How to Install a Floodlight is continued from How to Install a Floodlight – Part 1.
Floodlight Mounting and Wiring
After pulling new electrical cable from the attic with fish tape, about two feet of wire is left exposed.
New NM 14/2 Wire for the Floodlight
The weatherproof flood light is a Thomas & Betts CS212WH kit. See Part 1 for details about the kit.
Thomas & Betts CS212WH Floodlight Kit
The kit consists of these components – not really much to it! Assembly is simple and the Thomas & Betts instructions are easy to follow.
Floodlight Kit Components – CS212WH
The first thing to do is apply sealant to the plastic plugs and install the plugs in the sides of the base and the center hole in the cover. The extra holes in the base are accommodate side wiring applications using conduit. The center hole in the cover for an optional motion detector that is purchased separately.
Floodlight Base and Cover
The base is centered over the hole in the soffit and mounted with two wood screws. The NM 14/2 wire is stripped and cut leaving about 8 inches of wire exposed as shown.
Floodlight Base Mounted to the Soffit
Project Update / Correction
As pointed out by diligent reader “Joe” (see the Comments section below), I forgot to install a 3/8″ NM cable clamp connector in the floodlight base box to secure the cable as required by the National Electrical Code (NEC). NM clamp connectors are widely available at home improvement stores. See these other wiring projects which use an NM cable clamp connector:
The required 3/8″ NM clamp connector for the floodlight is shown here:
3/8″ NM-B Cable Clamp Connector in Floodlight Base Box
To install the 3/8″ NM cable clamp connector:
- Remove the lock ring and screw the clamp connector into the floodlight base until tight.
The lock ring is not needed in the thick metal base. (Aside: The lock ring is required for thin-wall steel junction boxes.) - Insert the NM-B 14/2 cable through the clamp connector.
- Tighten the two clamp screws until snug on the cable.
Do not overtighten the clamp to avoid damaging the cable insulation and/or crushing the wires.
3/8″ NM Cable Clamp Connector for Thomas & Betts Floodlight Junction Box
Interior view of the NM cable clamp connector mounted to the floodlight base box. Notice the clamp lock ring is not used or needed for the thick base box:
Floodlight Base Box with 3/8″ NM Cable Clamp Connector
Now back the regular program…
The two lamp units are threaded into the cover part as shown. The two lock nuts at the base of the lamps are not tightened – leave that for later when aiming the lamps.
Tip: Remember to place the weather gasket over the wires as shown here before nutting the connections together.
Lamps attached to the Floodlight Cover
The lamp wires are nutted to the electrical supply wires from the attic. I prefer to use a larger wire nut instead of the small orange nuts supplied with the kit. The wiring connections are:
- Two lamp black wires (hot) to the black house wire.
- Two lamp white wires (neutral) to the white house wire.
- Ground wire (bare) the green ground screw in the floodlight base.
Remember at this point, the NM 14/2 supply wire from the attic isn’t connected at the other end, so there’s no power on the circuit. Note – I normally wouldn’t let a fixture hang by the nutted wires as shown here, but the lamp unit is fairly lightweight and I needed both hands for the camera. I rechecked my connections before attaching the cover to the base.
Floodlight Wiring Connections
Carefully fold the wires into the base, align the weather gasket with the rim and attach the cover with the provided two screws.
Finished Floodlight Installation
Wiring the 120 Volt Circuit
For the supply side connection with the house mains, I chose to wire the floodlight as a slave unit with my home automation system as described here.
Alternatively, you could install a junction box in the attic and wire the light into a simple on/off switch.
Compact Fluorescent LED Bulbs
I prefer the new compact fluorescent (update) LED floodlight light bulbs now that LED are widely available, affordable and very power efficient. The bulbs are more expensive than traditional incandescent lights, but use 2/3rds less power for the same amount of light output and last 6 years. The newer compact fluorescent bulbs give off a “warmer” light too like traditional bulbs. After replacing most of my light bulbs with compact fluorescents (update: LEDs), I’ve noticed an improvement in my electric bill.
For the floodlights, I installed 26-Watt (90-Watt equivalent) Outdoor Floodlights. These particular bulbs take a few seconds reach full brightness and work really well.
Floodlight with 26 Watt Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
Aiming the Floodlights
Leave the ladder outside until dusk to aim the lights to cover the areas of interest and tighten the lock screw and lock nuts.
Take care,
Bob Jackson
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Bob,
Thanks for the tutorial on installing floodlights. It was very helpful. One question: how do you mount a floodlight when your overhang has vinyl soffit? I guess the better question is, how do you remove the soffit? Everytime I’ve tried, I ended up bending the outer track that holds the soffit in place.
> One question: how do you mount a floodlight when your overhang has vinyl soffit?
No problem – locate and cut a hole for the electrical box and install a Westinghouse Saf-T-Brace mounting bracket and electrical box. You don’t need attic access and the device will locate the ceiling joists for you.
See these references:
1. Westinghouse Saf-T-Brace at Amazon.com. The Saf-T-Brace should be available at Home Depot and various hardware stores.
2. Saf-T-Brace in action: Install a Ceiling Fan Mount Bracket & Electric Box by One Project Closer.
3. Nice illustrations for hanging Vinyl Soffit and wood framing at HomeTime.com. I always enjoy the TV show.
Take care,
Bob
Hey Bob,
Any time you install Romex, MC-Light, etc, to a Main Panel, Sub-Panel, any type gang box or in this case the base to a floodlight you need to use the correct fitting to secure the “Romex cable” Just leaving the Romex hanging loose in the base or box is a code violation. You can purchase a 3/8″ fitting for under $1.00 at any local hardware store.
Also, It’s always a good idea to apply a generous amout of waterproof caulking to the base before it’s attached to the building.
Joe
Hi Joe,
Thank you for pointing out the omission of the 3/8″ NM cable clamp connector as required by the NEC. It was an oversight and I’ve updated the project showing the proper installation of the clamp connector in the floodlight base.
I’m having a very strange problem. I have wired up my flood light exactly as you have but only one light works. I am totally lost as to why. It’s a brand new fixture. I’ve checked the connections and they are tight.
Take care that only one floodlight has a motion sensor (call it the master) and the other floodlight (the slave) does not have a motion sensor.
See How to Wire Two Floodlights to an In-LineLinc Relay for the wiring diagram.
Since you’re not using an In-LineLinc Relay connect the master floodlight red/sense wire to the slave light black wire. I also recommend using LED bulbs due to the very low power draw compared to incandescent lights.
Thank you for your clear and helpful instructions. I have a question, how do you get the Romex wire from the attic to the basement where the circuit breaker box is located. Your suggestions would be appreciated.
The preferred way is to go into the attic and find where an existing NM-B cable runs down to the basement circuit breaker panel. Hopefully there’s enough space in the hole drilled in the top plate of the 2×4 wall to fish another cable. I did this to run a new NM-B 12/2 cable for a new 20 AMP circuit to my upstairs office to power a network rack. It was chore and took a couple of hours.
My approach was:
1 – Identify a cable in the attic and where it enters the 2nd floor wall to the basement.
It was more or less directly above the basement panel by the stairway from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor, following the bay between the 2×4 wall studs.
2 – Identify where the cables from the basement panel enter the 1st floor wall cavity.
This was the same stairway wall.
3 – Run 10 or 15 feet of nylon fish rod up from the basement into the 1st floor wall.
4 – My helper rattled the fish rod which helped me identify where it was between the 2×4 wall studs behind the drywall.
5 – I cut two 6 x 9 inch holes in the stairway drywall sized for an Access Panel. One access hole above the stair step and one near the stairway ceiling. Why? To reach inside the wall and pull/push the NM-B cable was it was fed up from the basement.
6 – Pushed a length of fish rod from the lower stairway access hole down to the basement, the tied the new roll of NM-B cable to the rod and pulled it up to the stairs.
7 – Push the fish rod down from the attic into the stairway wall. When it reach the lower access hole, tied the cable to the fish rod to pull it up to the attic.
8 – I needed both the lower and upper access holes in the stairway wall to reach in and guide the NM-B cable as it was pulled into the attic. It’s really a two person job. Because I was following existing holes drilled in the wall sole plate and top plate, the fit was a bit snug.
Because my upstairs office is some distance over from the exit hole in the attic, I ran cable across the attic then down a new hole drilled in the office wall top plate. Cut a hole in the office wall for an old work receptacle box, pull the cable down and out the wall, then mount and wire the new 20 AMP receptacle.
Thanks,
Bob