"Unknown" wrote in message
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I am very new to home repair and have a lighting outlet question. When our
house was built we had the contractor put in outlets for ceiling
fans/lights. These outlets have 4 wires. One white, one black, one red,
and one bare copper ground wire.

My question is, what is the red wire for?

I installed a ceiling light (no fan) in one of the outlets. I connected
the white wire to the lamps neutral wire (white). I connected the black
wire to the lamps hot wire (black). I connected the ground wire to the
lamps ground wire (bare copper). I left the red wire unconnected. There
is a green ground screw in the ceiling lights frame that holds it up, but
I did not connect anything to it. I also did not cap the red wire.

Am I going to burn my house down? The light works and doesn't trip the
circuit breaker. I'm just concerned about the red wire and want to know
if there is anything it should be connected to (or should it be capped).

Thanks in advance for your help.
The red wire is for the fan. Didn't you kinda know that?
Yes, the red wire should be capped. If you turned the fan switch on, and
the red wire were near a ground, and it sparked, and if that spark hit
something easily inflamable... Sure, that is just about impossible, but the
red wire should be capped to prevent it.

Your ceiling fixture should have a green wire that attaches to the green
screw in the box. The odds of it mattering are really small, but it should
be done properly.