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Some fixtures screw into an electrical box attached to the studs in the ceiling. The IKEA SIMRISHAMN pendant does that, for example.

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Looking at the Ikea US website, the Simrishamn and PS 2014 seem to have similar solutions: a plate that screws into an electrical box and provides a hook (the lowest common international denominator).

What do you do if you want to move a ceiling light a bit to the side? Do you install an entire new electrical box?

If those electrical boxes are anything like the ones in the video I shared, then they’re trivial to move.

You don’t actually need the box though. In fact they weren’t even available in my previous two homes. It’s really more a convenience thing than anything.

But again, this is assuming we are talking about the same thing (region differences and all).

In the US, NEC and most local codes (which are often based on some version of the NEC) require that connections be made inside a box. This is largely because connections are the most likely place for an electrical fire to start and the box helps contain it.

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