The nightmare continues....lighting

[yardwork]

So, as discussed in this thread, I had a problem with a replacement ceiling light fixture in my kitchen.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1158&pid=1087

I decided that the best approach would be to get another lighting fixture, one that is designed to hold more bulbs and put out more light. I talked it over with the guys in the electric lighting department at my local Lowes after work tonight. I got conflicting advice. In the end, I purchased a semi-flush ceiling fixture that holds three 60 watt bulbs. It's this model:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_143823-2121-P4747/3ASF_0__?productId=3096077&Ntt=bel+air+semi-flush&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo=

Obviously, I didn't read the reviews before I purchased it.

I took it home, and my son and I read the instructions, turned off the electricity, took down the fixture that we installed this past weekend that isn't bright enough, and began installing this new one. After screwing in the mounting hardware and attaching the wires, we started to install the light fixture and discovered that it was defective. It's supposed to be an "easy installation" but it didn't work - didn't hold the fixture to the mounting hardware, it was going to fall right off. So we took it all down, disconnected the wires, packed it back up, drove back to Lowes, showed the nice lady at Returns what was wrong, she agreed that it was defective, credited my credit card, and suggested that we open the package of another one to see if we could find one that worked. We did. It seemed fine. So we bought that and took it home.

Started all over again. Got the whole thing put together and discovered that (1) it's crooked - seems impossible to get the fixture to hang straight, and (2) the plate isn't flush with the ceiling and there's gaps in the drywall that will need to be replaced. But we needed to finish up for the night so we finished installing it, figuring we would fiddle with the way it hangs tomorrow, and turned back on the the electricity. Hit the light switch and it doesn't work. Don't know what the problem is. Entire fixture defective? Wires not installed correctly? Don't know, but I'm going to take it all down again tomorrow and return it to Lowes, because even if I could figure out what was wrong with it, I don't think I can get it to hang straight.

I just don't know what to replace it with. I need something that casts bright light. I need at least 180 watts. It seems like the best course of action is to return to a flush mount that is large enough to cover up the hole in the ceiling, that I don't have to worry about getting to hang straight. Maybe I should call an electrician. I've never installed light fixtures myself before. I'm a gardener. I know how to grow roses. I don't know anything about lighting or electricity.

Advise welcome. I needed to vent.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Call an electrician that you know and trust.

That's what we do.

A good one will save you much distress and trouble. S/he might cost more money, but I always feel that competent workers are worth it.

Good luck!

[Lionessa]

2. Installing lights is generally pretty easy. If you're having this much trouble with Lowes,

I recommend trying somewhere else. I use HD and nary had a defective lamp, light, or ceiling fan and I bought many over the years.

You might check that the wire nuts are properly screwed onto both wires, sometimes when screwing them on, one wire will wiggle lose rather than screw in, check all wire nut connections.

Otherwise, yeah, get an electrician, but still someone has to provide a fixture that works for installation to be successful.

[Lionessa]

3. Additionally, if you switch to compact flourescent, you'll get more bright in less wattage

and perhaps could use a two lamp light, which would put you back to standard flush mount dual light fixtures.

[Warpy]

4. You have to be careful with those

I still have a stash of incandescent bulbs here because I have two fixtures that won't accept CFL bulbs. Either the glass is too small or the whole business is just too tight to accept the large base of the CFL bulbs.

At this point I'd probably go to a store that specializes in lighting and try to find a fixture that's designed to accept CFL bulbs.

(Well, as a practical matter, I'd look around and find one online and get that)

A two CFL bulb fixture with 100W equivalents in it would give you enough light to sell jewelry by and keep the power bill lower.

[NMDemDist2]

5. wow, shouldn't be such a hassle

sorry it is!!

here's two companies that have some good stuff, i've bought several fixtures for my house, i've copied the 'semi flush' page as a suggestion, sounds like that may be a good choice in your situation

http://www.lightingdirect.com/index.cfm?flush-mount-ceiling-lighting=c1206&page=search:browse&categoryid=1206&F385=semi-flush&intcmp=SRTCeilingSemiFlush

http://www.lightinguniverse.com/semi-flush-ceiling-lights_449.html?sort=priceLow

[yardwork]

6. Thank you for that advice! UPDATE - I called an electrician, who solved all the problems.

I hadn't even posted that I bought two more fixtures from Lowe's. I gave up on the one that was too dim. I did buy a semi-flush model, which has three 60 watt bulbs. The nightmare continued....the first fixture was defective and had to be returned, the second we installed, but it didn't work and wasn't flush with the ceiling. So at that point I did call an electrician. He came last week and successfully installed the new fixture! He needed some hardware from his truck - some kind of spring-loaded washers - to get the fixture to align correctly with the ceiling so that the upper plate is flush and the fixture hangs straight. It is beautiful and very bright!

And Lowes gave me full credit for the other fixture and various lightbulbs I'd tried even though I didn't have the original packaging. They refunded my credit card on the basis of the receipts.

Thank you, everyone. Next time I call the electrician first.

[NMDemDist2]

7. good! nothing worse than bad lighting

especially in an area you need to SEE!!

[yardwork]

8. It's so great to have bright beautiful light. And know it is safely installed.

Never again will I try to diy an electrical project.