Basic Electrical Wiring Part 2: How to Wire a Ceiling Fan

Part two of a series on basic electrical wiring explores a typical home improvement project: wiring a ceiling fan.

Install a Ceiling Fan | (480) 926-1033

Why Install a Ceiling Fan?  

Before we give you some pointers in how to install a ceiling fan, here are some various reasons to add a fan to your room.  First off, if you install a ceiling fan, it helps to keep your home cooler.  Surprisingly enough, if you have a ceiling fan set to low, it will still help to circulate air. If your home is circulating cool air, it makes it a lot easier for your air conditioning to cool your home as opposed to air that is warm and stagnant, which leads to our next reason.

Installing a ceiling fan improves the air quality of a room as well as your entire home.  If the Valley is going through a bad air quality day,  the air quality within a building can be about 10 X worse, particularly if the air isn't moving.  With a ceiling fan however, bad air is ultimately dissipated to the point that it no longer presents a problem.  However, it isn't just for air quality and lower A/C bills that you want to get a ceiling fan put in.  Aesthetically, if you pick out the right ceiling fan, it can add a decorative touch to any room.  However, before you race to put one in, it is a good idea to know the procedure to do it.  

How to Install and Wire a Ceiling Fan

First off, in addition to knowing some basic carpentry, you're going to need to now how to wire a ceiling fan.  First off, if you don't have a ceiling fan there already, more than likely, the outlet in question will have only two wires.  If your ceiling fan has a light installed, you're going to need to connect three wires total: one to the light, one to the fan, and one to the switch.  In our last article, we talked about wiring colors, for a ceiling fan there are usually three.  The procedure for installation varies based on whether you're replacing a light fixture with a ceiling fan, or installing new.

To make it short however, you want to make sure that the place you're going to be installing the fan has struts capable of supporting the extra weight.  Install the light and fan, and make sure you connect the right wires to the switch. If you feel this is beyond you, you may wish to call in someone like a residential electrician in Gilbert to help you

This concludes part two of our series.  For more information on electrical wiring, be sure to read part one and part three as well.

Dodge Electric
781 South Arizona Avenue
Chandler, AZ 85225
(480) 926-1033
http://www.dodgeelectric.com