Electrical Question - Need some guidance

[Wooden Skye]

In my shop I have a ceiling mounted light socket and a fluorescent light on the switch in my shop.  I have been having trouble with the fluorescent light, believe ballast is going bad.  I bought (2) 4 foot LED lights which will give me much better lighting.  Here is where I could use some help because electrical work isn't my strong point on the DIY scale.  So my questions:

1) I would like to remove the fluorescent light and install an outlet, is this possible even with being on the switch?  I only plan to put a 2 plug outlet.  I'm guessing that even with a pull chain on the LED, I will still need to flip switch on for it to work. 

2) I have an outlet near the ceiling mounted light socket (probably 8" apart) it will work without the switch being on, is it reasonable to assume they are on the same circuit? 

3) If I wanted to replace the light socket with another outlet, is it too close to the other outlet?  Also is it better to switch to an outlet vs just removing the bulb, the bulb is over where I am moving my table saw to and don't want to accidentally hit the bulb and break it?

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide.

 

[tjbnwi]

1) a receptacle can be switched, it will need to be installed in and outlet (box), yes you'll need to turn the switch on.

2) assume nothing, you'll know by shutting off circuit breakers or removing fuses

3) no issue with the spacing, changing to a receptacle may be handy for other tools

Tom

 

[RussellS]

1.  Its OK to replace the light with an outlet.  And then install one or two lights on the ceiling with a plug cord over to the outlet.  Put up two lights and space them out better than the one light you have now.  Don't use a pull chain on lights.  Just wire the outlet to the wires in the ceiling right now.  They are controlled by the switch.  Your new outlet will also be controlled by the switch since it uses the same wires.  And plug one or two lights into this outlet.  Make it a double outlet with 4 plug ins.

2.  They may be on the same circuit.  Or they may NOT be on the same circuit.  Flip the circuit breakers in the panel box to determine which circuit breakers control the light/switch and the outlet.  It really does not matter if both are on the same circuit or not.  Since you are talking about a couple outlets in the ceiling, not very useful since they are so high up, and just plugging a light or two into them.

3.  If the separate outlet is on a separate circuit, and you plug a light into your new outlet, then no they are not too close.  Put a 6 foot cord onto your new light and move it well away from the old outlet.  Maybe put an extension cord into the existing outlet so you can plug stuff into it easily on the floor.  If you put in a switched outlet, then you can position your new bulb/light anywhere on the ceiling you want.  Over or not over the table saw.

 

[Wooden Skye]

Thanks for the answers so far. 

[member=13115]RussellS[/member] the ceilings in my shop are about 8'2" and being 6' myself, I am able to reach any outlets I put in the ceiling. 

 

[RussellS]

[member=13115]RussellS[/member] the ceilings in my shop are about 8'2" and being 6' myself, I am able to reach any outlets I put in the ceiling.

You must have the longest arms and fingers in the world.  I'm 5'11", not much shorter.  I have ceilings in my bedrooms that are 8' high.  I cannot stand on the ground and touch my ceilings.  Let alone get my knuckles on the ceiling to push in a plug.  And you say your ceilings are 2" higher still.  I'd suggest going out and trying to touch the ceilings in your garage. Standing on your flat feet.  Not jumping up on your tip toes.  And maybe take a tape measure and seeing how high your garage ceiling really is.  I'm guessing 8'2" is a lot more than it really is.

 

[Wooden Skye]

You may be right that it lower than 8'2", but I am not going to measure, if it is I would just be depressed. I can reach the plug by the light socket so it does have use to swap to another outlet.  No I just need to get my buddy to swap out.

 

[tjbnwi]

A simple PSA---shut the circuit off at the panel before working on this...

Tom

 

[Brice Burrell]

Your lights are likely in round electrical boxes on the ceiling, these are handy to easily put an outlet in a round box. Leviton 1228 15 Amp 125 Volt, Duplex Receptacle, with 4" Metal Cover, Residential Grade, Grounding, Brown-Amazon

 

[Cheese]

This is how I solved the reach issue for ceiling outlets...just so much easier to use.  [big grin]

 

[Mario Turcot]

You can also split the outlet to have only one of the two to be switched and the other to be live in all time

 

[Bob D.]

This is how I solved the reach issue for ceiling outlets...just so much easier to use.  [big grin]

An important piece not to leave out is the strain reliefs on the cords that you see installed here,
and use the proper cord which would be minimum of 12 Ga. and marked SO or SOW IIRC,
Using a piece of an extension cord is not the correct cable to use.

 

[Cheese]

An important piece not to leave out is the strain reliefs on the cords that you see installed here,
and use the proper cord which would be minimum of 12 Ga. and marked SO or SOW IIRC,
Using a piece of an extension cord is not the correct cable to use.

Absolutely correct... [smile]

These strain reliefs are sized to work with a certain diameter cord so that the Chinese "finger pull" feature remains functional. 

 

[thudchkr]

You can also split the outlet to have only one of the two to be switched and the other to be live in all time

Not necessarily true. It is dependant on the way it is wired. If the power goes through the switch prior to getting the the box where the light is, turning off the switch removes all power to that box. You’d have to run another wire from there to the box at the light to provide un-switched power.

If the power goes to the light box first then has a switch loop go to the switch, you could easily leave one outlet hot all the time and make the other switchable.

 

[RussellS]

You may be right that it lower than 8'2", but I am not going to measure, if it is I would just be depressed. I can reach the plug by the light socket so it does have use to swap to another outlet.  No I just need to get my buddy to swap out.

You still need a separate extension cord from the outlet on the ceiling.  Not just because its easier to plug into.  But maybe as important it would give you better range of motion.  Lets assume cords on power tools are  feet long.  Maybe up to 8 feet maybe.  So if the outlet is at 8 feet high and your bench where you are working is 3 feet high, you have 5 feet of cord hanging in the air that is sort of useless.  Your tool now has about 1 to 3 feet of motion permitted.  If you had an 8 foot extension cord plugged into the outlet and its end was on the floor.  Then plugged your 6 to 8 foot power cord into the extension cord, and worked at 3 feet high on the bench.  You would have about 3 to 5 feet of motion available.  A plug on the floor instead of the ceiling is much closer to the work and gives you more range of motion.