# run spliced lamp cord inside a wall?



## Saturday Cowboy (Nov 29, 2009)

I would use a clock receptacle. drop romex inside wall from a box cutin where you want the fixtures down to the existing plug. this would allow you to shorten the cords and to plug them in behind the lights. I will try to find pic of a clock plug.


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## Saturday Cowboy (Nov 29, 2009)

here is a picture of one 
h t t p://gfretwell.com/electrical/clock%20receptacle.jpg


Here we can't in good faith direct you to do anything against code. So don't ask. In all cases there is a reason for the requirements, most of them closely related to safety.


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## kbsparky (Sep 11, 2008)

Saturday Cowboy said:


> here is a picture of one
> h t t p://gfretwell.com/electrical/clock%20receptacle.jpg.....


Why not post the link properly?


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## denemante (Apr 2, 2010)

I don't quite get it - the clock recepticle is recessed - I could use that (times 2). But this is a finished wall - plus I want an easy on/off - like a simple switch on the wire near where it plugs in (vs. mounting a wall switch).

I mean, I could easily hang both lamps on the wall, just let the cord hang down the wall - and plug them in.

The whole problem is I want the cords inside the wall for asthetics.

Don't get me wrong - I like to do things right, and I respect code. I'm also the guardian of the house, and won't be hanging beadboard in the area and shooting nails where I might hit a wire inside.

Let me rephrase my question a bit....

Is lampcord not rated to run inside walls simply because someone might shoot a nail through it later? OR - does lampcord get hot, play poorly when tucked tight against insulation/drywall, etc.?

If the Mythbusters set up an experiment where they ran a 17 foot lamp cord into a hole in drywall 10 feet up, then out from the botton 1 foot up - and left that lamp on for 2 years straight in a room no one was allowed in - would anything bad happen?


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

> Is lampcord not rated to run inside walls simply because someone might shoot a nail through it later?


it matters not why it isn't rated to run inside a wall. The fact is, it is not legal to run inside a wall so you cannot legally use it inside a wall. It's that simple.


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## SGC622 (Dec 16, 2010)

plain and simple like above mentioned it is illegal, being run in walls is not in the "uses permitted" section of the code if any for that wire, not that this is the determining factor or anything, but to give a list of reasons, lamp cord is not designed for that purpose, it does not have a ground wire with it, the jacket is not as tough or rigid enough or designed to protect the wire like romex is. as well, Romex has a rating i believe its thwn or something like that, I'd have to look it up but its irrelevant to the point im making, basically the lamp cord does not have the same rating as the romex wire nor is as heavy duty and sized to be in a wall as per the Code.


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## clashley (Nov 24, 2009)

denemante said:


> I don't quite get it - the clock recepticle is recessed - I could use that (times 2). But this is a finished wall - plus I want an easy on/off - like a simple switch on the wire near where it plugs in (vs. mounting a wall switch).
> 
> I mean, I could easily hang both lamps on the wall, just let the cord hang down the wall - and plug them in.
> 
> ...


Lampcord is not fire-rated, and is intended for temporary installations (i.e., you plug it into a receptacle, and can easily unplug and move it around). Putting the lamp cord inside a wall qualifies as a permanent installation, which requires a fire-rated cable such as NM.

Your first post seems to indicate you know all of this, anyway. The NEC and local building codes do not exist to annoy homeowners (that is just an unfortunate side effect at times). It is to protect your dwelling, you and your family, as well as any future owners of you property. God forbid your house should catch fire.... if your insurance company finds out that you deliberately violated code, you could be in a world of financial hurt (assuming that you are fortunate enough to escape uninjured).

Your best bet is to use recessed receptacles served by appropriate NM cabling as stated earlier. For convenience, install a switch in the wall to control the receptacles. As far as the wall goes, it shouldn't be to difficult to use cut-in boxes and fishtape (no more difficult than trying fish lamp cord through a wall, really) and get a nice professional look.


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## SGC622 (Dec 16, 2010)

> We want to mount these onto the wall high up, one above the other. I can remove the base, and I'm good. Mounting will be easy.


To be completely by code, if you wanted to modify those lights to be installed on the wall, you would have to get your your local inspector to inspect and write off on those lights as it was not under their UL or like listing to be used for your purpose.

Secondly, seeing that the lamp cord cannot be run in the wall you really are faced with the decision, "do you really want to mess with these lights?" and Can you deal with running romex because unless you have a curtain on either side where each light is going to be to hide the cord running down the wall your basically stuck doing romex or you could also do wiremold, but you still couldnt' put lamp cord in it you would have to put 14 or 12 wire in it up to the box where the lights are.


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## busman (Nov 7, 2008)

clashley said:


> God forbid your house should catch fire.... if your insurance company finds out that you deliberately violated code, you could be in a world of financial hurt (assuming that you are fortunate enough to escape uninjured).


Especially since you were kind enough to post the details on the internet for them.

It seems DIYer's like to do everything themselves, even start their own fires.

Mark


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

Yo denemante, where did you go ? Why not let us know what's up? We would like to hear how you approached the light wiring. Hopefully it's not the way you wanted to.


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## denemante (Apr 2, 2010)

Hey all - no question - I'm taking everyone's advice and doing it the right way (if I do it at all). But I have another question.

Instead of lamp cord, why couldn't I remove the cords from the lamps and wire both with 15 feet of romex. Then mount them on the wall, running the romex through holes in the drywall. 1 foot above the floor, I could put a simple electrical box. In that, I'd splice both lamp romex wires together, but also wire them to a heavy duty plug on a cord that's maybe 5 feet long (and will come out into the room). I'd affix this power cord to the inside of the box with one of those little round screw-in clamps (so no one could pull it from the room), and put a basic wall-plate with a hold drilled in the center for my power cord to come out. Then I could just plug it in to a nearby outlet.

I'm thinking that perhaps I can't just run romex through a hole in the wall. And I though romex had to be like 3 inches deep and run through or be tacked to a stud. I wouldn't be able to assure either of those.

I mean, I understand I could mount two clock recepticales on the wall, then run power to each, finally ending in a standard wall switch. An easy job if the wall was unfinished. But I can't envision how anybody could pull this off without tearing out some serious drywall.

Thanks!


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## GottaFixIt (Dec 3, 2010)

Why not just use a cable raceway?










For the switch, you could use a wireless switch - like these:


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## oberkc (Dec 3, 2009)

> Instead of lamp cord, why couldn't I remove the cords from the lamps and wire both with 15 feet of romex. Then mount them on the wall, running the romex through holes in the drywall. 1 foot above the floor, I could put a simple electrical box. In that, I'd splice both lamp romex wires together, but also wire them to a heavy duty plug on a cord that's maybe 5 feet long (and will come out into the room). I'd affix this power cord to the inside of the box with one of those little round screw-in clamps (so no one could pull it from the room), and put a basic wall-plate with a hold drilled in the center for my power cord to come out. Then I could just plug it in to a nearby outlet.


So let me get this straight...you want to install a box in the wall, from which will come a "heavy-duty" cable and plug, which can be plugged into a nearby outlet?!

Are you ever going to try to sell this house? How do you think a prospective buyer will percieve such an arrangement? How do you think this will reflect on the perceptions about your house and the selling price? Even if code allows this (which I doubt) or if you are willing to take the risk to life and limb, I would think your own financial interests would compel you to avoid this approach. 

By the way, this doesn't sound any easier to me than doing it right. It sounds as if your basic concern is your ability to route power from a wall switch to a new box in the wall. Do you have access either below the wall (basement/crawl) or above (attic)? Is the wall full of insulation. If the answer to these questions is yes and no, then adding a wire is pretty routine (relatively speaking, of course). Insulation only makes it a little harder.


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## mserrino (Jul 7, 2010)

Another thing to take into consideration is that you might be creating a fire hazard. Judging from your explanation I'm guessing it is a light like this:









If so I would think the heat from the bulbs is supposed to vent out the top. Since you said you wanted to mount them above each other on a wall I'm assuming you plan to rotate them 90 degrees when mounting them. Not sure if there would be proper ventilation and the shade may catch fire. Just something to think about.


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## WillK (Aug 29, 2010)

If you are lucky enough to not have something unfortunate happen as a result of using lamp cord improperly, take a look at the pictures I'm attaching and tell me what it would do for your willingness to buy a house or pay asking price. I have eradicated every inch of lamp cord even though it has meant leaving the second floor with no lights or outlets.

Lamp cord is usually going to be smaller gauge wire than the 14 gauge NM cable that is minimum for 15 amp circuits or 12 gauge for 20 amp circuits. It is constructed with multiple strands of copper wire, and these strands may break reducing the effective wire gauge further, and when the wire is of smaller gauge it tends to heat up more. In your living space, you're generally in contact with finished surfaces which are probably less prone to ignition than something like drywall paper facing which isn't painted... What's more, in the living space you have direct access to extinguish a fire from a lamp cord and you'll more easily be able to detect it. Not so if its enclosed in a wall.

It would be no more difficult to properly run NM cable through your wall attaching it inside junction boxes, use old work boxes and you can probably do the job without any drywall work.

My project currently includes a circuit for direct wired with battery backup smoke detectors, most of my project is on the second floor which I've gutted, but I do have 3 smoke detectors on the first floor where I am not doing any drywall work. If I remember to, I can post pictures, but these were all done with old work boxes and with no drywall work, it looks like they were always there (aside from one smoke detector where my first hole I started, I hit a stud so I had to move over a few inches.)

As for trying to jury rig this existing light, ugh... 

Okay, from your description your light sounds like it might be this one:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80028552

Let me make another suggestion. Use the lamp shade, if you think you can easily remove the base and somehow mount this to the wall you can probably just as easily mount some sort of metal pole, such as metal conduit, and mount the shades onto it. Then my suggestion would be that perhaps you could illuminate it with rope lighting. You'll also use less wattage.


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## denemante (Apr 2, 2010)

Yep - you guys nailed it - those are the exact lights form IKEA I have. We have a 2-story great room with 2 windows, then two other windows above them. There is about a 7 foot wide wall space between then that runs to the ceiling about 18 feet up. I had planed to put these vertically (straight up) one above the other. They'll have about a 3 foot space between them so I'm not worried there.

I'm starting to think perhaps the easiest solution is to go with the cord-hider on the outside of the wall. I would still need to replace the lamp cord on both of these so they are long enough.

But it's sort of funny - I understand why you shouldn't run lamp cord inside a wall. But it seems that those stick-on snap-shut cord hiders wouldn't be much different. I wonder if they are UL approved.


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

Look--------Give up on your thought you heard from a number of people that it can not be done the way you want so just do it the right way and install the clock outlets and switch on the wall . You are sounding like a lawyer now asking the question 10 times with different wording, you can't do it that's it.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

denemante said:


> But it seems that those stick-on snap-shut cord hiders wouldn't be much different. I wonder if they are UL approved.


The ones you use should be. I know WireMold products are. I'm sure you can find some out there that aren't if you look.


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## oberkc (Dec 3, 2009)

> you can't do it that's it.


Well, I suppose you can do anything you want, but I agree that it appears near unanimous that most of us think it a bad idea, illegal, or both.


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## Saturday Cowboy (Nov 29, 2009)

:no::no:


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