How difficult is installing ceiling fans?
Question:is it very difficult to install ceiling fans in the home for someone who has never done it? i would like to install one in each of my three bedrooms. there is just light bulbs in the ceiling now. My home is 80 years old.
Answers:
In older homes, you will need to install re-enforced junction boxes to support the weight and motion of the ceiling fan. The hardware store will have these and some of them can be installed through the hole in the ceiling if you need it. As for the electrical connections, all your home should have is black and white (no neutral). This can be difficult to decipher with old cloth covered wires that have lost their paint. You'll need an electrical tester to figure out which one is hot (with the fuse in) - that should be the black one. After you have removed the fuse, connect that one to the black wire on the fan and the other one to the white wire on the fan.
You won't be able to connect the green grounding wire on the fan - that's life in an 80 year old house but the fan should work fine.
no...just follow instructions will take a novice a few hours to intall the first one and quicker the next 2...you'll be fine...not really that hard
shouldn't be too hard. I've installed several. The last one I installed had a hook on the bracket that allowed me to hang the fan while I connected the wires, so you don't need 3 hands to do it. Talk to someone at Lowes/Home Depot, or get printable instructions off the internet.
Follow instructions, and go slow. Be sure that there is adequate strength in the connection between the fan and the ceiling.
The other poster right, it's not too difficult to install ceiling fans. The only thing I would add is with the age of your home, unless is has been re-wired recently, it may not have ground wires, so, those sections of your instructions may need to be ignored.
My home isn't quite that old and I had that problem when changed out my outlets and switches. I wasn't prepared for there not being any ground wires and I confused myself royally! I can laugh about it now, but at the time I was in a right panic!
This is not a real difficult job. You will probably need to add support as the electrical box is most likely just nailed to one side of a ceiling joist and would not support the weight of the fan. You do not want this thing falling out of the ceiling while you are sleeping under it.
You may need to remove the existing electrical box ( first turn off the power) and install a brace which will fit into the existing opening. The braces will come with instructions and you will need a ceiling box rated for ceiling fan attachment.
Connect the black wire to the hot wire and the white wire to the neutral wire. If you have a ground wire be sure to connect it. Many older homes do not have a ground wire so you may not have any thing to connect the ground to.
I asked that same question about 16 yrs ago. The man told when wiring (black on black, white on white the green wire is a ground wire). Its not hard to install. Just fallow the instructions.
the only thing hard about is your nick will hurt and you will be up on the ladder for awhile. Hope everything works out for you.
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