adding a fan
#1
05-16-03, 11:02 AM
adding a fan
I would like to add a ceiling fan to an existing circuit. There is a single switch on the wall that controls some lights in the hallway.
The wire running from the hall light terminates at this switch. How do I connect a new switch ( to sit beside the existing one) to control the fan and use the same source of power?
The wire running from the hall light terminates at this switch. How do I connect a new switch ( to sit beside the existing one) to control the fan and use the same source of power?
#2
05-16-03, 11:31 AM
Member
If the wire terminates at the switch (i.e., there are only two insulated wires in the box), then there is no "same source of power" to use.
So you need to wire this exactly as if the switch did not exist at all. Standard approach. Find some source of continuous power (an unswitched receptacle is good), run a new cable from there to a new switch and from the new switch to the ceiling box.
If there is an attic above, you can probably find a cable going to an unswitched receptacle to draw power from. The box supporting the hall light itself is also a source of unswitched power.
Most books on home wiring cover this kind of project well.
So you need to wire this exactly as if the switch did not exist at all. Standard approach. Find some source of continuous power (an unswitched receptacle is good), run a new cable from there to a new switch and from the new switch to the ceiling box.
If there is an attic above, you can probably find a cable going to an unswitched receptacle to draw power from. The box supporting the hall light itself is also a source of unswitched power.
Most books on home wiring cover this kind of project well.
#3
05-16-03, 11:31 AM
Before we get too far into this is the fan going near the halllights you talk about? How many wires, what size are they and what are the colors of them in the switch box? What else is on that circuit you really don't want to overload it? Is there already wiring where the ceiling fan is going? If so what exactly is there and what did it control before? Is the box the switch is in gangable or will another independant box have to be installed? If you can get back to us with as many answers as possible then we can help you out better.
#4
05-16-03, 11:35 AM
Ceiling fan
Originally posted by John Nelson
If the wire terminates at the switch (i.e., there are only two insulated wires in the box), then there is no "same source of power" to use.
So you need to wire this exactly as if the switch did not exist at all. Standard approach. Find some source of continuous power (an unswitched receptacle is good), run a new cable from there to a new switch and from the new switch to the ceiling box.
If there is an attic above, you can probably find a cable going to an unswitched receptacle to draw power from. The box supporting the hall light itself is also a source of unswitched power.
Most books on home wiring cover this kind of project well.
If the wire terminates at the switch (i.e., there are only two insulated wires in the box), then there is no "same source of power" to use.
So you need to wire this exactly as if the switch did not exist at all. Standard approach. Find some source of continuous power (an unswitched receptacle is good), run a new cable from there to a new switch and from the new switch to the ceiling box.
If there is an attic above, you can probably find a cable going to an unswitched receptacle to draw power from. The box supporting the hall light itself is also a source of unswitched power.
Most books on home wiring cover this kind of project well.
#5
05-16-03, 11:43 AM
Ceiling fan
Originally posted by gard
Before we get too far into this is the fan going near the halllights you talk about? How many wires, what size are they and what are the colors of them in the switch box? What else is on that circuit you really don't want to overload it? Is there already wiring where the ceiling fan is going? If so what exactly is there and what did it control before? Is the box the switch is in gangable or will another independant box have to be installed? If you can get back to us with as many answers as possible then we can help you out better.
Before we get too far into this is the fan going near the halllights you talk about? How many wires, what size are they and what are the colors of them in the switch box? What else is on that circuit you really don't want to overload it? Is there already wiring where the ceiling fan is going? If so what exactly is there and what did it control before? Is the box the switch is in gangable or will another independant box have to be installed? If you can get back to us with as many answers as possible then we can help you out better.
There is no existing wiring where the fan will go. I have installed a new junction box in the ceiling and hung the fan.
I have replaced the single wall switch, single junction box with a double box and 2 seperate switches.
I thought I could utilize the power coming to the original switch to run the fan and somehow use the new 2nd switch to control the fan. ?
#6
05-16-03, 11:45 AM
You have a switch loop. You can not power the fan from the switch. You need run some new wire from the switch location to the fan location and from a power source to either the fan or the switch. Even if there was power at the switch you still need a new wire from the switch to the fan.
#8
05-16-03, 12:07 PM
At the switch although you do have a black and white you don't have a hot and neutral which is what you need for powering the fan. In a switch loop the incoming hot is connected to a wire to go to the switch usually the white, then from the switch the hot is brought back to the light on the black wire. To use these wires as a source of power for the ceiling fans you'd have to rewire back at the hall lights and then you would end up loosing the control on your hall lights themselves. You must run new wires as John metioned earlier and might I suggest buying a good book on basic electrial wiring you should read up before attempting any electrical project.
#9
05-16-03, 07:28 PM
Member
Jim, I hope you understood the explanations the others gave. I can't do any better. But rest assured that the approach you suggested definitely would not work.
