How to Install Ceiling Fan

Putting a ceiling fan in any room will not only give you a nice cool breeze on those scorching summer days, but it will also give you significant energy savings throughout the year. By simply circulating all the warm air your heater generates during the winter months and stirring all the cold air that your air conditioner creates during the summer months, both appliances will work more efficiently, which translates to less power consumed and less money spent. Installing a ceiling fan inside your home is a very simple if you follow these easy instructions.

The first thing you will need to do is locate the room where you are going to install ceiling fan and remove any existing light fixture from that room. Before you start, you will want to make sure you have disconnected the electricity on the circuit you are going to be working on. Usually, that can be done easily by flipping off the safety switch in the electrical box for that circuit. Be sure to test the wires with a multi-tester to confirm there is no electricity still flowing. Once you have completed this, you need to carefully remove any glove or shade from the light fixture and then unscrew the retaining nuts holding the fixture to the ceiling. After you have done this, you then delicately pull the fixture away from the ceiling and unscrew any plastic nuts that are holding wires together.

After you have pulled the light fixture away from the ceiling, the next step is to take a look at the electrical box installed inside the ceiling. You will more than likely have to remove the old box and replace it with a new one that can support the weight of your install ceiling fan. If the old box is simply nailed in, all you need to do is pry it free. If, however you find it is suspended from a bar, you will probably need to take off a metal plate to unscrew the box and then pry it free from the joist. Once you have removed your old box, you will need to cut a new opening in the ceiling for your fan brace box. After that, feed the wires through the box, and then mount it into place. Now, it is very important to be sure you wrap the bare copper wire coming from the fan around the ground screw inside your new box.

Once you have mounted the box, the next step is to mount the ceiling plate for the fan. You need to place the fan’s metal ceiling plate against the newly installed box and pull all the wires through the center hole. After that, you must attach the plate to the box using the provided screws. At this point, it is time to move onto the actual assembly of the fan. It is easiest to assemble the fan on the floor, so you can start by feeding all the wires coming from the fan’s motor through the canopy and then through the down-rod. Also make sure the fan motor is right side up. Once you have done all this, you then thread the down-rod into place on top of the motor and tighten it using a wrench.

After that, you can connect the wires together, green to copper, black to black, and white to white, and mount the fan to the ceiling plate you installed on your ceiling. Once you have finished all of this, you can restore the power on the circuit you were working on and flip the switch to test if you have completed the job correctly. If you have, your ceiling fan should work. If you turn on the wall switch and nothing happens, be sure to turn on the switches located on the fan itself.