Ceiling Fan

Choosingand Installing a Ceiling Fan

The right fan in the right location will keep you comfortable in winter as well as in summer

BY FERNANDO PAGÉS RUIZ

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2001 99Drawings: Paul Perreault

ere on the Nebraska plains, tem-peratures can swing from blister-ing heat to unbearable cold with

each passing storm front. As a homebuilder,I find it difficult to furnish customers withan evenly balanced heating and air-condi-tioning system. Fortunately, I’ve learned thatceiling fans can do a lot to help maintaincomfortable temperatures throughout ahouse. In warm weather, ceiling fans offer aneffective, low-cost alternative to air condi-tioning. In cold weather, ceiling fans im-prove air circulation for uniform heat distri-bution. But any fan in any odd location won’tdo. As with most appliances, you’ll have few-er headaches when you buy a quality product,install it correctly and learn how to use it.

Ceiling fans only make you feel coolerOur bodies release excess heat by evaporatingsweat. Air movement speeds up this coolingprocess, creating what’s known as wind chill.

Wind chill is so effective that breezes stirredby a ceiling fan can make you feel as much as8°F cooler. Studies have shown that a well-placed ceiling fan can keep most people com-fortable (without air conditioning) in temper-atures as high as 86°F.

In cold weather, the wind-chill effect dis-courages the use of a ceiling fan. That’s whymanufacturers provide a built-in reverseswitch to spin fan blades clockwise, pullingair up gently toward the ceiling. This upwarddraft helps to mix warm air at ceiling levelwith colder air near the floor without creatingnoticeable breeze. In a family room with a12-ft. cathedral ceiling, for example, temper-atures can vary as much as 15°F from floorto ceiling. A properly sized ceiling fan canreduce this stratification to as little as 2°F.

Fans belong where the people areWhen locating fans in a home, I pick roomswhere people congregate, such as a family

room or a master bedroom (sidebar below).For cooling purposes, I look for a house’s hotspots, such as a sunroom or a kitchen break-fast nook. To help balance the air tempera-tures in the winter, I place fans in rooms withhigh ceilings and over stairwells. I also placeceiling fans near woodstoves or gas fire-places because the fans will drive warm airinto the rest of the structure, thus warming itmore efficiently.

Ceiling height is always a considerationwhen I’m placing a fan in a house. For safeoperation, the fan’s blades must hang at least7 ft. above the floor and not less than 18 in.from an adjacent wall or sloping ceiling. Theoptimum height for fan blades is between 8 ft. and 10 ft. above the floor. This fanheight promotes the best airflow both sum-mer and winter.

In rooms with high ceilings, I use an exten-sion rod to lower the blades to the properheight (photo facing page). Extension rods

H

Ceiling fans range from 24 in. to 60 in. in dia. Fanmanufacturers usually correlate fan size withroom area. Some label their product’s cubic-foot-per-minute capacity (cfm) on the carton, makingit easy to run air-volume calculations. Generally,high-quality 36-in. ceiling fans move between 2500 cfm and 4000 cfm; 48-in. fans move 4000cfm to 8000 cfm. A quick calculation of room vol-ume tells me what size fan I should need.

The volume of the room is not always the mostimportant consideration, however. Often (espe-cially for cooling purposes), I downsize a ceilingfan to fit the area of a room that’s typically occu-pied. The occupants of a 600-sq. ft. family room,for example, might be better served by a smallerfan if the furniture arrangement is containedwithin a 200-sq. ft. space (drawing left).

Because the ceiling fan will still affect air out-side the occupied space, I don’t use the manufac-turer’s room-area numbers when sizing a fan tocool just an occupied space. As a rule of thumb, Idivide the square footage of the occupied spaceby four to determine the diameter (in inches) ofthe proper ceiling fan. Thus the 200 sq. ft. of occu-pied space in the above example would be ade-quately served by a 52-in. ceiling fan.—F. P. R.

Size fans according tooccupied spaceFamily room = 600 sq. ft.

A 52-in. fan is sufficientfor occupied area.

Occupied area = 200 sq. ft.

100 FINE HOMEBUILDING Drawing: Excerpted from Safe Home Wiring Projects by Rex Cauldwell (The Taunton Press, 1997)

Wood and steel support ceiling fan. Mount-ed on the flat and secured to the joists with3-in. screws, a recessed 2x4 block holds upthe 2-in. deep metal box that supports theceiling fan.

When it absolutely, positively has to hangfrom the joist. If the layout places a ceilingfan directly beneath a joist, a 1⁄2-in. deeppancake box provides unobtrusive support.

T W O W AY S T O W I R E AF A N / L I G H TC O M B I N AT I O NRunning a three-conductorcable (12-3 NM withground) between the ceilingbox and the switch makes itpossible to operate the fanmotor and the light kitfrom separate wallswitches.

Power brought to switch,then to fan

Power brought to fan, then to switch

Hot to fan Hot to light

Three-conductorcable

Ground

Fan switch

Light switch

Neutral

HotIncomingpower

Three-conductorcable

Light switch

Fan switch

White hot(taped black)

Hot to switchesGround Incoming

power

Hot to fanNeutral

Hot to light

The white istaped black toindicate it’s hot.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2001 101

for ceiling fans are available in 6-in. incre-ments, up to 8 ft. in length.

The best fans are like John Wayne:strong and silentI don’t want my customers calling me tocomplain about noisy fans, so I buy only fansthat have sealed, precision steel bearings andmaintenance-free motors (sidebar p. 103).When it comes to noise, the switchingmechanism is almost as important as thequality of the motor. Most fan motors have athree-speed switch built into the housing,which is operated by a pull chain.

Should customers prefer to operate speedcontrols from a wall switch, I urge them notto install a rheostat (dimmer switch). Evenrheostats specifically designed for fan usecause the motor to hum. Most of the fansthat I install offer a three-position wallswitch or a wireless remote control as op-tions to provide convenience without noise.

Ceiling fans may have three, four or fiveblades; but contrary to what you might ex-pect, more blades do not move more air. Theimportant elements in blade performance arepitch, length and balance. Cheap fans spinshort blades with a shallow (10°) pitch.These fans swirl quickly but move less airthan a slower but stronger fan spinninglonger and steeper (12° to 14° pitch) blades.

Ceiling fans need more support andmore wires than lightsThe rough-in for a ceiling fan is basically thesame as for a typical ceiling-mounted lightfixture. A ceiling fan is a heavy fixture, how-ever, and needs plenty of support. The ceil-ing box must be rated for ceiling-fan use andmust be attached to the framing firmlyenough to support at least 50 lb.

Specially designed mounting braces areavailable to suspend a ceiling fan betweenceiling joists, but I rarely use them. In newconstruction, I simply cut a length of 2x4 or2x6 blocking to fit snugly (on the flat) betweenthe joists; then I attach a 2-in. deep octagonaljunction box to the face of the blocking (pho-to left, facing page). I make sure to recess theface of the block far enough back from theedge of the joist so that the junction box plusa plaster ring comes out flush with the ceil-ing drywall. I fasten the blocking to the joistswith three 3-in. deck screws driven throughthe side of each joist into the end of eachblock. The junction box is then securely fas-tened to the blocking with at least three 1-in. No. 10 tapping screws.

Occasionally, I have no choice but to placethe ceiling box directly beneath a joist.When that happens, I use a 1⁄2-in. deep pan-

Remodeling bracket makes it easy to put a ceiling fan in a finished roomI won’t hang a fan from an existing ceiling box unless it’s a metal box firmly at-tached to solid framing. If such a box isn’t available and I can’t install blockingfrom an attic, I like to hang the outlet box from an expandable fan-mountingbrace (Pass & Seymour/Legrand; 800-223-4185). This device works like a pres-sure-fit shower rod. After cutting a 4-in. dia. hole for the ceiling box, I insertthe brace (top photo) and set its feet atop the drywall. A twist of my wrist ex-pands the brace to reach the joists on each side. A little added torque drivessharp spikes firmly into the joists (center photo). I attach the ceiling box to thebrace with the hardware supplied, and I’m good to go (bottom photo).—F. P. R.

Remodelingbracket fitsthrough a 4-in. hole.

Wrist actiontightensbracket se-curely be-tween joists.

Specially designedceiling boxhangs frombracket.

102 FINE HOMEBUILDING

cake box (photo right, p. 100). This boxdoesn’t leave much space to tuck the wireswhen I mount the fixture, but there’s alwaysa little extra space for wires in the canopy ofthe ceiling fan.

A ceiling fan can be wired exactly the sameas a typical light fixture, as long as the userdoesn’t mind pull chains. Because I include alight kit with every fan I install, I have myelectrician rough in an extra conductor be-tween the ceiling box and the switch (draw-ing p. 100) so that the blades and the lightscan be switched separately.

Good fans don’t wobbleThe exact method of assembling a ceilingfan varies depending on the make and themodel. When I’m ready to assemble a fan, Iopen the box and thoroughly read the man-ufacturer’s instructions. Even my electrician,who has installed thousands of ceiling fans,takes more than a quick glance through themanual before putting up a fan that he’s un-familiar with.

Fan blades are prebalanced at the factory,which is why you should never mix bladesamong fans. Although most fans wobble alittle at top speed, if a newly assembled fanwobbles like a sick bird, the first thing I do ismake sure that all the connections are prop-erly aligned and evenly tightened. If thatdoesn’t make the wobble go away, I check tosee if any of the blade holders is slightly mis-aligned. To do this, I place a yardstick vertically against the ceiling at the tip of ablade, then rotate the fan manually whilechecking to see that all the blades are track-ing in the same plane. If I find a misalignedblade, I gently bend the blade holder backinto position.

If the fan is still misbehaving, I open theplastic bag with the balancing clips and theadhesive lead weights. Balancing a fan is atedious process. First, I turn on the fan to ac-centuate the wobble. Then I stop the fan,choose a blade at random and place a balanc-ing clip at the midpoint of the blade. I startthe fan to see whether it wobbles more orless. Then I stop the fan, move the clip to themidpoint of another blade and retest. Afterchecking all the blades in turn, I move thebalancing clip back to the blade that showedthe most improvement. From this point on,I fine-tune the balance by sliding the clip in-ward and outward along the blade. When Ifind the point where the weight best stabi-lizes the fan, I remove the clip and attach thelead weight. �

Fernando Pagés Ruiz builds homes in Lincoln, NE.Photos by Tom O’Brien, except where noted.

Six tips from20 years of ceiling-fan installation1. If the fan has a one-piece canopy,

don’t forget to slip the canopy ontothe down rod before hanging the fan, or you’ll have to take down thewhole thing and start over.

2. If the fan is suspended by means of a threaded down-rod and ball as-sembly, as most are, don’t forget to tighten the locking bolt securely, orthe fan will fall from the ceiling.

3. If a fan motor comes wrapped in plastic, keep this protective cover-ing in place until you’ve finished handling the motor.

4. Always attach the blades to the fan after mounting the motor to the ceiling, never before.

5. Choose light kits that tie in to thefan by means of a wiring harness rather than individual wire nuts.

6. Install light bulbs that are special-ly designed for ceiling fans because their vibration-resistant filaments will last twice as long as standard bulbs (Sylvania; 800-544-4828).

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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2001 103Photo bottom right this page: Scott Phillips

Good ceiling fans can be found at all price levelsMy home-building projects rangefrom inexpensive starter homes toluxury showplaces. The followingare three makes of ceiling fans, indifferent price ranges, that I’ve hadgood luck with.

Q U O R U M Q 52Quorum International(800) 443-4626www.lighting-and-fans.comPrice: $100-$145Accessories: Interchangeableblades with different finishes andlight kits. Full line of remotes andwall controls.Comments: Basic colors, goodmotor. Easy to assemble and install. Plenty of wire for long down-rod installations. Consistent quality.

H U N T E R O R I G I N A LHunter Fan Co.; (800) 448-6837www.hunterfan.comPrice: $170-$300Accessories: Large array of inter-changeable blades and light kits.Full line of remotes and wall controls. Comments: John and James Hunterinvented the ceiling fan in 1886.Their Original fan went on sale in1903; it continues to be Hunter’sstaple, with the most powerful fanmotor on the market. Their newdie-cast aluminum Airmax motorruns cool and is virtually silent.

C A S A B L A N C A D E LTA S E R I E SCasablanca Fan Co.; (888) 227-2178www.casablancafanco.comPrice: $275-$375Accessories: Widest range ofstyles and accessories, with manyhigh-end finishes.Comments: The 16° pitched bladesand powerful, whisper-quiet mo-tor provide excellent air move-ment. Six-ply blades with furni-ture-quality veneers won’t warp.Proprietary mounting systemmakes installation a breeze. Highlyfinished, die-cast parts give thefan a look and feel of quality. Inmy opinion, their YLP2000 has the best direct-drive motor onthe market.—F. P. R.

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Visit our Web site (FineHomebuilding.com)

to watch the author demonstrate how to balance wobbly

fan blades.

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