Sure, we and I (being in the trade) call everything on the load side of the same breaker/fuse a circuit - helps simplify things in the field. “Is that circuit off?”, “Well, yes and no, the breaker’s on but the splice is open.”, or “Yes and no, the breaker’s on but the switch is turned off.” See where the confusion may set in?
Plus, if you re-read engineer’s post he made reference to maybe having to unscrew two fuses. That’s the part I think would be extremely unlikely. Maybe a thousand to one odds. Now that’s the house wiring I’m referring to.
I can see calling the two seperate (black and blue) wires in the fan ‘circuits’ because they haven’t been connected to anything yet, but once they are powered up by the house wiring they ‘are on the same circuit’.
Another vote for “fairly easy”.
Just some added notes:
Turn the wall swith ‘off’ before starting and place a piece of tape over it. You shouldn’t have to worry about zapping yourself then.
A lot of the newer units have a hook on them so you can hang the motor from the mouting base while you do the wiring. Then you just end up lifting the motor into place and securing it. Easy.
The difference between a $20 fan and a $100 fan is usually that the $20 fan is very, very loud when going full blast. Kind of annoying if your trying to sleep or watch tv. The $100 and over units are usually very quiet.
If you are installing a heavy fan, you might want both a scaffolding and a helper, for holding a heavy fan in one hand while fiddling about connecting wires with the other, all while perched on top of a ladder, is not the easiest thing in the world.
I had to replace the remote unit in my main room fan. Fortunately, my canoe club loaned me a scaffolding, and my neighbour, who used to be an electrician, helped me out. We are both rather strong fellows. What we hoped would take a couple of minutes ended up taking over half an hour, including a lot of straining and grunting.
Another way to make it easier is to build the fan once it’s mounted. By that I mean assemble everything but the blades and the light kit and just mount those parts. Then go back and install the blades and finally the light kit. A whole lot easier than wrestling a fully intact unit.
A good tip also is before you have everything mounted, but after you have everything wired, is have someone hold the bottom of the assembly, and turn the power on, just to make sure you’ve got everything right, then mount it into the ceiling. You’ll save yourself a couple fo steps if you wired it incorrectly.
Having installed at least a dozen fans in the two houses I’ve owned I will note that manufacturers have come a long way towards making installation pretty easy. Also nothing beats a good (bit more expensive) fan such as a Hunter, which will move some serious air quietly.
You’ve got enough advice here that reading it would take longer than replacing the fan but I’ld like to add my two cents. Make a critical evaluation of the support if your new fan weighs considerably more than the old one.
Sure it’s unlikely, but my point is just don’t assume the wire is dead just because you pulled one fuse. The wire’s not dead unless you’ve measured it with a meter and you know it’s dead. This is especially important for someone like the OP who has little experience with electricty. Safety first and all that.
I’d also like to add that the cheaper fans tend to be wobbily little bastards. The more expensive ones are smoother and don’t require as much (if any) balancing.
BTW, I’ve not had to balance a ceiling fan in the last 10 years. Of the dozens I’ve mounted over that stretch, I’ve never had a balance problem, go figure.
I think either they’re being made better or the typical fan I install isn’t a cheappo, probably a combination of both.
I just hung a ceiling fan last month- a fan with a remote control. Since you don’t know how the original was wired yet, or what colors of wires you might encounter when you get up there, I would suggest going this route. You just have to hook the main hot/cold to the remote receiver, then the wires coming out of the receiver are color-coded to match the light and fan. This might make your job a little easier, plus it’s cool to have a remote.
Now that I’ve decided to replace the whole fan, the next challenge will be finding one that fits. The current fan is 42", which is a bit big for the room, really - the room is only about 8’ x 7’ - plus the tips of the blades come uncomfortably close to the edges of any open cabinet doors. It also ought to be white, to be less obtrusive against the white ceiling, and preferably either a hugger or something that can be hung without a downrod (or with a very short one) because the ceiling is 8’. Since the room is so small, and because the doorway is around a corner from the rest of my apartment, I’m not going to bother with installing a remote control here.
Early this morning I stopped by my friendly neighborhood Lowe’s and Home Depot. Home Depot didn’t have a single fan smaller than 44", and of the three 44"> fans at Lowe’s, only one was not intended for a kid’s room (no multicolored blades). I’ve been surfing for options, but it seems the better fan companies I’m familiar with (Hunter, Casablanca) have little or no selection in the right size range.
Is anyone familiar with fans by Quorum or Minka Aire? Know of any other options I could look into?
