OK, so you went to Home Depot and picked up a nice new ceiling light fixture. This could be a chandelier, a ceiling fan, a flush mount, a semi-flush mount, or even a sconce. You turned off the power (you did turn off the power, right?) and delicately removed your crummy old fixture.

Let’s see here, there are now 3 wires coming from a box (some homes may only have 2 if your wiring is in metal conduit). Let’s look at the green or bare copper wire first …