Lawton ElectricCo.

Fans & fixtures

Ceiling Fan & Fixture Installation in Lawton

A ceiling fan weighs more than a light fitting and moves while it does it. The box in the ceiling is what decides whether it can go up, and most existing boxes cannot carry one.

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What it involves

Why a fan swap is sometimes not a fan swap

The fitting is the easy part. What is above it in the ceiling decides how long the job takes.

The box has to be rated to carry a fan

This is the single most important thing on this page. A ceiling fan is heavier than a light fitting and it moves continuously while suspended, so it needs an outlet box specifically listed for fan support, secured to structure rather than to drywall. An ordinary lighting box is not rated for that, and a fan hung from one works itself loose over months or years — the failure is gradual, then sudden. Where an existing box is not fan-rated, replacing it is part of the job, and roughly what turns a short visit into a longer one.

Switch legs and controls

A fan with a light usually wants separate control of each, which needs enough conductors between the switch and the ceiling. Older rooms often have a single switched line, so options are a pull chain, a remote, or running an additional conductor. Fan speed also needs a control designed for a motor: an ordinary light dimmer on a fan motor causes humming and can damage the motor, and it is a common piece of well-meant DIY that we get called to correct.

Recessed lighting and insulation contact

Recessed fittings sit inside the ceiling cavity, so whether they may be in contact with insulation is a real distinction rather than a technicality — the wrong fitting buried in insulation is a heat problem in a concealed space. Retrofit LED units have made adding recessed lighting far less disruptive than it used to be, and layout is worth planning before anything is cut, because the holes are not easily unmade.

Bathroom extract fans

A bathroom fan is only doing its job if it is actually moving air outside the building. Ducting into an attic rather than through to outside puts moisture into the roof structure, which is a common and expensive discovery. Sizing to the room, ducting properly, and controlling it sensibly — a timer or a humidity sensor rather than the light switch — is what separates a fan that works from a fan that runs.

Sloped ceilings, height and reach

Vaulted and sloped ceilings need the right downrod and canopy for the fan to hang plumb and clear the slope, and high ceilings raise a practical access question. Both are ordinary, and both are cheaper to resolve before the fan is bought than after — the mounting hardware is specific to the fan.

Replacing dated fixtures

Straightforward work, with two things worth checking while the fitting is down: the condition of the connections in the box, and whether the box itself is sound and properly secured. Fixtures are also where old brittle conductor insulation is often first noticed, because the box is finally open.

A standard lighting box compared with a fan-rated boxLeft: a standard lighting outlet box, fixed to the drywall or to a single joist and intended to carry a few pounds that do not move. A ceiling fan hung from one works its fixings loose over months or years, because the load is heavier and it vibrates continuously. Right: a fan-rated box mounted on a brace that spans between joists, so the weight and the movement are carried by the structure of the ceiling rather than by the ceiling surface. Where an existing box is not fan-rated, replacing it is part of the job and is what turns a short visit into a longer one.Standard lighting boxjoistjoistweight, plus constant vibrationWorks loose over timeFan-rated box on a bracejoistjoistbrace spans between joistsweight, plus constant vibrationLoad carried by structureThe difference is above the drywall, which is why it is invisible until the fan starts to move.
Same fan, same hole in the ceiling, completely different structure behind it.

Worth knowing

Buy the fan after the ceiling has been looked at

Mounting hardware, downrods and control requirements are specific to the model.

The order most people use is to buy the fan and then arrange installation, and it is backwards often enough to be worth saying. Whether the ceiling has a fan-rated box, whether the slope needs a particular downrod, and whether there are enough conductors for separate light and fan control are all things that constrain which fan makes sense. Finding out afterwards means either a return or a compromise.

Several fittings in one visit is also considerably cheaper per fitting than several visits, so if there is a list — a fan in the bedroom, a fixture in the hall, a bathroom fan that has never worked properly — it is worth doing together. The same applies to combining it with exterior lighting or outlet and switch work.

Get fans and fixtures quoted

Useful to include: how many fittings and in which rooms, ceiling height and whether any are sloped, whether a fan is replacing an existing fan or a light, and whether you want the light and fan switched separately.

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Questions

About fans, fixtures and recessed lighting

Can a ceiling fan go where a light fitting is now?

Often, but not by simply swapping them over. The existing box has to be rated for fan support and fixed to structure, and most standard lighting boxes are not — they are designed to carry a few pounds that do not move. Where the box is not rated, it gets replaced with one that is, which is usually achievable from below with a brace designed for the purpose. Hanging a fan from an unrated box is the reason fans come down, and it happens long after the installation, which makes the cause easy to miss.

Why does my ceiling fan hum or wobble?

Humming is most often a control problem: a standard light dimmer on a fan motor produces exactly this, and it needs a control made for fan speed instead. Wobble is usually balance — blades out of true, a loose blade screw, or a canopy not seated properly — and sometimes a mount that is not tight, which is the one to take seriously. A fan that has developed a wobble it did not have before is worth looking at rather than living with.

Do I need new wiring to control the fan and light separately?

It depends what is already in the wall. Separate switching needs enough conductors between the switch and the ceiling, and a room wired with a single switched line does not have them. The alternatives are a remote or a pull chain, or running an additional conductor, which is straightforward where there is attic access above and more involved where there is not. It is worth deciding before the fan is bought, since some models assume separate control.

Is adding recessed lighting disruptive?

Much less than it was. Retrofit LED units fit into a small hole and need no housing above, so in a room with accessible attic space the work is mostly clean. Where a ceiling has no access above, or where insulation contact matters, the fitting has to be chosen for the situation rather than for the price. The layout deserves planning first, because holes in a ceiling are not easily undone.

Where should a bathroom fan vent to?

Outside the building, always — through a wall, a soffit or the roof with a proper termination. Venting into the attic is the mistake we find most often, and it moves the moisture from the bathroom into the roof structure where it causes far more expensive problems. If your fan runs but the bathroom still steams up, the duct is worth checking before the fan is blamed.

Related electrical services

Fan or fixtures to put up?

Tell us which rooms and what is there now, and we will tell you whether the boxes above them can take it.

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