes are the same price, use about 1/2 the electricity and last 3x on average.
"wow, that's so neat" LOL
There ugly
thats wat she said
Love the ball switch idea! I wish you could have shared more of that particular install though.
they are used in the alarm industry as well. except they are put in the hinge side of the door so you dont see them.. too bad home owner is going to have to look at the ball switch every time they go to the closet.
@@Catalyph Big deal
While the LED fixtures are still more expensive than fluorescent fixtures, how long before you need to replace the bulb(s) because they're turning on, then off for that short period of time? CFL, FL and others are best when left on for longer periods of time. When you turn them on and off, their life is greatly reduced. Not only that, but a 2 foot LED fixture isn't going to break the bank compared to a fluorescent fixture.
Why would you buy more expensive bulbs just so it can last longer when you don't even use the bulbs that much??
+JesseFernandesTV It's more about the use of a fluorescent bulb in this case that doesn't hold up to the short on time. As I stated in my comment, they are best suited for long periods of on time. It's probably negligible in this instance, sure, but the point stands.
because bulbs will burn out faster with the constatnt on/off application
A old fashion keyhole light fixture($1,$2 for it) be great. Without any fancy tech to it. Other then a Basic switch.
@@ZMan492jj2j2 Yep, I agree 100% with you. Most Fluorescent lamps are also Made in USA however, these LEDs are all Made in China and will never last as long as the manufacture life says.
that's so cool 0:54
4:31 What, no vaypah berrieah? Wow!
3:26, cracked the top plate with drill. Thats why you use a smaller bit for a pilot hole.
Glad this is the top comment. I was just going to make the same remark!
Jeff Darnell oh no! a cracked top plate to a non bearing, partition wall. who cares??
AJ Roberts exactly lol
anyone who cares about doing the job correctly.
Or just use a spade bit that doesn't put any expanding force on the hole.
I’m pretty sure the NEC requires a protective lens cover for fixtures in a closet or its even a good idea for safety against accidentally shattering the exposed lamps
How would you shatter them? Besides, those fixtures don't come with covers.
dude Brazzers ALWAYS gives johnny sins long intros in his scenes wtf
Underrated comment
Automatic closet lighting.... Dayum true luxury
Automatic lights came installed in my house when I bought it...it's awesome!
this guy is awesome , love this show
sir can you put the proper description for the electrical items so we can look them up I would love to buy some to do on my projects
There are great automatic lights called Mr. Beams! No wires, turn on and off, motion sensing. A great product. I have changed out the batteries once a year, looks like a smoke detector. They make a great outdoor light too.
Yeah , I’ve installed something similar in several closets. Much easier to install.
Compared to the cost of an electrician or risking screwing it up yourself, absolutely. What you can get for your money these days in battery powered motion lights is really impressive.
phenomenal
Incredible
Low voltage or not, exposed wiring is tacky.
Youre absolutely correct. Most customers would not be paying a professional for a closet light install only to have an exposed low voltage splice and gray wire stapled down.
+beeps on the inside wall of your closet? Maybe if it were a walk-in, but odds are no one would ever even look there.
+beeps A better term is Controlled Voltage because low voltage may make people think it's safe when in reality it can still kill you. I don't care if its 1 volt or 1,000, Don't leave wires exposed.
beeps you call it tacky I call it rustic
@William Winder, there is a limit where your body resistance makes it impossible to conduct enough to get enough amps going to hurt you. 1 volt will never kill you. If i remember correctly 40 volts DC and 60 volts AC are the limits of what you can 100% safely touch. Search Google for the exact values. 12V will never ever hurt you seriously.
Contractor Johnny Sins hit up Ashley after the work was done and that video you know where to look. LOL
Lmao
Very smart
Love his "locator rod" ie cut off coat hanger, I use the same trick.
and i thought i was the only one
Cable tech here, lots of guys use a conductor from a stipped piece of coax the same way.
Or it may be an insulation rod
Driving all those nails all the way in with a hammer. He’s definitely an electrician.
Probably thinking it's on the inside of a small closet nobody's going to notice
Love how they go through Romex like it’s cheap lol get that woman a likkle led battery puck light 😂
That is neat now I wonder if I can do something like this for my toilet
it said add in a spare piece of wire for the switch. is that spare piece Daisy chaining to something else?
My friend diego has one and i want one can u install it by friday
All you commenters are trippin'. It's a closet light. I think people just look for reasons to get upset.
If TOL made a video almost 7 minutes long for a closet light, the least we can do it mercilessly pick it apart. We owe them that much.
Best electrician ever.
Guaranteed she cleaned the closets before they came lol
great, i like lot
Nice......
theres LED tube lites for fluorescent fixtures
That color temperature was too yellow for picking clothes. Use 5000K so you have no yellowing 2700K when coordinating outfits.
Aaron Stivers it doesn’t matter people can change the bulbs when they want
6000k is better. Hence led is way better
2700 is soft warm light. 5000k is more for shop lights. But bottom line is... is about choice. Who cares
@@Tattooed-ig8tj LED is not better, they are all Made in China or Made in USA with global parts. However, many Fluorescent lamps are Made in USA.
I would have put the ball switch on the other side. It would have basically been hidden rather than an eyesore
Agreed. This guy is a complete hack.
This man loves to struggle with flat head screw drivers.
You love to struggle for attention.
And non of his screwdrivers is insulated :D
Mudbone gaming hate flat head screw
@@GlitchedPepsi Are you his boyfriend?
Why would you need a transformer to make it go low voltage on the small closet ball switch? I've never used a transformer when putting in a regular toggle style wall light switch. Why would it be any different with a ball switch?
I bet he didn't told her that He crack the top plate. GOOD LUCK ASHLEY 😂👍🏻
so nice when there's no insulation in your way
paul mryglod Agreed!
They need a on off switcj when tjey wanna change the bulb or in the day or just when they don't want it to turn on
When you drilled a hole, the wood split open... should you have started off with a thinner bit?
Prolly
He used an auger drill, it has a feed screw at the tip so it has a tendency to split wood sometimes.
There are other wood drills which don't have such tendency such as brad point drill, spade drill, forstner drill.
What brand lighting is that
How did you handle the wood that you split when drilling?
He told the cameraman to film somewhere else for the rest of the episode.
Like a trip to the past :D
The ball switched used, are they always low voltage? The ones I found online seem to require a relay to make them work rather than just running 120v
all depends on the setup. he stated his ball switch had a transformer inside the light to take the 120 to low voltage to operate the switch.
Amprobe RC-120S Solid State Relay 115V Closet-Light Type 2 Wire
الله ينور
He's good
Goshhh! Vin Diesel knows his work...
Nah, its Johnny Sins
How does he get the voltage back up to 120 for the second closet
Its wired on the side with 120v from the panel (before the transformer)
I like ur band aid mine on the field is a piece of paper towel and electric tape.......
How to fit subwoofer
is there a way to have a timer on there as well in case you don't close the door all the way (forget to close)??? i guess the motion sensor one would be built in but what about the other one?
No I don’t think so but you could maybe find a very specific timer to put in the line but not sure
I don’t think so. My mom has this feature in the guest closet and I love it when I’m there. I have to shut the door to make the light go off.
2:30 what do you mean by Feed and what is a junction box. why did you add it? please forgive my ignorance
He drilled through that top plate so shouldn’t he seal it off with fire caulk?
Technically, yes.
When she opens her cupboard from the other end (not the one they tested) I am not sure that the infra-red detector will detect unless it is ultra sensitive - the angle of the two doors will shield her body from the sensor unless she actually leans into the cupboard...?
Exactly what I was thinking. I've installed that sensor and it won't work on the faraway door unless she pokes inside the closet and clothes are not in the way.
Kevin does a good job. Though on this one, product choice is ok, but I would have sold the customer on self contained LED fixture by Leviton. Things happen sometimes like hard objects hitting exposed lamps. And not sure if I would have sold the customer a motion switch or the low voltage switch. My thought is your already cutting in old work boxes and installing switches just keep it simple and put switching on the outside of doors.
You're not even allowed to have exposed bulbs in closets for the very reason of someone accidentally hitting a bulb
This was uploaded 5 years ago and was probably filmed 15 years ago.
I like how you called Scott "Kevin" 😂. I don't blame you though. Both men are mediocre to say the least
what if you cut the power wire without turning off the power, will you get shocked
The small closet has a light with a permanent contact switch. As long as the switch is pressed, the light is off. Same thing as the light inside your refrigerator, stove, or dryer.
+IAmNotAFunguy or the courtesy light in your car.
Think he means the light that comes on every single time a door is opened, which is a LOT
I was like really expensive for led and then I saw the 2015 date.
Yeah its funny looking back at it now. When I started as an electrician 8 years ago, it was a big upgrade for the customer to pay for LED lights. Now it's pretty much standard on any job, its more of a headache when not doing LEDs.
Do you have wired remote light switch or dimmable light switch and wired in- line receiver ? Please give me the model no.
It is little complicated, please read it carefully.
I want install a light (LED or dimmable LED ) on my ceiling, beside an old light, which is powered with 120VAC, and a remote wired switch to replace old switch for the old light, and also a new remote wired switch to control the new light, because I do not want to use battery power wireless switch, which I have to replace battery regularly. Because the two lights are not far away, the can share same 120VAC power, and two switches are stay side by side, they share the 120VAC power also.
If you leave the door open How long does it take to the light to go off?
What's the life of a crappy yellow fluorescent bulb?
ikea ftw! leds are best...
3:47 Can't believe he just pushed it through...I usually put a screw in the bit of of drywall I'm removing, which allows me to get hold of it and pull it out...
He does that in a lot of videos. I would be like dude WTF!!!
Got an LED update to the flourescent lights?
Hy sir I need this parts censer and switch
Can you tie into to an existing junction box?
This guy loves his locator rod a little too much
I use locator rods all the time. Takes the guess work out of locating just where you are in an attic. Also cuts down on time and additional repairs to finished surfaces. Especially if your the homeowner who is paying a professional time and material.
Wow
You know you can remove the ballast from the fluorescent fixtures and use LED tube bulbs in their place. Were these not available at the time of filming?
they were but were expensive, they would have never paid off in a closet that is used for at most 15 minutes a day.
they are only $14, how much was that new fixture?
how much were they when this segment was recorded? Who knows if it was actually recorded in November 2015 or not, but even in 2015 LED's were more expensive than they are now. and even if they were only $5 more, it takes a long time to make up $20 on light bills with fixtures that are used for 5 minutes a day.
@@RoastBeefSandwich I've seen people in these comments say florescent lights will burn out sooner if used intermittently like this, and they take longer to warm up to full brightness so the closet will end up being dim.
exposed t5 lamps instead of led because of cost?
رائع
It’s funny about all the negative comments from all the “know it all’s” on this post. Ha-ha
I’m not saying the job was perfect... whatever.. but people on here CAN’T WAIT to point out something he did wrong.
I would love to see everyone out here start posting videos showing how great everyone is...
oh my I would not have an uncovered tube light looking for trouble
From Thumbnail: Wait a sec!! Is that Johnny Sins? No, It's just an electrician.
Omg this video is from last Millennium! All that work and gigantic sizes of equipment for automatic lighting. Single battery operated led light holders with small sensors which cost about $10 can be used here!
Holy fuck he actually split the beam while drilling. What an absolute rookie...
The girl wanted led lights, give her what she wants!!!
Isn’t that guy from love it or list it?
3:24 he fractured the top plate
Florescent Tubes have a gas inside the tube that needs to be heated with a high voltage to brighten. This takes a few minutes especially as the light gets older. Installing it in a closet would not give optimum light during the brief time the closet was opened. The lady was right on the LED choice.
what if he always forget to close the door.
What happened to his hand? Anyone see that bandaid?
I would love some help on being able to have lights in the bedrooms I got the switch but no lights in the ceiling .
I googled transformer switch and could not find that gizmo that goes between the ball and the light.
Amprobe RC-120S Solid State Relay 115V Closet-Light Type 2 Wire
(This Is the correct one)
Thank you
@@jbrcich709 no problem
Dynoesaur I looked up that part on Amazon - it’s $47. That’s way too much for just one closet light since that price doesn’t include the light or the door jamb switch. In my closet I installed a motion led light which was about $18 for everything combined- light, enclosure, motion switch, power cord.
@@neilbrookins8428 $18 wow send the link
If I had paid to have lights put in my closets and they used that yellow color, I would have been raising some hell.
I agree thats an ugly color
Florescent lights are a *horrible* idea for closets. They take a while to warm up to full brightness, especially when they're cold. In closets there usually isn't any heat so they tend to be a lot colder in the winter. So in the minute or two you're using them you'll have a dim light.
Great point. Scott sure does like to rip people off
You’re not wrong, but they look plenty bright right off the bat for a closet.
Scott never attaches the wires in the correct order, ground to ground, neutral to neutral, hot to hot. Then reverse order for removing them. It's pretty simple and could save your life if something goes wrong.
I’ve never heard of the neutral and hot order it makes sense but I know to always install ground first
He had the breaker off what does it matter?
@@gregMD856 the rule to try and treat any wire as live so if it is you won’t die
@gregMD856 The breaker only disconnects the hot. In renovations, pretty much assume the guy before you was an idiot. More than once there's been a hot neutral that got someone. Could have been as simple as some moron switching the wires around at the box before. It just worked, so no one noticed. Maybe you got the wrong breaker or someone is backfeeding power from another circuit. It may not be perfect, but I prefer to use a non-contact tester on all the wires to confirm before I work.
Times change LED fixtures are cheap now
why would you use yellow lights, should of got DAYLIGHTS LED!
In England, NIC would be all over this installation...
Yeah we have bigger problems to worry about right now in the U.S than a shoddy light instalation. Sorry.
Just sayin' bro
They'll get it covered, don't worry.
They have battery motion senor led lights that can go in closets.
any suggestions?? I came to this video looking for that answer, but this video isn’t it
How much does it cost
Gino Requena think about how much a brain costs first
Led Reese lights are 12$
up in the attic its hot as fuck! thst will be $600
LED Lights are now cheap to this day than before
How much would you charge to do a job like that?
please answer anyone who knows
I would guess around $2-300 for labor, and the fixtures/wire/etc being additional. Figure 2-3 hours of labor give or take, depending on how easy it is for the electrician to fish wire in your walls.
I used the old style Ikea Norrflys and they work amazing in the house. They are low voltage so I even have one I tied right into the doorbell transformer and just used a rectifier to get DC.
ruclips.net/video/Azrtbjcvd3I/видео.html - using the doorbell transformer for power
ruclips.net/video/IdSqecn4fmA/видео.html - My Sliding Closet Setup
There are several other alternative ways of doing this.
Why did you just the drywall in the hole
Why the light color temperature is 2700 K, in this case, the light color must be white because the light here for Task. Thank you
But ashley wanted Led lights😂