How to Wire a Ceiling Fan

1. Choose Location for Ceiling Fan

   Locate the ceiling fan in the center of the room or as near to the center as possible. Remain clear of any ceiling light fixtures and hardwired smoke alarms.

   Use the stud finder to scan the ceiling for joists. Mark the joist locations with pencil marks or with strips of painter's tape. The ceiling fan will need to be centered and braced between two joists. Mark the center point with the pencil.

2. Locate Electric Service Panel

   Find the home's electric service panel or circuit breaker box. You may find it in a garage, hallway, basement, bedroom closet, or kitchen pantry closet.

   Tip

   One clue to the location of the panel: the service drop, service head, and the meter base are located on the outside of the house. Generally, the service panel will be located on one of the home's levels below the service drop/head or meter base on the inside.

3. Cut Hole in Ceiling

   Shut off electricity to any circuits that might be running through the ceiling. Attach the 4-inch hole saw to the drill. Cut a hole centered on the mark from the previous step.

4. Run Cable Through Hole

   Depending on your model of ceiling fan, you may need to use either 14-gauge or 12-gauge NM wiring. Consult the fan's instructions. Keep the cable on the coil as you push the free end into the hole.

5. Fish Wire Through Ceiling

   Fan Without Wall Switch: Fish the cable through the ceiling and all the way to the electric service panel or other nearby constant power source. Bypass any switch or junction boxes along the way. The cable must remain continuous. No splices can be hidden within the ceiling or walls.

   Fan Controlled by Wall Switch: Fish the cable through the ceiling hole to the wall that has the light switch. Run the cable down and through one of the open holes in the switch box.

6. Terminate Wire at Panel or Box

   Fan Without Wall Switch: Pull the wire to the electric service panel and cut it off, leaving 2 to 3 feet of cable to work with. This is the terminus.

   Fan Controlled by Wall Switch: Cut off the cable at the switch box, leaving 6 to 8 inches of wire extending from the front of the switch box. Pull a second length of cable from the switch box to the electric service panel or other nearby constant power source. At the switch end, push the cable through one of the holes in the box, leaving 6 to 8 inches extending. At the service panel end, leave about 2 feet to work with.

7. Attach Wires to Switch (Switch-Controlled Configuration Only)

   Rip the sheathing from all cables in the light switch box. Strip back wire coating by 1/2-inch. Wire attachments, by color:

   • Black: Attach the black wire coming from the ceiling fan to one of the light switch's gold terminals. Attach the other black wire (the one heading to the service panel) to the other gold terminal on the light switch.
   • White: Attach the two white wires to each other with a wire nut, bypassing the light switch.
   • Ground: Attach the two bare ground wires by twisting them together, also bypassing the light switch.

   Attach the light switch to the box and add the faceplate.

8. Attach Ceiling Fan Brace to Joists

   Clear out any insulation from the hole. Detach the electrical box from the brace. Insert the brace through the hole. Center the brace over the hole. It should run perpendicular to the joists.

   With the feet of the brace resting on top of the ceiling drywall, rotate the brace by hand until it is snug between the joists. Make a final turn or two with a wrench. Finish with a flat side of the brace facing downward.

9. Run Cable Into Ceiling Electrical Box

   Knock out one of the slugs on the side of the metal ceiling fan box. Attach a cable clamp. Run the cable through the clamp, stripping back the sheathing so that only 1/2- to 1/4-inch of the sheathing remains in the box. Strip the ends of the wire back 1/2-inch. Tighten the clamp.

10. Attach Ceiling Fan Box to Brace

    Screw the ceiling fan box onto the retrofit brace. The box should be flush with the bottom of the ceiling drywall.

11. Attach Wires to Ceiling Fan

    For either type of installation (wall switch or not), attach the following by pigtailing the wires and attaching wirenuts:

    From: Electric Cable	To: Ceiling Fan Wires	Result
    Black	Black and blue	Black, black, and blue wires attached
    White	White	White and white wires attached
    Copper	Green and green	Copper, green, and green wires attached

    Tip

    This configuration reflects a ceiling fan/light combination. Your ceiling fan wiring may differ. Consult your ceiling fan's schematic and instructions.

12. Create New Circuit

    At the service panel end, attach the cable to the circuit breaker:

    1. Open the service panel door. Turn off the main breaker switch.
    2. Remove the panel back by turning out the screws with a screwdriver.
    3. With a screwdriver, knock out the metal slug closest to the intended circuit breaker location.
    4. Insert a snap-in cable clamp in the open hole.
    5. Use the cable ripper to strip off about 12 inches of sheathing.
    6. With the wire stripper, remove about 1/2-inch of coating from all wires.
    7. Insert the cable into the side of the service panel, through the cable clamp.
    8. Attach the bare ground wire into an open space on the bus bar with the other bare copper ground wires.
    9. Attach the white wire to an open space on the neutral bus bar.
    10. Attach the black wire to the back of the circuit breaker.
    11. Snap the circuit breaker into place in one of the available slots.
    12. Close the panel.

When to Call a Professional

Unless you are experienced at establishing new circuits and working in electric service panels, have a qualified, licensed electrician do this part of the project for you.