Security Lighting, please help

19 years ago

Hi all, first off let me say thanks to everyone. I am a first time homeowner and have been reading this forum for a bit now and it has helped a lot. Now my question. I am clueless when it comes to electricity. My grandfather owned his own electrical contracting company, but as a kid, I never showed any interest. Boy, do i regret that now. Anyway, I am trying to install outdoor security lighting. I am active duty military and am gone a lot and need some security lighting for the family when I am gone. I am goint to be putting motion controlled lights around the house. The only problem is, there are no outlets or junction boxes where I need to put the lights. My question is, can I remove an outdoor lighting fixture and attach wires to that fixture and simply run the wires around the exterior of the house? I would obviously weatherproof the wires and run them in the metal tubing. Can I run the wires off that one outlet, break into the wires when needed, daisy-chaining motion lights on the house? In other words, can I run all my lights simply by connecting wires to the one existing outdoor light by running wires around the exterior of the house attaching fixtures where needed?

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Comments (5)

DavidR
19 years ago
No offense, but your questions support your statement that you are "clueless when it comes to electricity." Sorry to say, you're not yet at the point where we can really help you.

I suggest you start by getting a copy of Wiring Simplified and reading it cover to cover. Don't skip the chapter on basic electricity. (You can probably omit the chapter on farm wiring, though. ;-)

WS is available at most bookstores and even at Home Depot's electrical department. Your public library probably has a copy, too.

IMO, WS is hands down the best introduction to wiring for the beginner. It will teach you an enormous amount. Come back here with the questions that it doesn't answer.
bigbird_1
19 years ago
To quickly answer your question, yes, you can. You need to install an octagon outdoor weatherproof type FS box wherever you want a light mounted. However,if you're "clueless" as you say about electricity, then either do some reading or get an experienced person to supervise/help you. There are far too many opportunities to turn this minor wiring project into a major disaster.
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homey_bird
11 years ago
Jaystekan, thanks for serving the country! Anyway -- regarding the question on security wiring, any wiring that you install externally needs to be secure so an offender does not simply cut the wires off and render the system ineffective. I am not sure if there are boxes/enclosures/shells that provide that, but those would definitely affect the exterior look of your house.

Besides that, given that you are away and you have no hands on experience doing it, it may be a good idea to take help from a professional or *licensed* electrician. In many cities around the country, electrical wiring changes need permits, so you might also want to check that as well.
weedmeister
11 years ago
Hopefully the OP got this done sometime in the past 8 years since this thread was started.
homey_bird
11 years ago
Hahaha! Thanks for pointing out! I am normally active on some other boards where there is a lot of action, so missed that detail completely.