Installing electrical fixtures in your home is not too difficult. Reading and following the directions is important. Each manufacturer has its own set of guidelines for how they want things hooked up.

Generally for basic house wiring you will find that the devices are fairly consistent. Check the wiring diagrams when hooking up new fixtures. Brass lugs are always hot. Silver lugs are for the white wire (Neutral). Green lugs are for the ground.

Most of the time you will be replacing an old fixture with a new one. When you are doing this, you want to pay particular attention to how the old fixture or device was hooked up. Tag the wires or take a picture of the installation before you remove the old item. Most of the time it will not be necessary to disturb the joints inside the box. The wires you need should already be at the top.

The article 'Install an Electrical Outlet' covers the installation of plugs.

See 'Wiring a Light Switch' for information on working with switches.

'Wiring a Three Way Switch' covers the special requirements for lights that have multiple switches controlling them.

Adding a dimmer feature to an existing switch is a common desire. See the article 'Wiring a Dimmer Switch'.

For installing light fixtures, see the article 'Wiring Lights'.

The foregoing articles cover most of the situations that you are going to face. Review the articles to find out what you need to know.