How to Install a Ceiling Light Without a Place for the Ground Wire

Turn off the circuit breaker that supplies electricity to the box where the fixture is being installed.

Fasten the light fixture's mounting bracket, if it has one, to the electrical box in the ceiling with the screws provided. Use a Phillips screwdriver to turn the screws clockwise to tighten them. Some fixtures do not require a bracket and install directly to the electrical box.

Strip off 2 inches of the insulation from the home's wiring, if it is not already stripped, using wire strippers. The new light fixture comes with its wires pre-stripped. Since there is no ground wire, there is only a hot and a neutral wire. The black or red wire is hot, and the white wire is neutral, otherwise called common.

Hold the black or red wire from the home's wiring together with the black or red wire from the fixture. Twist a wire nut over the ends of the two wires until it is snug. Wrap the wire nut and about half an inch of the wires below the nut with electrical tape. Repeat this process with the white wire from the home's wiring and the white wire and the ground from the fixture. Since there is no ground wire in the home's electrical system, the next best thing is to connect it to the neutral or common.

Push the wires into the electrical box and fit the fixture against its bracket or directly to the box, depending on the fixture type. Insert the screws that came with the fixture through the screw holes in the base and tighten them clockwise using a Phillips screwdriver.

Install a light bulb into the fixture and the globe or covering. Restore power to the fixture.