Ceiling Fan Issues

Ceiling fans have to be balanced to operate properly.Ceiling Fan image by AJ Sellas from Fotolia.com

Ceiling fans are not too complicated to install or operate, but there are some issues that you won't have with regular light fixtures. The general process is to remove an existing light fixture from the ceiling, and hang the ceiling fan in its place, so the fan can be controlled from the same wall switch that controlled the light fixture. Always turn off the electricity at the fuse box of the house before you work on a ceiling fan or any other electrical fixture.

Mounting Issues

The first and most important issue related to mounting the ceiling fan is to make sure that the electrical box in the ceiling is properly anchored, so it can hold the weight of the fan. After you remove the light fixture, pull on the electrical box with all your weight. It shouldn't move at all. If it does, consult a contractor to get it properly anchored. When you buy your fan, make sure that the canopy that goes against the ceiling is wider than the existing light fixture, so that it will completely cover the area and you won't have to touch up the paint around it.

Ceiling fans are wired to the same circuit to which the previous light fixture was wired. Generally, you will connect to the white wire from the fan to the white wire from the house, then connect black to black. You'll make the connections using plastic wire nuts. Fans that have lights included with them will have a blue wire in addition to the black and white wires. The blue wire should be connected with the two black wires, with a wire nut over all three of them at once. The bare copper ground wire from inside the electrical box wraps around the green screw inside the fan canopy.

The only issue you're likely to have with a new fan after it's installed is balance. If the fan is out of balance it will rock and shimmy and make noise. Some fan kits come with lead weights that you clip to the top of the ceiling fan blades to balance them, or you can use pennies attached with duct tape to the tops of the blades. Either way, use trial and error to determine which blade needs to have the weight on it, moving it from blade to blade and observing the effect on the fan's operation. A properly weighted fan should not have any horizontal movement at all.