ceiling fan light humming

Right now I have a ceiling fan with a light on it connected to two wall switches, one for the fan and one for the light. I'd like to replace these two switches with a dimmer/switch combination.

When I hook it up, everything works except that when the light is turned up from anything but a low dim, I get a loud humming noise. I've tried different dimmers both those for and not rated for use with ceiling fans but I get the same results. Any ideas?

 

When you install the fan controls are you connecting the "equipment grounding conductor?" The green wire from the fan controller must be connected to the bare grounding conductor if one is present, if this is not being done that causes the humming that you are describing.

What make of fan is it? Sometimes certain fans will only work with certain fan controllers. I have installed fan controls that were the generic variety on a Hunter fan once and it would really hum a tune when you turned it on. To make a long, long story short, I went and purchased Hunter speed control combo's and they solved the problem. Maybe you need to match the control to the fan such as I had to do.

Hope this helps.

 

Buzzing bulbs when using a dimmer can usually be solved by using different bulbs, and/or different kind of bulbs. Experiment.

 

I had the same problem once. I had to use a hunter speed control instead of a cheaper unit.

 

Well, yes, it is a Hunter fan. I'll try using a Hunter brand dimmer switch and return all the unsuccessful ones. Thanks!

I had just read that dimmers should only be used on incandescent lights. Is that right?

 

Regular dimmers can only be effective on incandesent lamps but there are dimmers especially made for floruesents.

You can see many types at this link and some explanations
http://www.lutron.com/lutron/

 

Most lights on ceiling fans are incandescent. Do you have something different? Isn't your existing dimmer just controlling regular incandescent lights?