Ceiling Fan Replacement

One of the essentials for living is the south is to have ceiling fans. Ceiling fans provide air circulation and increased indoor comfort. When you have one installed, the room feels cooler without having to turn down the thermostat.

Ceiling fans are not designed to last forever. Most common reasons for ceiling fans to stop working is because the motor has gone bad. The motor is composed of many components. When any of those being to malfunction or stop working, then the fan stops working.

What size fan do I need?

There are a number of options available when it comes to replacing ceiling fans. The most important of these options is the size of the fan. The size of ceiling fan is determined by the size of the room that the fan will be installed in.

Too small of a fan, will result in the lack of air circulation. Too big of a fan, will result in items being blown around the room.

My ceiling fan makes a whirling or grinding noise when it is running. What is wrong with it?

This could be one of the following:

Do I really need a down rod?

For ceilings that are 8 feet and under, we recommend that a flush mount ceiling fan be installed. This will reduce the chance of occupants in the room hitting their heads or accidently having their hands hit by the ceiling fan blades when it is running.

For ceilings that are above 8 feet, we recommend using a ceiling fan that is designed to accomidate a down rod. Also the down rod should be appropriately sized, so that the fan is approximately 8 feet above the finished floor. The length of the down rod is determined by the height of the ceiling.

Fans that are mounted to a sloped ceiling, may require longer downrods so that the fan blades do not hit the ceiling.

Is it cheaper to replace the motor than to buy a new fan?

No it isn’t. Fans are very complex and have many designs. Flush mount ceiling fans are made differently than down rod ceiling fans. As a result, their motors are made to fit in the housing.

Unlike car parts, finding that exact replacement motor for your ceiling fan is not as easy as you think. It is best and cheaper to replace the existing fan with a new one instead of trying to find replacement parts.

The ceiling fan wobbles a lot when running. Why is that?

All ceiling fans will have some wobble when running as it is moving. However, a lot of wobbling can be an indicator for one of several problems:

Regardless of what the cause may be, Robinson Handy and Technology Services will investigate and repair the problem for you.

I want brighter bulbs in my fan, but it says that only low wattage blubs can be used. Why is this?

In 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. You may remember this law taking effect as it also changed Daylight Savings Time to start on the second Sunday in march and end on the first Sunday in November of each year.

Part of this legislation limits the amount of power that a ceiling fan and other multi-bulb fixtures can consume. As a result of this legislation, some manufacturers updated their products to have a wattage limiter switch.

Other manufacturers took things a step further and designed their fixtures to use candelabra bulbs instead of standard Edison bulbs. The candelabra bulbs have a smaller base and usually consume less power than the common Edison bulbs.

Thus if you try to use bulbs that consume more power than what the fixture is rated for, either the light will not work or the light may catch fire due to it pulling more power than it is rated for.

The light portion of my ceiling fan is not working. Do I have to replace the whole fan?

No you do not. You can purchase a light kit. This is just the light portion of the ceiling fan. There are light kits that have a specific finish (e.g. bronze, nickel) and there are kits that have multiple finishes in the same box. Also some kits are generic while others are brand specific.

Can you put a ceiling fan in the kitchen?

While some will argue that you should not have a fan in the kitchen because it will stir up dust, others are ok with having one in the kitchen because it helps keeps things cool when baking or cooking. This is especially true when it comes to cooking during the summer time in the south.

The answer to this is yes you can have a ceiling fan in the kitchen as long as it is connected to a fan rated junction box in the ceiling. Fan rated junction boxes are designed for carrying additional weight and to resist the back and forth motion that a ceiling fan does when operating.

My ceiling fan has a remote and the light or fan randomly turns on or off? Why is this?

Unlike TV remotes which use infrared light to transmit the signal, ceiling fans use radio frequency to transmit the signal. That said, it is very likely that a nearby neighbor has the same or similar model ceiling fan with a remote, and both remotes and ceiling fans are configured to listen to the same signal.

The way to address is to change the dip switch settings on your remote and ceiling fan to something else. This question is further explained in this YouTube video.