Lighting Install Question

Submitted by hahvaggevabba t3_z32l28 in DIY

Hi all! I’m trying to replace the wired sconces in my house. Directions online looked pretty straightforward… connect white to white, black to black, and copper to the grounded wire or green screw. I was able to achieve the first two steps, but my old sconces only have 2 wires (white and black). It’s an old house, but none of the screws look green either. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank in advance, and apologies if this is the wrong subreddit to be asking in. Thank you!

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cbryancu t1_ixjkod5 wrote

Older house sometimes have no ground wire...bare copper/green. You can leave the ground unconnected.

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hahvaggevabba OP t1_ixjm33j wrote

Thank you!! This is really good to know.

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DotAccomplished5484 t1_ixjmm1n wrote

When you loop the wires around the screws make sure the loop direction is in the direction the screw tightens. This helps ensure optimal contact.

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Wahoo017 t1_ixjndzc wrote

A little confused from that description, but if either the wall, the fixture, or neither has an extra copper ground wire, that's ok. Wire nut off the extra one if either has it.

If there's no copper wire in the wall then your house probably has no grounds. If your wall outlets have two prongs with no third then you'd know this, but you'd have to test 3 prong outlets to be sure. Sometimes the junction boxes themselves are grounded by being connected to metal conduit.

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hahvaggevabba OP t1_ixjo8gv wrote

Thank you for the response! Yeah the light has a copper wire but the wall doesn’t. That makes sense. Thank you!

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Wahoo017 t1_ixjpn1r wrote

Yep my house has no grounds. It isn't ideal and one day I'll need to replace the wiring but it isn't urgent. Definitely worth checking to see if your electric boxes are grounded. Another thing you can do is add gfci's, so long as it is protected by a GFCI you can put in 3 prong outlets with no grounds.

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CloneClem t1_ixjkx6v wrote

On lighting like that, the ground connection is not really needed, similar to what cbrysncu said

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StihlHead460 t1_ixkuvef wrote

This is not necessarily accurate advice

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CloneClem t1_ixnrgoy wrote

Not true. If the lamp socket only has a black and white wire and there isn’t a lot of metal like a ceiling fixture, a ground wire serves no purpose

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StihlHead460 t1_ixp84s1 wrote

And OP clearly stated that the mfg provided an equipment ground.

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CloneClem t1_ixq8c70 wrote

And he also said the existing lights had no ground. They were fine

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jglazer t1_ixlfq98 wrote

If you have BX cable (metal conduit around the loose wires in the wal) the conduit is usually grounded. If it attaches to a metal box, that grounds the box too, so typically you’d want to attach the green wire from your new light to any screw on your old metal box. If you have a voltmeter you can test the voltage between your hot (black) wire and your metal box- if it reads 120 (assuming you’re in the US) it means your box is grounded and you’re good to go.

The grounding wire exists for safety so that if you lose your neutral connection for some reason, you don’t get shocked touching the light. The light will usually work without it, but you’re taking a risk that it would be safer not too.

Good luck!

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StihlHead460 t1_ixp8eg8 wrote

OP, your choices are pretty much, install as is, knowing that you don't have an equipment ground and it is a less than ideal situation, refeed the sconces with a wiring method that includes an equipment ground, or just run an equipment ground with you existing wiring (same amount of work as option #2)

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