What Are Pendant Lights?

• Pendant lighting is any kind of lamp or light that hangs from the ceiling, including chandeliers. They are elegant and beautiful, and are useful in that they concentrate light in one spot on a surface. The most common type of pendant light is one light bulb enclosed in a shade made of clear or opaque glass, suspended from the ceiling by a chain or a chain with a tube around it. An electrical cord runs from the light bulb's housing up the chain and into the unit in the ceiling. Pendant lights are popular over kitchen islands, kitchen bars, and hanging over sinks.
  
  

Installing the Electrical Box

• First, decide how high you want the light to float above the surface of the table, island, or other. This can vary greatly according to your personal taste and the design of your light, but in general, the recommendation is to leave 28 to 34 inches between the bottom of the pendant light and the surface it is hanging above. Start in this range and adjust the height to your own personal tastes.
  
  Remove the old light fixture. If your pendant light came with mounting hardware, install that to the electrical box next. Look at the way the old fixture was wired into the electrical plate, and try to copy that wire configuration with your new fixture, using wire nuts to connect the wires. Be sure to connect the ground wire to the box or provided bracket, following the installation instructions that came with your light.
  
  

Installing Pendant Lights

• After the wires are connected, gently lower the light on the chain until it reaches your desired height. If you need to shorten the chain, you can remove some links using a screwdriver as a lever to pry them apart. Alternately, you can coil up the chain in the ceiling housing, if there is room. Make sure the wire runs through the chain. If a tube (some lights come with a tube to hide the chain and help the light hang straighter), you will want to slide the tube on at this point.
  
  Finally, attach the light bulb and light shade. Turn the power back on and enjoy your new pendant light!