The Risks of Installing Recessed Lighting Yourself

It’s tempting to try to save money by doing home repairs yourself. In many cases, things work out just fine. But when it comes to installing new electrical fixtures like lights, doing the work yourself can turn out to be a disaster. Learn more about the risks of installing recessed lighting yourself.

It May Be Illegal

Messing with electrical wiring almost always requires a permit. This is especially true when installing something new that requires you to cut into a wall or ceiling. Regulations exist for your safety. You might be able to install can lights yourself, and they may switch on. But you could create an electrical hazard you can’t see while doing so because the problem exists inside your ceiling or attic and isn’t visible.

Improper wiring is dangerous. It can cause electrical fires that destroy far more than your new recessed lights. Such a fire could take out your entire house. Do-it-yourselfers may be unfamiliar with the different types of recessed lighting fixtures, some of which cannot safely come in direct contact with insulation.

You May Miss Code Requirements

Building codes undergo revisions more frequently than you might imagine. Licensed residential electricians in San Antonio, TX, keep up with code requirements. They’ll know what local codes require. Their knowledge will extend from rules regarding wiring to the type of fixtures that local codes permit and where inside the house they can install them.

You Can Experience Electric Shocks

Are you absolutely sure which circuits within your home power which fixtures? Do you know the connections each of the breakers manages in your electrical panel? Working with electrical fixtures without the proper knowledge of the circuitry in your home can result in overloaded or improperly wired circuits. Worse, they can lead to severe or fatal electric shocks.

You May Face Do-Overs

Measure twice, cut once, right? But what if you don’t know how far apart your recessed lights should be? Or what happens when you don’t consider how you want to position a light over the part of the room where you have your TV? One of the risks of installing recessed lighting yourself is facing do-overs. You may only figure out you’ve put your lights in the wrong place after you’ve already cut the holes and installed the lights.

The bottom line is that hiring a professional electrician to install recessed lighting will pay off in the long run. You’ll have peace of mind that they do the job correctly, that your new lights are safe to use, and that you can enjoy the ambiance of a room with new recessed lighting.