In the above switch box the white wire is usually the hot wire or the LINE and the black wire is the LOAD. CONTROL CEILING FAN AND LIGHT SEPARATELY The old existing wall switch that controlled the switched outlet As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.īelow is an example of a ceiling fan installation that I did for a client where I converted the existing single wall switch that was controlling an electrical receptacle outlet to two wall switches that now control the ceiling fan and light kit separately.

NOTE: Some text links below go to applicable products on Amazon. Electrician: How do I control my ceiling fan and light separately with two wall switches?Īnswer: To control the ceiling fan and light separately with two wall switches, a three conductor cable needs to be installed from the switch location to the ceiling fan location. It’s so important to support the ceiling fan, not only for safety, but also, if it’s not supported well, the fan’s just not going to run smoothly.Dear Mr. Again, that just nails right between the two ceiling joists. It’s all metal and it has the electrical box built right in. In the attic nail it between the two ceiling joists, and then run a bolt or screw up through the electrical box to support the fan.Īnother way you can do it is with a lot of the little kits they have out there that’s basically a ceiling fan brace kit. So normally you have to do a little extra support, by using either a two-by-four or two-by-six. But what you really have to be careful of is to make sure the electrical box that the light fixture is attached to will support the extra weight of the ceiling fan. There’s really no problem in replacing an existing light fixture with a ceiling fan in terms of the electrical needs. Replace Light Fixture With Paddle Ceiling Fanĭanny Lipford: Johnathan wants to know, “Can I install a ceiling fan where a light fixture is now?”

Wiring a ceiling fan with light fixture