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Electrical Wiring Lighting Design Dilemma

Help Replacing Old Ceiling Light!

Andrew Bognanni

last month

Hello,

Have an older house built in 1950 with the original insulated wiring. House does not have central A/C. Both bedrooms have boob ceiling lights centered in each room with the original wiring. I want to replace the boob light with a fan and light combo powered by a single pole lutron maestro switch that powers both fan and light seperaly and can dim either or.

Cannot find anything online on how to wire with what i have existing! Would I have to add more wires? Does anyone have a diagram they could share? There is currently just one switch in each room to power the boob light. Please Help!

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Comments (5)

jackowskib
last month
We have a fan/light combo on a single pole and it operates via remote control rather than two switches on the wall. Is this what you mean?
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PRO
JAN MOYER
last month
last modified: last month
Your best bet is an electrician.

You may also want to look at the possible ways to condition, including mini splits.

Basically, there are better ways to save money and better diy projects than electrical work: ) especially in an older home.
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Good insulation is good news. My point about the "beam" is to make sure it's in good condition and not cracked where you'll attach the electrical box. I had a similar installation in my kitchen, where the previous owner put up a 1x6 across the rafters and hung a fan from it. Apparently, they didn't drill any pilot holes before attaching the box with wood screws. I found that the 1x6 was cracked around 2 of the 4 screws, so only 2 screws were holding up this ~15 pound fan and light assembly! As for identifying the 2 wires, you can use an extension cord and a neon voltage tester. Plug the extension cord into a nearby receptacle. Separate the 2 wires at the fan. Turn on the power. Insert one test lead in the neutral slot (the wider slot) on the extension cord, and touch the other lead to each of the wires. The one that lights up the tester is the ungrounded (hot) and the other is the neutral (white.) Shut off the power when done. NOTE: This test assumes that the extension cord is plugged into a receptacle that is wired correctly. You can verify that with an inexpensive plug-in tester, available at any hardware store.
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PRO
HALLETT & Co.
last month
I’m guessing you mean this one, switch for the fan, dimmer for the light. Sadly you don’t have wiring to accommodate. You have two conductor wiring, a hot and neutral (plus maybe a ground). To use that switch you need a second conductor. A dumb switch on the wall plus a remote is the solution that will work best for you. Keep in mind the box in the ceiling may need to be replaced, most can’t support a ceiling fan.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last month
The first thing we did with out 1956 MCM home is the elctrical to bring it up to code and that includes grounding . The mini split AC requires both grounding and maybe upping the AMPs even IMO you fix the wiring then add the gizmos you want .
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wdccruise
last month
"I want to replace the boob light with a fan and light combo..."

You cannot simply replace a ceiling light with a fan. The ceiling electrical box must be fan-compatible (the box will be stamped if it is) and able to support the weight of the fan. For example, this Metallic Ceiling Fan/Light Fixture Box and Brace Kit can support up to 70 lbs. It was tough to remove the an old non-fan-compatible box from the ceiling and install the fan-compatible box with the brace kit...but I did it.

"I want to replace the boob light with a fan and light combo powered by a single pole lutron maestro switch..."

If there are only two wires (plus ground) from the switch to the ceiling light, you won't be able to do that. You'll need a fan with a remote control to adjust the fan and light. Some fans have a remote that can be mounted inside a wall electrical box; they aren't actually wired to the house wiring, they just look like they are.
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