How to Install Drop Ceiling Lighting Fixtures

Drop/suspended ceiling lighting can be tricky to install, but we’re here to help. This article will show you how to install drop ceiling lighting fixtures in your home or office. It also covers the best way to replace a light fixture with a new one and how to install drop ceiling fluorescent lights so that they don’t look too dim.

No matter what type of installation you are looking for, this article has got it covered!

Drop ceilings are found in places like offices and schools. But there are reasons they could also be good in your own home. If you have an unfinished area, for instance a basement, sometimes it is hard to deal with air ducts or pipes. Drop ceilings are often used to cover those up.

You can still add light using recessed lights inside the ceiling tiles. By installing recessed lights in your suspended ceiling, the room will be higher and you will get more light on everything because the light is directed from above instead of just from one direction at a time as with hanging lights.

When you want to finish certain areas of the house, like a bathroom, workroom, office or basement, you may be thinking about installing a suspended ceiling. This is a type of ceiling that hangs from the permanent ceiling. You can then put panels on it.

Suspended ceilings can be less expensive than other types of ceilings. Hanging things from a suspended ceiling can be tricky. You will need to modify the ceiling before you do this.

The following article will show you how to hang objects and fixtures from a suspended ceiling and install lights into ceiling tiles.

How to Install Drop Ceiling Lighting Fixtures

1. Place the Light Fixtures

A suspended ceiling can be a difficult to install fittings as they are not on the ground. You will need to set up some brackets beforehand, or you can tie décor such as balloons and other party decorations from it making them stationary but still within reach easily.

The installation of ceiling fixtures that are heavier than the weight tolerance for the suspended ceilings requires some extra attention on the part of the installer. A stud finder will help to locate and mark all studs in either an office or warehouse space.

2. Install Fixture Supports

Installing a fixture in a suspended ceiling is not as easy as it would be if the ceiling were solid. The weight of the fixture creates an extra challenge for you because it can’t be supported by just the suspended ceiling. For this reason, your only two options are to either secure the fixture with chains or metal wire.

Use a screwdriver to install screws into the ceiling studs for metal wire, or screw hooks up for chain. Using a tape measure, determine the distance from permanent ceiling to suspended ceiling. Cut wire and chain to this length plus an inch or two.

3. Install the Fixture

Install the fixture on top of the panels through which you will install them. Depending on the style of your fixture, you may need to cut a hole in some of those panels for it to fit.

If the light fixture will rest upon a suspended ceiling tile, you’ll only need to cut out a small hole in the center of that particular tile. Whether or not you have access to power tools, you can use a utility knife to cut out an area large enough for the fixture’s mounting plate.

To access the wire connections in your ceiling, leave one panel of tiles in place. Lift the fixture to that tile and thread it through a hole next to its mounting points; hang the chain or attach wire where indicated on screws for electrical wiring.

How To Install Drop Ceiling Fluorescent Lighting Fixtures

Fluorescent fixtures are also a type of fixture that is used in suspended ceilings. These will require special installation methods, but the instructions for installing them can be found below.

To replace a fluorescent fixture in a suspended ceiling, shut off power to the circuit. Remove the panels around the fixture and unthread the old fixture from the ceiling frame. Unscrew it and set it aside. Then screw in your new fixture to replace where you just pulled out an old one.

How to Install Drop Ceiling Lighting Fixtures in a Office

An office environment may call for some specific types of LED lighting as opposed to the typical needs elsewhere in your home or office. If the office is not built for a traditional desk set up, you may have some unique requirements that are different from those of your home or other work areas in the building.

How To Hang Things From A Suspended Ceiling

The best type of fixture for installing on your suspended ceiling is one that has chains or wire hanging from it. You can also use a fixture that has hooks on top of it. Hanging things from your suspended ceiling may seem like a good idea, but the truth is that you need to modify or add something before doing this.

How To Replace Drop Ceiling Lights

1. Turn off the breaker supplying power to the ceiling light fixtures.
2. Double-check by using a noncontact circuit tester.
3. Disconnect lights from main power supply and secure with wire nuts.
4. Take out the light bulbs and store them somewhere safe.
5. Unplug lights from ceiling grid and any wires that are not needed anymore. Then take them to a storage area.
6. Install new LED lighting fixtures.

Lights For Drop Ceiling Tiles

Drop ceiling tiles are a great way to solve many issues that come with having ceilings above your head. They allow you to create the perfect space for whatever is needed and they do so in a cost-effective manner.

For the purposes of this article, we’ll assume that you want to put lights into your suspended ceiling tile in order to light up a particular space or use as a mood lighting.

1. Choose what type of fixture you need for the job. There are various types of fixtures available and they all have their own benefits and costs. When you are choosing a fixture, think about the brightness of it.
2. Decide where to place your lights on the tile and how many there will be. You should have at least one light in each room that has their own drop ceiling tiles as well as any rooms that share a common wall with another room (for instance, a kitchen and living room).
3. Measure the dimensions of your ceiling tile. You’ll need to allow space for installation and then cut it out with a utility knife or other standard tool if you are installing lights on top of an existing tile. Measure from each corner in order to find the center point. If you are installing multiple lights, you will need to install them at the same height and in a straight line.
4. Cut out the hole with a utility knife or other standard tool that is appropriate for this type of job. You may also use an electric jigsaw if necessary. Be sure to wear safety goggles when doing this.
5. Install your lights into the hole that you just cut out of the tile. You can either mount a light directly to it, or attach one end of an adjustable arm (or equivalent) to the frame and then attach other end with screws on top of each individual wire in order keep them straight and secure.
6. Once you have installed the lights, plug them into an outlet and turn on your breaker to power up the light fixtures.

Drop Ceiling Can/Recessed Lights Installation

1. Remove the tiles next to where you are installing the recessed lights.
2. Place an extra wire at each corner of the tiles for the light to be installed on by looping a 16-gauge wire through eye bolts in the ceiling joists that hold up your drop ceiling in place, wrapping it three times and then looping it through holes in metal runners (small beams which help hold up your “drop” ceiling.
3. Measure the distance between the runners above the tile. Cut blocks from a 2-by-4 to match that distance. Cut two blocks for each light. Cut the wood with a circular saw, wearing safety goggles as you do.
4. Hold a lighting can against each of the tiles where you are installing lights and trace an outline of it on your tile with a utility knife (carefully).
5. Put a 2-by-4 block on two sides of the tile with screws.
6. To find the studs, use a stud finder, then drill to make a hole in the wall.
7. Cut out holes in the wall for an old work electrical box and put it in between two studs.
8. In order to install the recessed lights, you need to cut pieces of 12/2 electrical cable. The cable should go from the ceiling tile hole to the first light in the series and then from there back into your wall. It also needs a wire connection between your main electric box and this set-up.
9. You need to wire the lights and install them. Read the manual for the lights that you bought. The wires need to be matched. Cut 2 inches of sheathing on each end of the wires, and 1 inch of insulation off the black and white wires inside with wire cutters. Twist together a bare part from a white wire from your cable to a bare part on a white wire from your light with pliers. Put plastic caps on this, then twist tight with pliers again. Repeat for black wires too!
10. Screw in the light bulbs and install the trim for the recessed lights. Replace the ceiling tiles that you removed.
11. Slide cables into wall. Hook them to box with pliers. Cut 3 inch piece of ground wire from cable.
12. Strip ends of black and white wires, then bend them with pliers so they form hooks on each end
13. Loosen the brass screws on the sides of the light switch.
14. Hook up black wires to them and tighten them.
15. Connect white wires to the silver screws and tighten those too.
16. Connect one end of your 3-inch ground wire to a ground screw at the bottom of your light switch, then twist it around any other ground wires inside cables with a plastic connector cap attached to them until they are tight together as well.
17. Place wiring and light switch into electrical box, screwing it in with mounting screws (or push it in if you have a socket). 6 Screw on plate cover over top of this by using mounting screws or pressing down and tightening each side individually.

Types Of Lighting For Drop Ceilings

Different types of lighting for drop ceilings are available to you. The most common type is the recessed light, which sits inside your ceiling and emits a direct beam down toward the floor.

The more popular versions use LED panels in replacement of whole tiles or recessed LED fixtures. Fluorescent luminaires are no longer the best choice.

LED

LED lighting is a particularly good option, offering both low-energy usage and high durability with the added bonus of being able to change colors if you wanted it to! LEDs are much more expensive than normal lights, though, so make sure that this type will suit your needs before you buy.

There are also other types of bulbs you can use for drop ceilings, such as halogen or incandescent lights.

Halogen

Halogen is a type of gas-discharge lamp that emits light with an intensity similar to standard fluorescent lamps but uses less power than them; they’re still quite bright though and last long so this is an excellent option if you’re looking for a cost-effective solution.

Tungsten

Incandescent light bulbs were the cheapest type of bulb to buy, but they aren’t energy efficient and will need replacing more often than any other options out there. They will soon be an obsolete so do not use them.

Andrew Orange, the owner of Orange Lighting qualified and worked as an interior designer in 1993 before specialising in lighting working on high profile projects based in London. Since starting Orange Lighting Ltd in 2003 he has been sharing his knowledge and unique teaching style mostly to his designer clients, offering practical real life advice born from running a busy consultancy and lighting supply business. Launching in 2020, his blog has evolved into Quick & Easy Lighting, curating some 25 years design experience into making the lighting choice and design process achievable and easy to understand for all.