I've just moved into a new apartment on the top floor of an old home. It's got a balcony / porch area big enough to put some seating out on, and the whole place is surrounded by tall trees. What I'd love to do is run a string of lights around the porch, possibly out into one of the trees and back.
The problem is that there are no outdoor electrical outlets. Expected, being so it's a much older home. There IS a bare light bulb mounted to the wall, however.
I'm wondering if it would be possible to retrofit this with a socket-to-outlet adapter (possibly one that still allows me to screw a light bulb in), while still keeping it safe from the weather (both rain and snow).
Here's what we're dealing with:
I'm not sure if I'll be able to switch out the holder, because as I understand it, that would require turning the power off, yeah? And the breaker would be in the downstairs tenants' apartment. I could always ask them, but I'm also very cautious of doing rewiring with heavy voltages like this.
What are my options?
Best Answer
Thankfully, since it's a 4" pancake, you're in luck. You can attach a weatherproof extension to it, then attach a new weatherproof light fixture to the extension (since the one you have is disintegrating), and then you can use the extension ring as a splice point to tap off wires for a new outlet box -- use THWN run though a 1/2" conduit nipple for this, and a weatherproof surface mount single gang box with a matching in-use "bubble" cover for the receptacle itself.
Don't forget to turn the breaker off before making these changes!
(Linked parts are simply examples of what can be used)