Budget Planner
How Much To Install A Standard Lighting Fixture In My Home?
Every home electrical project has its own challenges when it comes to installing. That being said, asking the right questions ahead of time makes the experience much easier to find out how much to install a new standard lighting fixture in your home?
Starting Point
How Do You Know If You Have A Standard Lighting Fixture Or Not?
A standard lighting fixture is a type of lighting fixture that involves minimum assembly in order to install it in your house. A good way to tell if you have a standard lighting fixture or not is to consider these:
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How many pieces does the lighting fixture have in order to assemble it?
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Is the lighting fixture simply mounted to the ceiling, or does it hang down at a certain height?
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How easy do you think it will be to install?
A lot of lights can be considered standard lighting fixtures. One of the most common examples would be a flush mount lighting fixture with a globe type cover. Another would a simple wall sconce light hung right outside the front door walkway.
An example of what is not a standard lighting fixture would be a chandelier or pendant lighting fixture. Again, if your lighting fixture has a lot of pieces to assemble or it’s not a straight forward install, then your lighting fixture becomes not so standard.
HomeOwners' Choice Pricing
Whenever you work with TradeWork Home Services we try to always treat you fairly. We want homeowners to have access to quality work and great pricing on every home electrical project they have big or small. TradeWork Home Services does super savings the more home electrical projects you bundle together. Check out how we do business.
Home service appointments can be a juggle to manage. When you bulk up a few electrical projects together. You help make our schedule easier. Whenever you do that, we will always make sure to get the savings.
How Much? | BallPark Estimates
Cost To Install A Standard Lighting Fixture In Your Home
With answering all the info listed above we can now answer the elusive question of ”how much for an electrician to install a standard lighting fixture in your home”.
Most likely you will fall into some of these pricing categories.
Typical Costs Associated with Installing a Standard Lighting Fixture, Depending On Your Needs:
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Cost To Install Standard Lighting Fixture To Existing Area | Customer Supplied: $80 to $125
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Cost of Adding Overhead Electrical Wiring: $480 to $600
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Cost To Add Power For A New Light Switch Location: $180 to $450
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Cost To Add A Dimmer: $95 to $145
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Cost To Install A Programmable Timer Switch: $95 to $145
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Cost To Install A Smart Switch: $95 to $200
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Cost Of Installing Standard Electrical Circuit Breakers: $100 to $135
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Cost Of Installing 15-20amp AFCI/GFCI Electrical Circuit Breaker: $150 to $195
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Cost To Add Electrical Conduit Per 10 Feet To Install Location: $180 to $500
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Cost Of Ladder Work On Ceilings Over 12 Feet: $230 And Up
Benefits With TradeWork
Company SnapShot
Checkout the benefits of working with TradeWork Home Services compared to other home electrical service companies.
What To Expect
Pricing Questions To Install A Standard Lighting Fixture In Your Home
Whenever a customer asks us to install a new standard lighting fixture in their home we ask pretty much the same questions every time.
Here are the questions TradeWork would ask during a typical phone conversation or home visit.
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1 | One of the first questions we ask is what does your time schedule look like for your project, and what town are you located in?
We try to ask this towards the beginning of a conversation in order to make sure we have a good appointment window for your schedule and to also verify that we service your home area.
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2 | What home electrical are you looking to have done?
Whenever you ask us to help we need to know whether you need something repaired, replaced, or do you want to install something new.
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3 | How old would you say your home is?
Knowing when your home was built lets us know what to expect when repairing or installing electrical projects in your home.
Modern building code started around the 1980’s. Any home built before 1980 tends to have some interesting wiring techniques, and materials that may need to be replaced.
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4 | We check to see what kind of lighting fixture have you picked out, and whether you have picked it up already?
There are many lighting options. Most times it’s best to pick out your own light fixture in order to get the one you want.
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5 | If you are getting a lighting fixture installed, then we need to confirm there is an existing lighting fixture already installed on the ceiling, and what kind of ceiling fixture is it.
Knowing what ceiling fixture you already have on the ceiling will tell us what kind of mounting box is existing in your ceiling.
Certain ceiling fixtures need to be mounted to a heavy duty mounting box that is rated for 50 lbs.
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6 | If you need new electrical wiring installed for overhead lighting in a room or want to relocate an already existing lighting fixture, than we need to confirm if you have an existing light switch on the wall or do you need a new wall switch as well.
If you have a wall switch already then you will want to check if the switch is still in good shape.
If there is no switch existing on the wall in the room, then we will have to figure out where we can get power for the new light switch as easy as possible.
If your relocating an already existing ceiling fixture, than we will have to either stretch the wire to the new location or replace the electrical wire if it will not reach.
Try to look around for the closest power outlet to where you would install a light switch in the room.
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7 | Depending on if you need a new electrical light switch or dimmer. We ask what color light switches & electrical outlets do you have in the house, and do you want to install a dimmer switch.
We need to know what color electrical devices you have installed already in the house.
The most popular electrical device colors are white or Ivory.
The types of light switches would be a classic ”toggle” style or the other type is called a ”rocker”or ”decor” switch.
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8 | Is the working area(s) completely finished or is it new construction. Also what is the finish materials on the walls and/or ceilings? How high are your ceiling in the room or basement, and is there access from in the basement, attic, or behind any of the walls?
If there is access, most times you can install new wiring for indoor electrical circuits without needing drywall repair after.
If there is no access then chances are there will be a need to cut ”easy to patch“ access holes in order to install the wiring for the light switch.
We need to know if the walls are made of drywall, brick, or other building material.
We need to get an idea of how tall of a ladder we will need to bring in case we need it.
Typical home ceiling heights are between 8-10 feet. They can go up to 12-18 feet in some homes.
We always want to communicate that drywall repairs are sometimes necessary when running new wiring behind the walls. Though we try are hardest, sometimes drywall cutouts are necessary in order to get wires form A to B. If this has to happen then the drywall repair is not included, most times a painter can give you a really fair deal on patching the drywall.
Note that when mounting on finished surfaces or installing outside, you will need to install the electrical circuit wiring in conduit (pipe) for protection.
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9 | Are the working area(s) clear to work around and navigate?
All we need to do is be able to get to where we need to work as best as possible.
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10 | We ask some questions about your electrical panel. One question is do you have an electrical panel with circuit breakers or do you have a fuse box? Another question is roughly how old do you think the electrical panel is? We ask these questions for 3 major reasons.
Reason 1: Fuse boxes are not allowed to have new wiring added to them according to modern electrical safety code.
Reason 2: They are against modern safety code for a reason, and before we take care of your electrical wants; We need to take care of your home electrical safety first.
Reason 3: Electrical breakers DO NOT LAST FOREVER! Depending on how much use they get used, circuit breakers can last anywhere between 25 to 35 years depending on its usage. There are very few electrical emergencies because circuit breakers stop them from ever happening. Circuit breakers lose their reliability past a certain age, and we try to notify you when this starts to happen.
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11 | Sometimes we need to know where the electrical panel is located in the house. What is the amperage of your main electrical breaker? Do you know what brandname electrical panel you have? Do you have any space in your electrical panel to add more circuit breakers, and does your electrical panel have AFCI breakers installed in it?
Knowing the location of your electrical panel helps us understand how long of an electrical wire will need to be in order to install a new electrical circuit.
The main electrical breaker is usually the biggest looking breaker. It should say 100amp, 150amp 200amp, 400amp.
We need to know what brand circuit breaker to buy in order get the right one for your electrical panel.
We need to know if have to make more space in the electrical panel in order to add another circuit breaker.
If your house is on the newer side we need to know whether you have AFCI circuit breakers already installed in the electrical panel.
AFCI circuit breakers are the new standard for all new housing. If you add to an existing electrical circuit in your house, then you need to install AFCI circuit breaker protection according to modern safety code.
Once we have the answers to these questions we can usually give you a ballpark estimate for installing a new standard lighting fixture in your house right over the phone.
When we arrive at your home we can confirm the estimate, answer any other questions you have, and get to work.
Homeowner Safety Update:
2023 Electrical Safety Code requires Arc Fault Protection (AFCI) to be installed on all general use electrical outlets and lighting throughout a home.
When Will I Need To Install AFCI Protection In my Home?
The following home electrical projects will be required to be upgraded to AFCI protection:
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Whenever adding electrical wiring that is 6 feet or longer to an existing home electrical circuit.
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Pretty much whenever you install a new electrical circuit to the living spaces of your home.
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During any home electrical renovations, remodels, or new home builds.
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Some cities & towns require you to upgrade to AFCI protection whenever you replace an electrical outlet, light switch, or when you upgrade your electrical panel.
Have More Questions About Arc Fault Protection For Your Home?
Head over to What Is Home Arc Fault Protection? to find out more details on why arc fault protection has become the new standard in home electrical safety.