As we published that article we came to the realization that the majority of our readers are woodworkers and crafts persons. And as such may not have the skill sets or knowledge on subjects like how to install a ceiling fan. A couple of years ago we started a category on this blog called “How Do I…’” that contains several articles that are written to provide the reader with the additional information they may need to accomplish some additional household tasks. Somewhere along the time that our daughter began looking for and then buying her home, we got side tracked from the how to articles.  With “Installing a Ceiling Fan” we are getting back to adding more information about projects you may be tackling around your home.

We hope that this added information will be helpful to you. We will publish these how to articles as they relate to the projects we undertake.

If there are any projects you would like to see information about, add a comment to the ceiling fan or basement articles with a suggestion or send us an email at  jerseywoodworker@sawdustonthefloor.com

Related posts:

1. How to Handle Plywood

• 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.

No related posts.

Installing a battery operated smoke detector is a real simple project. Going to the store and buying it is often the hardest part. Installation is a simple matter of finding an appropriate location, mounting the device to the wall or ceiling, installing batteries and you’re done. If you can install your device into a wall stud, then simply screw it to the wall, if not use Molly Bolts, designed for drywall. If you are replacing or upgrading, you may have move the mounting holes. If so simply fill the old holes with Fast Patch and then sand.

A word about the location, fire marshals recommend that a smoke detector be installed on each floor, outside any room that can be used for sleeping. I have found out that you want to avoid installing a smoke detector directly outside a bathroom door as the mist caused by a hot shower can cause a false alarm from the smoke detector whenever the bathroom door is opened. Other than that, any place that is accessible to you will work fine. Remember that you have to replace the batteries twice a year. I try to change mine each year when we set the clocks ahead or back for day light savings time as is recommended.

Some smoke detectors work off the household power and some municipalities actually require them in new construction. The advantage to these, is that you don’t have to replace the batteries each year, the down side is if you loose power, then you loose the effectiveness of the smoke detector. I would recommend that if you have powered units, that you back them up with battery operated units. Installing a line voltage unit is not as easy as installing the battery operated units. There are several requirements that have to be met, the first is that you have an electrical power source for the smoke detector, and that this source not be controlled by any electrical switch. It wouldn’t make any sense to have a smoke detector that could inadvertently be turned off. Most line voltage smoke detectors are connected directly to the circuit breaker panel, Some of the more advanced units are interconnected with other line voltage smoke detectors in the house, so that if one detects smoke the rest will sound the same alarm. If you are rewiring your home, then the line voltage units may make more sense, than the battery operated units.

If you are considering adding line voltage units, look for our article on smoke detectors 102, installing line voltage units coming soon.

Smoke detectors range in price from around $10.00 to $50.00. Some, like the Kiddie model 21006672, combine a smoke detector with a Carbon Monoxide detector. Carbon Monoxide is a tasteless, odorless poison that can be present in any home that is heated by a gas furnace. It is recommended that you have Carbon Monoxide detectors in every location that you have a device that burns natural or propane gas.

If you happen to have an alarm system installed in your home, most alarm companies offer the installation of both smoke and carbon monoxide detectors that are connected to the alarm systems monitoring package. That way if the alarm sounds while you are away from home, the Alarm company can alert the local fire Department.

When you are at the store purchasing a smoke detector, consider also picking up a fire extinguisher, something else that every home should have.

Related posts:

1. Woodworking Projects: The Kitchen Sink Install from Hell
2. How Do I…..Install a Wall Light Fixture?

Let’s start with the easy part, removing the old door knob. There are basically two styles of door knobs, and depending on which type you have will determine how we take the old one off.

The door knob handle and the trim ring will either be a one piece unit or two separate pieces. Start by looking under the handle of your existing door. Look for a small set screw, which is loosened by using a Hex Head wrench, (also known as an Allen Wrench) or a small rectangular button. If you have the set screw, simply back out the setscrew, and pull the handle off. If your door knob has the button, use a small screw driver to depress the button, and the handle will pull off the shaft. If the old knob doesn’t have either the set screw or button, it is a one piece and the handle and the trim ring will come off as one piece.

Door knobs are made up of two pieces, one on the face side of the door and the other on the back side of the door. There are two screws normally installed on the back side the door which hold the two pieces together. Removing these two screws will remove the two halves of the knob.

Now you will have to remove the mechanism from the edge of the door itself. Simply remove the two screws, and pull the mechanism out of the door. Now you can remove the strike plate, which is on the door jam itself. This is also held on with two Phillips screws. Congratulations, you’re half way there.

We start by installing the new mechanism (plunger assembly) into the door. Look at the end of the part, the plunger will have a flat edge; this always goes away from the door jam. When you install the part into the edge of the door it must fit flat. Sometimes the new piece will be a bit larger then the part you removed. If your door is made of a soft wood, you can carefully cut out the offending wood. If the door happens to be made out of a hardwood, then you may need to use a sharp chisel to remove the wood. Once the plunger assembly fits flat, fasten it with two screws.

Now let’s install the two halves of the door knob. Start with the face side. It should simply push into the existing hole. On some door knobs, you may have to depress the plunger to get the parts to fit together correctly. The face piece will have a shaft that passes thru the plunger assembly and out the other side of the door. Then place the back side of the door knob on the shaft. Just like the two screws that held the old knob together, the new one will have two screws that hold the two halves together. One word of advice, tighten the screws evenly, if one side is too tight the knob will bind.

The last thing to do is replace the strike plate on the door jam. Simply install the new one using the new screws. Check your new knob to be sure it functions ok. If the plunger binds, then check the screws hold the halves together. If the door will not latch, check the strike plate. You may need to move it further away from the door stop. If the door rattles when closed, move the strike plate closer to the door stop.

No related posts.

Let’s start with removal of the old light, but before you do anything, let’s take care of the most important issue. Make sure that the power is off to the circuit, either by turning off the circuit breaker for the room you’re working in, or if you’re uncomfortable with that, simply turn the power off to the entire home.

OK, now that we’re safe, let’s remove the light. There are really only two different ways that l light are mounted to the wall. Either a single 3/8” nut, normally in the center of the lamp, or two smaller nuts about an 1/8”, these will be spaced about 3” inches apart. Removing either the single nut or the two smaller ones, will now free the light from the wall, but be careful not to pull too hard, electrical wires are connected to the back of the fixture.

Now let’s undo the wiring. You will normally find two wires connected by the manufacturer to the back of the fixture. You don’t have to remove these wires because if you follow the wires back about two inches you will find a couple of plastic wire nuts. These nuts will either be white, yellow, orange or red depending on the size of the wires in your light. These wire nuts are used to connect the household wiring to your lamp, simply untwist them in a counter clockwise direction to remove the nuts. This frees the fixture from the household wiring.

If your new light has the same type of mounting hardware as your old light, all you need to do is connect your new light to the house hold wiring, and then secure the light to the wall. However, if your light uses the opposite style of mounting hardware, have no fear the repair is easy. Before you install your new light p, you will have to replace the mounting bar on the electrical box.

These are available at your local DIY store, for a small fee. The mounting bars are simply bolted to the electrical box. At this point I have to apologize to you; I may have over stated the simplicity of something. If you have to replace the mounting bar, you will also have to install the bolt (s) that the nut(s) mount to. These are simply screwed into the mounting bar. The only possibly difficulty is that the length of the bolt may have to be adjusted in or out. I wish I could give you a formula to figure the length, but trial and error is the only way that I know of that works for getting the lengths correct.

Let’s get back to the wires for a minute, some electricians will simply place the wires next to each other and use the wire nuts to hold the wires together. And according to the l electrical wiring code that is OK, however I prefer to twist the wires together before I attach the wire nuts. I was taught that a good mechanical connection will make a better electrical connection, so to me this added step just makes sense. And just like I suggested about replacing an electrical outlet, I like to add electrical tape over the wire nuts, as an added safety buffer.

Finish the installation by connecting the wires, securing the fixture to wall and turning the power back on. Check your work, make sure the light is tight to the wall, and level. Now all you have to do is sit back and admire your work, and if your house is like mine get ready to change the rest of the old lights in your house.

Related posts:

1. Woodworking Projects: The Kitchen Sink Install from Hell
2. How Do I…..Replace a Defective Electrical Outlet?