How To Change And Install A New Ceiling Fan

Preparation Beforehand

Required Tools

• Ladder
• Circuit tester/voltage detector
• Wire cutters/strippers
• Screwdrivers
• Eye protection
• Work gloves

Step 1: Turn the Power Off

The first thing you need to consider while beginning to replace or install a new fan to the ceiling is to turn off the power to the existing fan circuit.

To remain safe, before jumping on to the replacement or installation, you need to use a circuit tester or voltage detector to check whether the power has been cut off.

Step 2: Remove the Old Fixture

You can begin to remove the old fan from the ceiling. Start by removing the lights, and unscrewing the fan blades, followed by the canopy and mounting brackets. Here’s how you should do it:

Remove the Lights and Blades

We are pretty sure, your old ceiling fan has space for lightning. There must be a separate housing for the light bulb to stay with the globes or coverings. Begin by removing the globes and removing the light bulbs as well.

Pick your screwdrivers and unscrew each of the fan blades. This is an easy task, you just have to locate the position for screwing at the top end of the blade, around the circular main fan unit.

Remove the Canopy

You will find a canopy, a cover attached to the ceiling bracket that is responsible for covering all the wiring and electrical components of the ceiling fan. You have to unscrew everything that has been holding the canopy to the mounting bracket so that you will be able to remove them.

If possible lower the canopy by detaching it completely, if not you may need support from your friend to hold the fan to continue the removal process. In the case of a downrod ceiling fan, you have to allow the canopy to rest on top of the main fan unit. You will know the difference between a flush mount and a downrod installation ceiling fan in detail later on.

Disconnect the Wires

Moving forward, you have to remove the wire connection between the ceiling and the fan. Make sure to separate every fan wire from the wires coming from the ceiling electrical box. It would be better if you bring new wire nuts to replace the old ones.

Step 3: Lower the Fan

Having done all the unscrewing and pulling the adjoined wires apart, you can easily lower the old fan. Make sure to be careful while lowering the fan, it would be good if you have someone supporting on the floor while you do the unscrewing.

Step 4: Remove the Mounting Bracket

You will find the mounting bracket on the ceiling, you have to carefully remove all the screws and remove the whole bracket. In many cases, you may not be able to remove the bracket because people often like to permanently secure it in the ceiling using nuts and bolts. In such a case, you have to jump this step.

Step 5: Check the Wires and Box

Once the old fan is lowered, you need to check for the wiring of the electrical box at the ceiling. Check if the wiring has been done accurately and they are not damaged. Ensure the wiring is hanging from the ceiling with the dedicated metal mount.

Further, look for a label on the box that should suggest, it is acceptable to be used for the ceiling fans. Remember to check the weight rating, depending on which you should purchase a new ceiling fan.

Call a Professional Right Away: If you find faulty wiring or find it difficult to understand the parts and function of a ceiling fan, you may have to seek help from a professional. Faulty wiring requires a detailed inspection of your whole house wiring, and you may not be able to figure it out on your own.

Similarly, while handling electrical components, you must be very careful regarding safety, if you are unsure about the connection and power breaker, you must back up and allow the professional to handle the case.

Preparation Beforehand

Apart from the tools mentioned earlier while removing the old ceiling fan, you will need some more supplies if you are to install a new ceiling fan in your space. Go through the equipment mentioned below to achieve successful ceiling fan installation.

• Ceiling fan
• Ceiling fan light kit
• Downrod (optional)
• Mounting hardware
• Light bulbs
• Wire connectors
• Electrical tape

While beginning to put a ceiling fan up, you have to first make sure, you’ve removed the fan motor screws and blocks. However, you should keep the screws with yourself that will come in handy later.

Moving forward, you have to secure the ceiling plate to the electrical box in your ceiling. Well, while performing this, you have to precisely follow the manufacturer’s instructions to prevent future damage.

You should know that the approaches to attaching your fan to the ceiling may vary slightly depending on the manufacturers. However, if you follow the respective manual or guide, you can easily make the necessary adjustments by fixing a few screws, nuts, and bolts in the right place.

Feed Wires Into the Fan

After you have secured the ceiling plate, you now need to feed on the electrical wires coming from the ceiling through the center of the ceiling plate. You have to understand that ceiling plates and mounting plates refer to the same thing.

While threading wires into the fan, you should know if your fan motor hangs from a download or if there is a flush mount in your ceiling because these two cases apply different wiring techniques.

Downrod and Flush Mount

In the case of a downrod, your ceiling fan hangs from the ceiling where the wires are fed into the canopy of the fan and through the downrod. Similarly, for flush mount, the wires are threaded from the motor of the fan to the canopy, allowing the fan to sit directly against the ceiling.

You should know there’s a slight difference between these two wiring techniques and before you make a purchase, you have to decide between these two. To be more specific, a flush mount is rather used in the case of low ceilings. In either case, following the manufacturer’s guidelines will help you secure tight assembly and the right wiring.

You may need to cut or strip the fan wiring as per the instructions from the manufacturer. You shouldn’t confuse yourself if you happen to find a lot of wiring to be done. You will find everything in the manual, you just have to follow every step and you can master the ceiling fan wiring.

If you can find a hook in the mounting brackets, you can hang the donwrod ball from the hook in the case of downrod installation. However, in some cases of flush installation, you won’t find a hook, you just need to secure the fan to the ceiling brace.

If you happen to find it difficult to hang your fan at this step, you might as well begin to perform the below-mentioned steps, everything will fall into place at the end. For this kind of unforeseen circumstances, it would be better if you could lean on some friends for support.

More to the wiring, you should note that all the electrical components of the ceiling fan should be accurately attached to the ceiling wiring. If you have light adjoined to the ceiling fan, you may need to do additional wiring and electrical setup.

Follow the guidelines and secure all the wire connectors ensuring everything is done as you wish. This means you can decide on how you want to operate your fan and light. You can use the separate switch, pull chain, or any remotely accessible reach-out for the operation which all depends on how you have adjusted your wiring.

Well, in general, you will have green, white, and black wires that need to be kept on different sides of the electrical box. It has been suggested to keep the green and white wires on one side and the black wires on the other side, make sure to tuck them inside the box.

Use the screws, screwdrivers, and pliers, to mount the canopy of the fan to the ceiling plate. Make sure not to divert from the manufacturer's guidelines. Once the canopy is attached, the main fan unit is installed to your ceiling.

You now have to include blades in the main fan unit. Look for a visible bracket on the unit, and begin to mount blades giving a proper inspection on its sides. You wouldn’t want your fan blades to face the opposite when hanging from the ceiling.

Now that you have installed a new fan to your ceiling, there is a final touch to be given. We are sure you have a space for the light bulb attached to the fan unit, now you have to install the light bulb and connect the light kit wires accurately.

This won’t take much of your time, you just have to locate light kit wires in the switch housing plate and connect it to your ceiling. This is more or less very similar to that of the fan wiring. To perform safe wiring, you shouldn’t ignore manufacturer instructions.

Install Light Bulbs and Globes

Pick the light bulb and adjust it into the light holder. Check out the instructions to carry out this task accurately. Similarly, you will also have a globe that will cover the bulb from the outside, make sure to locate the fixture and place everything in its place checking for the right assembly.

Well, if you have reached this step, you have done everything right while assembling and installing a new ceiling fan. Give a final inspection for the proper and tight assembly and head back to the main power circuit.

Make sure to give power to the fan circuit, switch the fan on, and check whether your work has been done or not. Well, if everything’s been done as per the instructions following the manufacturer's guidelines, your newly installed fan and light should operate smoothly as intended.

Step 1: Turn the Power Off

Begin by turning off the electrical power supply to the bathroom vent fan. You may have to completely turn off the electrical circuit breaker panel during the entire replacement period.

Step 2: Remove the Grille

We are sure, you can locate the grille of the vent fan. It is the outer element of the vent which can be pulled downward. The grille is firmly adjoined to the fan housing, you may have to lose the clip or any holding element.

Step 3: Remove the Fan

Pick your screwdrivers and unscrew the fan from the housing. This won’t take much time unless you find it difficult to locate the position of the screws. Since you have to work turning upward, it would be better to wear glasses and face shields to protect your eyes and face.

Once done, you can easily detach the vent fan from the ceiling or wall along with the main unit of the fan. After unscrewing the housing, you still need to detach the wiring and connection to the duct.

Step 4: Wire the New Bathroom Fan

Now is the time to give the right wiring to the new bathroom vent fan. Begin by working on the ceiling wiring and if possible check for the weight rating and wiring condition. Make sure to strip the ends of the wire.

Locate the cable clamp of the vent fan and pass the wiring through it. Having done the proper wiring, you may screw the clamp firmly and check for any wrongdoing.

Step 5: Attach the Wiring to the Fan and Secure the Duct

Once the wiring is passed through the cable clamp, you now need to attach it to the bathroom fan wiring. You may look for the colors and adjoin them by matching them with the wires coming from the ceiling to the fan wires.

Make sure to bring together the duct opening and fan housing. There must be duct tape or any other suitable adjoining agent, make sure to secure them tightly.

Step 6: Attach the Fan Housing

Look for the joist in the ceiling and bring your bathroom fan housing close to it. You have to attach the fan to the joist, you may use screws to hold the housing firmly against the ceiling.

Depending upon the model and manufacturer, there could be slight changes in the adjoining approaches. However, you can easily figure it out by going through the user manual guidelines.

Step 7: Test the Bathroom Vent Fan

Give a power supply to the bathroom fan and check whether your connection is according to the manufacturer's guidelines. If you have followed the right approaches and secured the fan tightly, your fan will work just fine.

Make sure to check for the airflow as well, you might need to inspect both sides of the vent.

Step 8: Replace the Grille

If the old grille is worn out, you may have to replace it with the new one. Considering buying the same type of fan and appropriate grille, make sure to loosen the clip and fix the grille on the fan housing.

It would be better if you followed the user manual guidelines to work efficiently on replacing the vent fan grille.

You should know that fluid dynamics is incorporated into the ceiling fan operation. Further, the concept of air movement through Benoulli’s law helps to understand the basic and simple principle of ceiling fan operation. When you give power to the ceiling fan, the fan motor is made to rotate in a circular motion and since the blades are adjoined to the main fan unit, they in turn rotate creating air movement inside the room.

According to Bernoulli’s theorem for this special air movement case, there’s a significant decrement in the air pressure when the air velocity increases. Considering this, as soon as the fan blades start to rotate, increasing the air velocity, the air pressure decreases causing the air to flow upward, and hence creating an air movement.

Well, it has been known that as soon as the ceiling fan operates or let’s say, fan blades start to rotate, air movement is created within the closed space. This is because due to the difference in air pressure resulting from the air velocity.

You should know that upon receiving the pressure difference, air always tries to flow from a high-pressure region to a low-pressure region, and since around the ceiling fan area at the higher region, there’s low pressure due to increased air velocity, air moves downward toward the ground.

Cooling Effect of a Ceiling Fan

For the cooling sensation, you should know that due to the flow of air, evaporative cooling takes place within the body of the individual. This means continuous air movement will cause the evaporation to take place pretty fast and the moisture of your body is released creating a cooling effect.