Home Electrical Hack Job Idea

jyl · jyl's Garage

EDIT: This thread is about my house.

I have mounted the pull down projector screen over the passage between living and dining room. It is a wide opening, that used to hold pocket doors, and the white screen housing blends in so well on the broad white trimwork, people don’t even see it. I’m pleased.

Now for the projector. It is a white cube, about 8” a side, and I want to mount it on the ceiling, just on the screen side of the ceiling light fixture. I can use a white mount and wirelessly connect to laptop and speakers. Should blend in well. I’m trying to make all this blend in.

But it needs a power cord. Ewww, an ugly power cord snaking along my ceiling and down the wall - nope.

I have two choices.

1. Do it “right”. Open the ceiling and wall, fish power to a ceiling receptacle. Sounds like work.

2. “Hack it”. Install a ceiling receptacle powered by the ceiling light circuit - or maybe even hardwire the projector, using a flat white power cable of course. Leave the wall switch “on” all the time. Replace the fixture’s five light bulbs with wireless LED bulbs controlled by a remote, which I’ll mount to the wall. Sounds easy, and reversible if that matters.

What would you do?

look 171 · 01-02-2026, 06:10 PM

Open up. I dislike the look of surface mounting anything but hey, its a commercial place so there are more surface mounted pipes and such I care to count. After a week or two, no one will even noticed.

masraum · 01-02-2026, 06:13 PM

Seems like you should be able to pretty easily put in a power running from the ceiling light, but will that be kosher with regard to code? Hell, you could probably even do a recessed receptacle that could be hidden under (above) the projector.

look 171 · 01-02-2026, 06:19 PM

Get around code, install a ceiling plug. Nothing is hard-wired so unplug it to get it to pass code.

jyl · jyl's Garage

This is in my house, sorry I wasn’t clear. So I care more about how it looks, and code doesn’t matter (much).

look 171 · 01-02-2026, 10:51 PM

I would hack up the ceiling. Hate to see surface mounted anything. What's on the other side, attic?

dad911 · 01-03-2026, 04:02 AM

You can also replace the switch with a jumper and a 'wireless switch', and hide the receiver for the wireless switch in the light fixture. That makes both 'hot' all the time, but the light controllable without running any additional wires.

Gogar · 01-03-2026, 07:56 AM

is the ceiling hollow between the projector and the fixture? is it possible to punch a little hole right behind the projector and fish it into the side of the ceiling box? The ceiling box should have a knockout in the side and you could fish through there. Unless there's a stud or something in the way between the two.

I would set the ceiling fixture to 'always on' and do a Hue light and a hue switch on the wall or something like you suggest. Or whatever brand of wireless stuff you want to use.

Zeke · 01-03-2026, 08:59 AM

The is nothing in the residential wiring code that I know of that requires lights and receptacles to be on separate circuits. Just make sure the wire gauge is the same. You can use a receptacle that utilizes a plug and a switch so that you can use a pole to flick the switch.

Also, you don't know how the light box is wired until you open it. There could be a constant hot there.

Alan A · 11:43 AM

Some variation of this not an option?

Edit: link not working.

Google this instead

“QWORK Light Socket with Grounded Outlet”