Calling ATOT Electricians

Status
Not open for further replies.

Proprioceptive

Golden Member
Feb 27, 2006
1,630
10
81
Got an issue and I'm limited on my electrical knowledge, so bear with me. I have a long bedroom with one light switch. There are three ceiling lights running the length of the room and they're all wired in series. I want to put a ceiling fan in the middle spot which I know has an approved brace for the fan. However, I was hoping to control the fan separately from the light switch, but there is only one black, one white, and a ground wire in the ceiling (instructions call for two black wires for separate operation). So, if I want to use the fan at night, I'd have to unscrew the lightbulbs from the other two fixtures. If I turn off the switch, the fan won't operate. I'm in a quandary here and all I can come up with is leaving bulbs in the first and third fixtures out and relying on the light fixture from the fan only... this way when I turn on the wall switch, I can still turn off the light while having the fan run. Any ideas how to solve this without rewiring the room? I know nothing about rewiring... :\
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,458
12,611
126
www.anyf.ca
You'd have to run a 14/2 (+ ground) wire from the new switch to the fan, you'd connect the black wire to the existing black wires inside the box, and the white to the fan, and the other fan wire to the white in the box. At the switch end the white and black would connect to the switch. Ground to the box or the light switch screw (I usually run to the box). This may be tough to do without putting holes in the wall though. So basically you need to install a new light switch and have a wire from the switch to the box. Oh, and the new white wire in the box should be labeled black, with tape or a marker. This is just to indicate it's not a neutral, just a return from a switch.
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
166
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
Actually, your lamps are wired in parallel. All switches, outlets, etc., in households are parallel circuits. The only things in series are the switches.

Anyway, we understand what you meant.

I've never used them, but apparently there's some sort of remote control devices that you can screw into the bulb sockets, then put the bulbs in. The bulbs would then be able to be separately operated with the remote control.

these

I have no idea how well they work. I'm sure there are other remote control devices as well. Thus, you could even get a remote control fan & remote control lights; leave the switch on all the time, and operate everything with a remote(s).
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,458
12,611
126
www.anyf.ca
Just realized, what I said in my post would not quite work as the light switch would have to be on. You'd be able to turn the fan on/off when the lights are on, but if the lights are turned off it shuts off everything.

What you'd have to do is run a hot to the new light switch, a hot not controlled by the existing switch, then do the rest as I said. That hot needs to be on the same breaker as the fan shares the neutral. What you'd do is grab the hot from the light switch, before it goes to the switch. You can test which one that is by taking the switch out with the power on (be careful) and turn it off, then take a volt meter to see which of the two wires is active. It's possible there are actually 4 wires in there too as it could be fed there, depends how they did it. Tell us what wires you have in each box (light switch and light) and we can probably make a diagram, to make it easier.
 

stormkroe

Golden Member
May 28, 2011
1,550
97
91
Take the fan down, loosen the box clamp, bend the knock-out out of the way. Push a length of 14/3 through the whole, enough to make it up through the insulation so you can find it in the attic. Go into the attic. Follow the existing 14/2 back to where it goes through the top plate of the wall with your switch. Pull your 14/3 over to the hole, push about 6 feet down (an armspan). You're done in the attic. Go to the bedroom, take out the existing switch, put a 2 gang box over the existing single. Trace the 2 gang with a pencil. Cut out the extra area. Use the extra room to remove the existing box from the stud, and pull it out into the room. Remove the box from the wires. Reach into the now large hole and grab the 14/3 you pushed down. Put all wires into the 2 gang box you traced. Reinstall with screws. Cut off the length you need up at the fan. Hook the black to the light, red to the fan tail. At the switch just parallel the black with the existing light wire and put the red on a new switch.

This assumes the light switch is 'fed', which is normally the case with multiple lights on one switch.
 

herm0016

Diamond Member
Feb 26, 2005
8,448
1,070
126
We just have a fan with a remote. The only issue may be if you want the fan on, and the other 2 lights off. Do you really need 3 light fixtures in a bedroom? If the switch is off, the fan and light are off, if the switch is on, we can select 3 fan speeds and light on/off with the remote. We have vaulted ceilings in the entire house, so it would have been a pita to run a new wire. Easy, not really any more expensive than a regular fan, and I can turn the light off/on from bed.
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
166
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
Hmmmm, after rereading a little more carefully, yeah, you better go with my idea. If your lights were daisy-chained as we think, there'd be two black, two white, and two ground in that middle box. Unless you have two separate romex lines into that box, and some wire nuts wiring the two black wires together with a third short piece of black wire to connect to the light, etc.
 

Kneedragger

Golden Member
Feb 18, 2013
1,187
43
91
Got an issue and I'm limited on my electrical knowledge, so bear with me. I have a long bedroom with one light switch. There are three ceiling lights running the length of the room and they're all wired in series. I want to put a ceiling fan in the middle spot which I know has an approved brace for the fan. However, I was hoping to control the fan separately from the light switch, but there is only one black, one white, and a ground wire in the ceiling (instructions call for two black wires for separate operation). So, if I want to use the fan at night, I'd have to unscrew the lightbulbs from the other two fixtures. If I turn off the switch, the fan won't operate. I'm in a quandary here and all I can come up with is leaving bulbs in the first and third fixtures out and relying on the light fixture from the fan only... this way when I turn on the wall switch, I can still turn off the light while having the fan run. Any ideas how to solve this without rewiring the room? I know nothing about rewiring... :\

Since you can't run the new wires others have mentioned my next question is do you have a smart phone in the house? If so another option is Phillips Hue.They have Apple and Android apps.

https://www.meethue.com/en-US/getstarted#howitworks
 

Proprioceptive

Golden Member
Feb 27, 2006
1,630
10
81
Hmmmm, after rereading a little more carefully, yeah, you better go with my idea. If your lights were daisy-chained as we think, there'd be two black, two white, and two ground in that middle box. Unless you have two separate romex lines into that box, and some wire nuts wiring the two black wires together with a third short piece of black wire to connect to the light, etc.

Yeah, they're definitely daisy chained. I thought about rewiring myself but since this is a room in the basement I don't have the luxury of an attic space... at this point I'm seriously looking in to the remote light sockets. Thanks for all the advice though. Its really appreciated.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.