How to Install a Low Voltage Electrical Wall Box

Enclosing your electrical connections in a junction box protects your home from a fire in the event the connection fails, and the electrical code requires a box at every 120- or 240-volt connection. Connections for wires carrying less than 30 volts don't have the same potential to create fires, however, so the main purpose of a 12-volt wall box is to support the cover plate. It isn't really a box at all, but a bracket that you anchor to the drywall. You can use it for phone, cable TV and speaker wires as well as for wires for 12-volt lighting fixtures.

Torpedo level
Ruler
Drywall saw
Screwdriver

Instructions

- 1
  Place the front of the bracket against the drywall at the installation location. Set a torpedo level on the top edge and adjust the box to center the bubble. Poke a pencil through the reference hole near each of the corners and make a mark on the wall. Remove the bracket.
- 2
  Draw lines between the marks to form a rectangle, using a ruler and a pencil. Double-check the level of the top and bottom lines. If they aren't level, the cover plate for the box will be askew.
- 3
  Cut around the rectangle, using a drywall saw. Remove the cutout.
- 4
  Fit the bracket into the hole and turn the screws in front clockwise, using a screwdriver. The mounting brackets will automatically align against the back of the drywall as you do this, and tightening the the screw will secure the bracket.

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