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Installing a ceiling fan is an easy project. Please be sure that you have the upper body strength to handle this before you start. If you cannot lift roughly 20-35 lbs, please ask a friend, relative or a handyman. Your new ceiling fan, when correctly installed, will bring proper airflow, light (if you install a light kit), and refinement to your room.
I have helped friends and family install new ceiling fans in their homes. It truly transforms the room from dull, stuffy, and gloomy to bright, refreshing, and happy. It has always brought joy to my life to install a new ceiling fan. It is a breath of fresh air and if you follow these steps you too can enjoy the benefits of a new ceiling fan.
Please be aware that thinking a power drill will get the job done faster will lead to more trouble than it’s worth and cause much disappointment, it could cause damage to the fan and or junction box. It is recommended that you only use hand tools to gently install all of the screws until hand tight.
Tools you will need to install your new ceiling fan:
- A stubby Phillips head screwdriver
- A standard length Phillips head screwdriver
- An appropriate sized ladder (for you to be able to reach the ceiling comfortably)
- A quality pair of wire strippers – I use a pair of Channel lock wire strippers.
- An assortment of wire nuts. Orange or Yellow (wire size 14-22) is what you need. You normally do not want to re-use these from the old ceiling fan. These plastic caps have metal threaded inside them to complete the connection between the wires coming out of the ceiling and the wires coming out of the fan. When used, it twists the threads and wires together, it usually distorts the metal inside the wire nut and won’t make a solid connection..
- A flashlight or even better a headlight (If the fan is your only source of light in the room.)
Step One
Turn off power to the room! Go to your Fuse box or Breaker box. It will look like this: (Insert picture of Breaker box examples) The previous owner may have already labeled each breaker switch for you. If not it is a good idea to label them for future projects. FYI, these switches will automatically “break” or switch off when the fuse is overloaded, it’s a safety feature of your home. Switch off the breaker and go in to check to see if the fan is now off. The blades will be slowing down or the light kit will be off. I like to leave the door open and yell into the house, to my wife, “Did it turn off?!”
Step Two
Remove old ceiling fan (See Removing an old ceiling fan article)
Step Three
Installing the new ceiling fan. Set up your ladder and climb up to make sure you are able to reach up to the junction box in the ceiling. Next, unpack the new ceiling fan. I like to use the packaging of the new ceiling fan as a workstation to build the fan. Use a white towel or cloth to lay out all hardware for your installation so to be sure you do not lose anything.
Step Four
Locate the hanging system in the packaging. This will require two screws to install into the junction box in the ceiling. Use a standard length Phillips head screwdriver. Only hand tighten until the screws feel like they can go no further.
Step Five
Installing the downrod and canopy. Turn the fan upside down inside the box. In the middle of the body will be a threaded hole with long wires coming out of it, this is where the downrod goes. Look inside the hole and see if there is a bit of a screw pointing inward. This is a set screw, and you will either use a provided wrench or allen wrench to back it out just enough so you no longer see the bit of screw pointing in the hole. If you have purchased a longer downrod, then remove the black ball on the downrod that came in the packaging with the fan. Simply unscrew the setscrew, lower the ball, remove the cylinder pin. Pull the wires through the downrod all the way to the body of the fan. Hand tighten the downrod to the point it is no longer easy to twist it. Now tighten the set screw that you backed out just a little bit. This holds the downrod from unthreading. Be sure to slide the canopy onto the downrod before you install the black ball, cylinder pin and set screw. Most manufacturers design their fans this way.
Step Six
Hang the body of the new ceiling fan with the downrod installed. Setup ladder, hold the new ceiling fan with one hand on the downrod and one under the body of the fan. Once up the ladder, where you can lift the fan to the black saddle, lift it enough to rest the black ball in the saddle. The saddle will take the weight of the ceiling fan now and you can let it go.
Step Seven
Wiring the new ceiling fan. Connect black to black, white to white, and green/bare wire to green/bare wire (this is your ground wire). Connect by wrapping the ceiling fan wire around the wire coming out of the ceiling. Then use a provided wire nut to screw together or a firm connection. Once all wires are connected to their appropriate colored wire in the ceiling, carefully bend and push the wires into the junction box, this will give you plenty of room to next install the canopy.
Step Eight
Installing the canopy. Slide the canopy up around the black ball and saddle. Be careful not to scratch the canopy against the downrod, ruining the finish on the downrod. Nobody wants a ugly scratch going up that beautiful new downrod. Use the provided screws to tighten the canopy around the ceiling. This will “hide” all that hard work you just did, but provide a clean, pleasing look down on the ground.
Step Nine
Installing the blades to the fan arms or irons. You will have a bag of cardboard or plastic washers and short screws for this part, provided with the fan. Be sure to use those washers! They help to make a tight seal and prevent the screw from loosening. This will ensure your fan blades are level with the angle of the fan iron.
Step Ten
Installing the blades with fan irons to the body of the ceiling fan. Underneath the body of the fan is a rubber ring with many holes in it. This is where you install the fan blades to the body. Don’t ask why there are so many holes. You may install the first fan blade and realize that the next fan blade will not line up. Find the two holes that line up with the first fan blade and the rest will install a bit easier. I have been through this many times, so gauging where the two screws for each fan blade is will become easier, the next time around. As you start to add each fan arm, you will notice the body of the fan begins to tilt, it will eventually level off when you add the last fan arm. So don’t worry.
Step Eleven (optional)
Install the light kit. If your new ceiling came with a light kit, there will be a housing with two wires. Some click together, while others will require you to twist the coordinating colored wires together with a wire nut. Once connected, push the wires inside the housing and gently push the light kit around the outside of the housing. There will be three holes that need to be aligned, so you can tighten the provided screws into it. Now take the glass bowl and string the pull cords through the hole (if applicable) then string the pull chains through the finial cap and then thread the finish cap on the thread tube. If you have a three or four light kit, then back out by hand the set screws, install the glass and then gently tighten the set screws. Be careful to tighten just enough to hold the glass in place, you will be able to feel that the glass does not move very easily. Over tightening can cause cracking of the glass.
Step Twelve
Turn the power on and enjoy that beautiful new ceiling fan, you earned it!