Installing a Ceiling Fan
admin on July 20th, 2008
Project Cost: $100 (cost of fan)
Time Required: 1.5 hrs
Tools Required:
- Drill and 9/64″ bit
- Screwdriver
- Stud Finder
- Flashlight
- Non-Contact Test Light
After two years of looking for just the right ceiling fan, my wife and I walked into Home Depot the other day and left two minutes later with a fancy Hunter fan unit, pictured below.
I approached this project with a hint of trepidation, with visions of holding a heavy fan over my head with one skinny arm and frantically twisting wires together with the other. As it turns out, many other homeowners must have had similar concerns, as manufacturers such as Hunter have done everything possible to avoid that scenario. Simplifying matters further, our relatively new house is pre-wired for ceiling fans in many rooms. Based on the complexity of the tutorial on the DIY Network for installing a ceiling fan from scratch, I think I caught a break.
I see little value in repeating the installation manual, so I’ll only humor you with exceptions and follies.
First, their are about 30 screws in maybe five little plastic bags, but there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to which screw is in what bag. It’s a free-for-all.
Next, the instructions have an actual size illustration of each screw next to the part of the instructions where you’re supposed to use that screw, but I didn’t have any screws that matched the illustrations.
Third, there are several big screws that actually attach a mounting bracket to the ceiling. The instructions make it look like the holes in the mounting bracket should line up nicely with some holes in your electrical box in the ceiling. They don’t. In the end, I had to make one hole in the electrical box and one right next to it, which worked out OK, but was pretty annoying.
Fourth, the instructions gloss over the fact that this fan can be flush mounted, hang from a pole, or be mounted “normally”, which I think just means that it hangs from a really short pole. In the end, I missed some steps and had to back up. Generally, not a big deal.
Finally, and perhaps most annoying, the blades were damaged in the box (see the photo below). Not just one blade, but all of them were scratched and dented on one side. I seriously considered taking the whole thing back, but since I was almost finished when I unpacked the blades and I planned to use the other side, I didn’t. The lesson here is to look at all of the parts carefully before hanging the blasted fan.
In the end, the whole project took less than two hours, resulted in a happy wife, and made a fan-tastic (sorry) difference keeping our bedroom cool, even with the air conditioning on. Also, any frustration I might have had with Hunter for somewhat sub-standard installation instructions are more than made up for by surprisingly silent and vibration free operation.
