Adding Ceiling Fan

[therainmaker]

Hi, I recently bought a new home and overhead lighting is very scarce. I would like to add a ceiling fan with light in the living room and a light fixture in the entry way. I have been up in the attic and there is a line to the hall closet which is controled by a pull chain light fixture and from there the line comes back up into the attic and over to the front door area and down. That is all the electric at that end of the attic.

At the front door I have 4 switches. 1 controls the outside lights and 1 is a 3 way switch that controls a light around the corner to where the stairs lead up. The other 2 switches don't do anything as far as I can tell. In this house the bedroom light switches control 1/2 of a room outlet for lamp usage so I figure that those 2 switches used to do the same thing but at some point someone replaced the outlets (this room has 6) and rendered these switches useless.

Ideally, I like to add the entry light and control it with a switch. I would also like add the ceiling fan with light and in a perfect world control each separately with something like a 'Hunter' sliding switch. However, I'm not sure if the switch box will hold it and the other 3 switches too.

Can I do all this? I feel confident that I can add the ceiling fan with pull chain control but I would like to do a 'better' job if possible.

Thanks in advanced!
Mike

[John Nelson]

That's a complicated question that is difficult to answer without seeing hour house. Where to pull power from and where to add switches are decisions that require some on-site considerations. I will offer a few points, all of which are pretty obvious: Pull power from a circuit with sufficient capacity. This means that you should do a thorough analysis of what's on the circuit before you choose it. Don't pull power from a restricted circuit. This usually means that you should avoid circuits serving receptacles in kitchens, laundry areas, bathrooms or dining rooms. Don't add more switches to a box if adding another box is feasible. Too many switches in one box not only causes a lot of potentially unsafe overcrowding, it's very confusing to use. Always consider adding another circuit rather than tapping an existing one. If feasible, it's almost always better.

[therainmaker]

John, thanks for your advice. The wiring does seem to be a bit unconventional. I have found that some outlets in the family room are also wired to the the washing machine. I also found out that the garage door opener is wired into the line that services at least some of the kitchen. So anything is possible.

My service panel is full (20 circuits). 6 years ago a 600+ sqft mother inlaw suite was added to the lower level (this is a front to back trilevel) which added a large master bedroom, kitchen, and dining room. At the same time they coverted the downstairs half bath laundry room into a full bath and created a separate laundry room.

Mike