Installing a ceiling fan

donbrown51 · by **donbrown51** on Mon May 30, 2011 9:05 am

I have a ceiling fan I need installed. Does anyone know of a resonably priced electrician that can do this for me?

by **Guest** on Mon May 30, 2011 10:00 am

Do you need to put in the fixture or is there already a light there now?

If there is already a light fixture, you don't need an electrician. It is pretty simple to install the fan yourself.

For me I always would upgrade the outlet boxes to the metal ones but you don't even need to do that if the fan is 20lbs or less.

Just make sure you kill the breaker before you take down the light.

donbrown51 · by **donbrown51** on Mon May 30, 2011 10:17 am

Yes there is a light fixture there already. The fan itself is quite heavy.

by **Guest** on Mon May 30, 2011 11:54 am

donbrown51 wrote:Yes there is a light fixture there already. The fan itself is quite heavy.

Most fans are heavy although it depends on the age of the fixture outlet. I used to always replace the outlets with the metal instead of the plastic. However, then an electrician told me that the outlet boxes are actually designed to hold fans so there isn't an issue.

Hooking a fan up is pretty easy. You can get any handyman to do it if you don't feel comfortable.

It is the same as replacing a light fixture. Turn off the breaker. Unscrew the current fixture. Identify the Black the hot (red or white) and the ground (green or gold metal).

I always had access to the crawlspace so I could thread up the safety wire to screw into a joist.

gill846 · by **gill846** on Tue May 31, 2011 10:26 am

If you're doing it by yourself and it's heavy, twist a wire hanger so that you can attach it to a secure hard point inside the fixture if possible. Trying to attach three separate wires while holding up the fan is not fun. Having one person hold the fan while the other wires will ruin any good marriage

Alternately, if you have two ladders, or two sawhorses on top of a table, use a piece of plywood to make a stand to put it on. Basically, have a plan for how you are going to hold the sucker up BEFORE you start!