Who to Hire to Install Recessed Lighting

Recessed lighting is an amazing option for those looking to brighten up a room without ruining its aesthetic. Now that you’ve chosen your light fixture type, you need to know who can install recessed lighting. To spark some ideas, read on about the best pros to hire for this job.

What Is Recessed Lighting?

Recessed lights are fixtures installed directly into the ceiling, surface, or wall. They’re composed of three parts: housing, trim, and bulb. The housing hides the bulb, while the trim is the visible, decorative part of the fixture. While these lights can go anywhere in the home, the most popular places for recessed lighting are your kitchen, living room, basement, and closets.

Benefits of Hiring an Electrician to Install Recessed Lighting

The benefits of hiring local recessed lighting pro with electrical expertise are plentiful, as there’s a lot that can go wrong when working with wiring.

Electrical Expertise

Swapping out your standard fixtures for recessed lights always requires new wiring to be installed. Unless you’re an electrician yourself, we don’t recommend you attempt to DIY wiring as it can be dangerous, and improper installation can lead to fire or injury. Your local electrician will complete the job safely and smoothly, giving you peace of mind.

Minimize Your Damage

Installing recessed lighting means messing up your ceiling or walls by cutting holes for the new installation and the many feet of wiring. A professional electrician will know how to wire your new recessed lighting effectively, minimizing the damage done to your home.

Can I DIY Recessed Lighting?

No, we don’t recommend you DIY this job. Installing recessed lighting is a dangerous and rather complicated process that involves a lot of electrical know-how. Not only are you cutting holes out of your walls or ceilings to install it, but you have to make sure you’re taking the proper safety precautions, such as doing voltage tests and wearing breathing protection, to protect yourself against any injury.

There are also layout concerns when installing your own recessed lighting—there’s little room for error if you want them evenly spaced. Additionally, should a fire occur due to improper installation, your home insurance may not cover work you attempted to do yourself.

Can I Hire a Handyperson to Install Recessed Lighting?

While you can hire an electrical handyperson near you to install recessed lighting, you must do so with some caution, as it requires many skills and expertise. From planning out where the lights go to wiring all of them correctly and minimizing damage to your walls and ceilings, plenty of things can go wrong during the installation of recessed lighting. It’s best to interview your handyperson before hiring them and ask questions about their electrical experience. 

How Do Electricians Install Recessed Lighting?

Before your electrician starts to install recessed lighting, you must check that your circuits can power recessed lighting, plan the layout, select the fixtures, and follow all safety precautions. Once the prep work is done, your electrician will start the installation, which includes:

• Cutting the holes for the recessed lighting and any necessary wall cutouts to access the electrical

• Rough in the electrical wiring and connect them to the lighting fixtures

• Mount the fixtures into the holes and install the trim

• Wire the light circuit to the service panel if you’re powering your lights with a new circuit

Once all the steps have been taken to install the recessed lighting, your electrician should install new bulbs in all the fixtures and run one last test to ensure your new lights shine bright.

Cost to Install Recessed Lighting

The cost of recessed lighting can range from $100 to $300 per fixture. The cost depends on whether you get can versus canless lights, how deep (or recessed) you want your lights, whether you need insulation, and how much drywall repair is needed after installation.