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Electrical Wiring

Ceiling Fan Problems

16 years ago

I recently bought a house with a ceiling fan that is operated from a remote control. Everything on the remote works fine. The fan (and the light) is also tied into a standard light switch on the wall. The problem is that the wall switch only turns the fan (and light off). It won't turn the fan back on. Only the remote will turn everything on. Do I need a different type of switch, or is my wiring bad?

Also, the fan continues to hum and turn very, very slowly if it is turned off by the remote and the wall switch is left on. Is this a fire hazard? If so, what's the problem?

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Comments (3)

DavidR
16 years ago
The first matter sounds like typical fan remote behavior.

Most people would probably prefer it that way. A fan with remote might be wired to power that's unswitched. Would you really want the fan and light to come on every time that power is restored after a power failure?

The second matter could be a remote receiver not suited to the model of fan you own. Try replacing it with one supplied by the fan manufacturer. Others with more experience with different fan remotes may have other suggestions.
rburt5
Original Author
16 years ago
You're exactly right. I called the tech support people and they said the my fan is meant to be operated by remote only. Unfortunately that doesn't work very well in this case because it is the only light in the bedroom. The fan is pretty old. I'm just going to buy a new one. Thanks for your advice.
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Hopefully your ductwork is in good condition and properly sized. The fan should be sized for the bathroom. Here are some guidelines: Small rooms: For bathrooms up to 100 square feet in area, HVI (Home Ventilation Institute) recommends that an exhaust fan provide 1 CFM per square foot (approximately eight air changes per hour) to properly ventilate the bathroom. Example: Bathroom is 8'x5' (with 8' ceilings). Multiply 8 x 5 = 40ft. Bathroom area is 40ft. At 1 cfm per square foot the minimum recommendation is a fan rated at 40 cfm. Larger rooms: For bathrooms above 100 square feet in area, HVI recommends a ventilation rate based on the number and type of fixtures present, according to the following table: Toilet 50 CFM Shower 50 CFM Bath Tub 50 CFM Jetted Tub 100 CFM Duration of ventilation: HVI recommends that the fan be left on for 20 minutes after use of the bathroom. A timer is a good solution, allowing the fan to turn off automatically at the proper time. One thing you should know is most fans only produce 50% of the rated cfm because of undersized and poorly installed ducts. Ducts should be hard pipe, not corrugated plastic that will cause too much restriction and possibly degrade and leak over time. 37 year veteran HVAC professional Here is a link that might be useful: Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Help and Advice
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Thanks for the feedback. I agree taht it would probalby look best with the fan centred in the room, but at least the centre of the room (marked in the diagram) isn't far from the centre of the bed. I'll see what it looks like when I receive the fan. For practical purposes, I might end up centring over the bed so that the fan blades aren't protruding into a traffic area. My ceilings are only 7.50' which means that the fan blades would be at 6.75' from the floor which is a little low but tolerable IMO (especially if it's over a bed). Thanks!
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texasredhead
16 years ago
As an electrician that has installed more ceiling fans than I care to admit, most fans are installed with one switch to turn the light on and off, and another to turn the fan on and off. As a general rule, the fan also has a pull chain to change the fan speed. The exception to all of this is Casablanca fans that have a special wall switch that controls the light and fan with reostats. If you are interested in a remote control fan, we have often installed a remote holder at the wall switch location so when you enter the room you can handle the remote like a wall switch.

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