Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Ceiling Fan Installation Advice
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sevlar
04-22-07, 11:38 AM
Hi All,
I am a new home-owner(condo) and I am looking at doing an upgrade to my ceiling fans. When I purchased the condo, my bedrooms came with ceiling fans, but were installed without remote controls, and were attached via a single "kill-switch" on the wall. However, the fans that were "installed" were actually three-way fans. After receiving the remote units, I was able to get the builder of my unit to attach the "remotes" to my fans. At this point, though, ONLY the remotes work on the fans... the "wall-switch" is completely deactivated. Since it was not originally "included", the builder says this is as much as they will do.
In addition, the wall-switch has "two" switches: one controlled the ceiling fan/light and the other was attached to a plug outlet in each bedroom.
Does anyone know what steps I would need to take to get everything working correctly?
- Continue to use the remotes to control the fans
- Reattach the light switch to control the ceiling fans
- Reattach the light switch to control the plug outlets
Any assistance/advise would be greatly appreciated.
I am a new home-owner(condo) and I am looking at doing an upgrade to my ceiling fans. When I purchased the condo, my bedrooms came with ceiling fans, but were installed without remote controls, and were attached via a single "kill-switch" on the wall. However, the fans that were "installed" were actually three-way fans. After receiving the remote units, I was able to get the builder of my unit to attach the "remotes" to my fans. At this point, though, ONLY the remotes work on the fans... the "wall-switch" is completely deactivated. Since it was not originally "included", the builder says this is as much as they will do.
In addition, the wall-switch has "two" switches: one controlled the ceiling fan/light and the other was attached to a plug outlet in each bedroom.
Does anyone know what steps I would need to take to get everything working correctly?
- Continue to use the remotes to control the fans
- Reattach the light switch to control the ceiling fans
- Reattach the light switch to control the plug outlets
Any assistance/advise would be greatly appreciated.
mitch17
04-22-07, 02:24 PM
What color wires do you have in the ceiling? If there are two hot wires running from the switch to the fixture, more options are available than if there is only one. Common for the first scenario will be black, white, red and bare copper. The second scenario will usually be minus the red wire.
joed
04-22-07, 03:30 PM
What do you consider correctly? It sounds like the wall switch turns off the ceiling box. If that is the case turning off the switch would turn off the fan remote as well.
John Nelson
04-22-07, 05:43 PM
I always advise people that they must decide. Do they want to control the ceiling fan with a wall switch, or with a remote transmitter? You can't really get both very well. If you expect to use the wall switch, then don't install a remote. If you expect to use the remote, then leave the wall switch turned on at all times.
There is one exception. If you get the right kind of remote (e.g., a Hunter All-Fan), you can still use the wall switch to turn on the light (but not the fan). The only caveat is that if the remote was last used to turn off the light, then to turn it back on with the wall switch, you need to turn off the wall switch, wait ten seconds, and turn it back on. Not great, but not too bad. However, most remote units don't work this way. Instead, they reset to fan-off/light-off when the power is turned on with the wall switch. Ones that default to fan-off/light-on can be used as I described, but these controls are not as common.
There is one exception. If you get the right kind of remote (e.g., a Hunter All-Fan), you can still use the wall switch to turn on the light (but not the fan). The only caveat is that if the remote was last used to turn off the light, then to turn it back on with the wall switch, you need to turn off the wall switch, wait ten seconds, and turn it back on. Not great, but not too bad. However, most remote units don't work this way. Instead, they reset to fan-off/light-off when the power is turned on with the wall switch. Ones that default to fan-off/light-on can be used as I described, but these controls are not as common.