Sawdust on the Floor

         Tools Needed                                                       

• Ladder
  Screw Drivers
  Diagonal Cutters
  Level
  Adjustable Wrench (new install)

         Parts Needed

• Fan
  Electrical Box suited for Fan Mounting
  Electrical Wire
  Electrical Tape
  Wire Nuts
  Romex Connector 

 Skill Level:       Intermediate if Replacing  Existing Fan

                                      Advanced if installing New Fan

 The task of replacing an old, or defective ceiling fan, with a new one is normally a very simple task.  I know over the years we have replaced several fans in our home, either because the fan developed problems, or we could not longer understand why we liked the design in the first place.  If you are comfortable working off of a ladder, then installing a replacement fan shouldn’t be that hard.  It’s a simple matter of making the electrical hook ups, and securing the fan to ceiling.  

If you are not comfortable working on a ladder, or with making any electrical connections, then please hire a licensed electrician to install or replace your fan. 

Replacing an Existing Ceiling Fan 

The task begins with removing the old fan. If your old fan has a light kit, begin with removing the globes and the bulbs.  Then comes the removal of the blades.  There are two ways that the blades are attached to the fan motor. The first is  like the method in the picture at the right where the blades are attached to blade holders and then the holders are attached to the motor assembly.  In the other method, the blade holders are permanently attached to the fan motor.  The blades on that type of assembly are not held on with screws, but use clips.  To remove these, depress the clips, and remove the blades. 

Removal of the motor assembly comes next.  Each manufacturer has a unique method to mount the motor to the ceiling plate.  As shown in the manual for a Hunter Fan, ( at the left) there are 3 screws in the ceiling plate that allow you to lock the motor assembly in place. Loosening these screws partially will allow you to rotate the motor assembly counter clockwise, freeing the motor assembly from the ceiling plate.  Once the motor is free from the ceiling plate, disconnect the wires to the fan.  Remember to verify that the power is off, Don’t assume that it is. Check that the power is off. It’s best to turn off the circuit breaker that provides the power for the fan, Don’t trust that the wall mounted switch to isolate the circuit, the switch could be bad.  When I work on an electric circuit at work, we also lock out the circuit so that it can’t unintentionally be re energized. This is practical in most home environments, due to the design of the circuit breaker panels.  A piece of electrical tape over the de energized circuit breaker  normally serves as an indicator to other family members, not to turn it back on. 

To install your new fan in the same spot, reverse the operation.  Again, each manufacturer uses slightly different hardware, but once you have seen one, they all are about the same.  The only changes you may find is when it comes to connecting the electrical wires.  And that change has to do with the lights that may come with your new fan. 

Your new fan may come with four wires instead of the conventional three wires.  You still have the standard, black, white and ground wires, the additional wire normally is blue.  This blue wire provides power to the lighting kit that comes with the fan.  In most applications you would simply connect the blue wire with the black wires.  I have also seen a few fans that have a fifth wire, this one is a white wire with blue stripes. This wire provides a separate  return for the lights. Again conventional wiring is to connect this white/blue wire with the other white wires. 

Your new fan may not cover the same space as the old one, one solution is to repaint the ceiling( just kidding).  If this is your case, you may want to consider installing a ceiling medallion  along with your new fan.  The medallion serves two purposes, covers any discolored ceiling and adds a decorative feature to the room. 

New Installation 

The biggest problems when you install a new ceiling fan, are how do you get electrical power to the fan, and how do you secure it to the ceiling.  In a lot of older homes, it was common to find a ceiling light fixture in almost every room, and in some cases, these lights were controlled from a wall mounted electrical switch. This would solve the power problem, but not the issue of how to mount the fan to the ceiling.  Electrical boxes normally used for lighting fixtures are light weight, and there sides are spot welded together.  These are NOT compatible with ceiling fans. Installing a ceiling fan in a standard electrical box would be a serious safety risk. 

A spinning ceiling fan will generate large amounts of centrifugal force, this force can and will fatigue the welded joints in the standard box.  When the joints in the box fail, the fan will either come off the ceiling, or the fan will become unbalanced and destroy itself.   Neither of these are a desirable thing to have happen. 

Another concern about using an existing electrical box is how the box was mounted.  There are several different configurations of boxes designed for lighting fixtures, some of these were actually bolted to the ceiling joists, while other were suspended between the joists. A ceiling fan must be secured directly to the joists for obvious reasons.

 Ok, so how do we get the correct box installed?  Assuming that you don’t have access to the ceiling from above such as from an attic, you will have to work from the mounting hole of the old light fixture.  After ensuring that you have removed the power from the electrical box, remove the old box.  Be careful not to damage the sheet rock, when you remove the old box. 

One of the best ways to work from the bottom is to use a product like the “Westinghouse Saf-T_Brace”, pictured here.  The two arms pictured will fit together and are used to span the distance between the joists.  There is an adjustment on the arms that increases or decreases the overall length of the arms.  Insert them thru the hole as one piece, and adjust the length until the arms are secured to both joists. A wrench is required to achieve a tight fit.  The next step is to connect the electrical box to the bracket.  The kit comes with a special “U” bolt that fits over the arms of the bracket, and then into the electrical box.  Locking  nuts are then used to secure the electrical box to the support arms  and the “U” bolt. 

A very important step here is the ensure that the bottom of the electrical box is level and even with the bottom edge of the sheet rock.  If the box is not level, you may later have problems with the fan “wobbling” as it turns. 

One of the other things I have learned the hard way is to make sure that you install your electrical wires into the box, before you mount it to the arms.  There is no way to do this once the box is installed.  Be sure that you use the proper electrical connections to the electrical box. For this style box, use a 3/8” Romex connector.  Remember that the outer shield on the wire goes through the Romex connector, and extends no more then ½” inside the electrical box.    Never allow the wires themselves to make contact with the Romex connector. 

Once you have the electrical box installed and the wires ran to the box, it’s time to install the actual fan.  Having installed fans from several different manufacturers, I can tell you that none of them use exactly the same hardware.  But the idea is the same. 

There is always some kind of mounting bracket that is attached to the ceiling and your electrical box. In the center of this mounting bracket, is a concaved recess that will receive the “ball” that is at the top of the down rod for the fan.  Down rods come in many different lengths, for different ceiling heights. Most fan kits contain at least two rod lengths. Select the one appropriate for your ceiling height.  The down rod is attached to the fan motor assembly with a dowel rod and cotter pin. The wires from the fan motor are then ran through the center of the down rod. The wires are shipped longer than needed for most installations.  

The fan motor and down rods are then inserted into the recess of the mounting bracket.  You will find that if you rotate the entire assembly, the ball will drop into a locking groove.  This keeps the fan motor housing from turning.  The weight of the motor assembly keeps it seated into this groove. 

Installation of the remaining parts of the fan goes like this. We next attach the electrical wires.  These are pushed up into the electrical box, after which they are secured and taped.  Remember black to black, white to white, and green to the ground wire. Also remember to use proper size wire nuts and add a wrap of tape on the outside of wire nuts. 

Once the electrical wiring is done, all that remains is to attach the fan blades and the trim rings that came with the fan. Again each and every manufacturer seems to have a special way to attach the blades. I prefer those that use screws and lock washers to secure the blades to the fan, over those that have “quick attachment kits” for the blades. The quick attach kits don’t give me that warm feeling of being 100% secure that good screws and lock washers do.  However, I don’t know of any incidents where the quick attach kits failed. 

If your fan kits came with a light kit, it is installed on the bottom of the fan motor.  Most of the units I have seen lately will require that the light kit be installed before the fan will work.  I prefer not to add the bulbs, or the lamp shades until I have ran the fan, to ensure that it is stable. 

Ok, so now it’s time to check out your handy work.  I would recommend that you run the fan on its slowest speed at first.  Look for any wobble or vibration, there shouldn’t be any.  If there is, most manufacturers provide add on weights that can be added to each blade, in a trial and error method, to help reduce the vibration. From my point of view, if you need to add any weight at all, you might want to consider taking the fan back to the vendor.  If your installation is sound, and the fan is balanced, why would it vibrate?   

If everything checks out, add the light bulbs and lamp shades, and enjoy.  Oh yeah. Check the rotation of the fan, you want it to pull heat off of the ceiling in the winter, and pull cool air from the floor in the summer.  The only thing left to so is put your tools away, and sit back and enjoy your work. 

FAQ’s 

Q:  There are four and five bladed fans , Which is better?

A:   The five bladed fans tend to be more stable then the four bladed fans.  Five bladed fans also are more efficient in  moving air. 

Q:    I would like to add a remote control to my existing fan, Can I do It? 

A:     Yes, there are several after market remote controls that can be added to the fan. There are two parts, the transmitter and the remote.  The transmitter is installed in the canopy for the fan motor.  Electrically, the house      power and ground wires are connected to the input side  of the transmitter, and the power and ground for the fan are connected to the output side of the transmitter.   The only other thing you have to do is set the address  of both the transmitter and remote to the same setting, and add batteries. 

Q:    We really like a particular fan and light kit, however the  globes for the light kit do not work for us, what can we  do?

A:     Not a problem.  Most  of the lighting globes are the same size.  Look at you locale DIY store, there you will  find many different and exciting globes that can change the appearance of the light fixture so that it complements your decor.

Q:    Can I install a fan on a sloped ceiling?

A:     Yes, You will have to install a longer down rod than you  would on a flat ceiling. The length of the down rod will depend on the size of the fan and the slope of the  ceiling.  You could try to remember all of the trigonometry that we learned in school, or  you could  drop a plumb bob, from the center of the fan.  Measure  down this line, to a point where you would have the  horizontal clearance for the blades to swing.  This is the minimum length of the down rod.