Wiring up a ceiling fan

Hey everyone,

So a year ago I replaced the ceiling light fixture in my bedroom with a ceiling fan / light combo.

All I did was pull out the fixture and install the fan. It's been working fine, but somewhat wobbly, I think because I never installed the appropriate fan-rated junction box and the existing box in the ceiling is just nailed to one joist so it has a little flex.

Anyway, I bought a new cross-brace mount for it and am planning on installing it tomorrow, but while I was at it I wanted to pull new wire to be able to operate the fan and lights independantly from a wall switch (instead of pulling the chains). I never bothered to do this with the original install.

Anyone have any idea how to wire it? Right now I just have a regular 12/2 romex going from the switch to the fan. I bought some 12/3, but I wasn't sure if I had to bring up two sets of 12/2 (one for the fan and one for the light) or a single 12/3 with the extra power going to the fan side.

Tried to look up some diagrams but they illustrated so many different scenarios i wasn't sure what applied.

if u post some of the diagrams i could explain it. 12/3 should do it, black for fan, red for light (doesnt matter either way.) white neutral. to feed the switch from panel u only need 12/2, jump the unswitched 120 to the line side of both switches, then red on the load side of one, and black on the load side of the other. wire nut neutrals together. there will be a green wire, thats the ground, wire nut the greens together, (sometimes the ground is just bare copper). also the green from ur 12/3 ties in here. at the fan, make ur terminations.

I've done a bunch of electrical work but not in residential settings. This diagram looks reasonable though: http://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/wiring_diagram_ceilingfan.html

This uses a 14/2 and a 14/3 (12/2 and 12/3 would be fine of course). It all makes sense to me.

It really depends on the size of the holes drilled through joists and framing where the old 12/2 was run,

It's cheaper and easier to just run another 12/2 than remove the 12/2 and replace it with 12/3 if there's enough room to stuff a 2nd 12/2 wire through the holes. You likely will not know for sure until you use a hole saw in the sheet rock to eyeball the wiring run.

It's pretty easy access as it's an attic. The existing switch has 12/2 running from the panel (I think, I still have to pull it out). I only need to replace the 12/2 on the switch to the fan side, right?

Edd that link looks really helpful. I think I'm just on the first one. Appreciate it. I'll let you guys know how it goes

Nick said:

It's pretty easy access as it's an attic. The existing switch has 12/2 running from the panel (I think, I still have to pull it out). I only need to replace the 12/2 on the switch to the fan side, right?

Edd that link looks really helpful. I think I'm just on the first one. Appreciate it. I'll let you guys know how it goes

Click to expand...

I'd just run a 2nd 12/2 from the switch to the fan.

Geoff said:

I'd just run a 2nd 12/2 from the switch to the fan.

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Agreed. That diagram I posted is more in the spirit of a new installation. A second 12/2 will do the job fine.

Nick said:

Edd that link looks really helpful. I think I'm just on the first one. Appreciate it. I'll let you guys know how it goes

Click to expand...

Yes, the diagram at the top was my intention. I didn't even scroll down to see the others.

Just buy a fan with the remote controls!

Phew, got it all working. ! Had one issue where I thought it wasn't working and realized I had the pull chains off. Whoops!

wa-loaf said:

Just buy a fan with the remote controls!

Click to expand...

I actually googled to see if they had fans that you could control from you phone. Did not find (yet).

secure that fan, you don't want it falling on your head. Funny story, we were building a new house and the carpenter that was sent to fasten the fan blocks to the ceiling framing did it with just glue. the owner moved in and was in bed, got up to go to the bathroom and came back to find the fan in the middle of his bed. ssome lucky guy!!

I have it all working now. You have no idea, I took the entire thing off the ceiling because after I wired it it wasn't working after I flipped the circuit breaker back on.

Turns out I had to pull the stupid pull chain. !!!