Lighting switch question - possibly OT

18 years ago

We have put a ceiling fan w/lights on it on the 1/2 of our kitchen that serves as a "nook" (we currently have a loveseat and chair there)

DH thought it would be a nice place for a ceiling fan. I [reluctantly] allowed it. He installed it, and here is the problem:

We had our electrician install switches on either entry into the room (one in the back of the house next to our mudroom door, one in the front that leads to our front entry) and they are two-ways, meaning you can turn the light ON from one doorway and back OFF from the other, or vice versa. (great for many scenarios).

This is causing a huge problem with the ceiling fan, for the fan itself has a pull chain, as does the light on the fan. So... if I walk into the kitchen and want to turn the light on, I have to play with ALL THREE switches until I find the right combo.

Should we:

a- get rid of the fan and put a center light there

b- cut the electric on the switches and only use the pull chains

c- attempt to rewire it so that our recessed is on the two way switch (both would have to be dimmers) and then just eliminate the third switch for the fan??

Thanks for your input!

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Comments (6)

smilingjudy
18 years ago
I think you are looking for a way to get rid of the fan you don't like. ;) If DH still likes it, let him keep it. Re-wire the fan switch so that it's a regular single-pole (switch only on one entry to the room). Cover the other one with a blank plate so you can change it back to a regular light with a three-way switch if DH decides he doesn't love the fan. (They are called three-way switches when you can control from two locations.)

I hope I'm understanding your situation correctly. I just re-read and now I'm wondering if you have one switch on each side that controls both the lights and the fan? If you can clarify, I might be able to provide more help.
gardenwebber
Original Author
18 years ago
I am just wondering if we need a switch at all on the fan/light. Do we? Can't we just have power at the fixture (on the pull chains) and none on the walls? I am just thinking that even with 1 switch on the wall that you can use for the fan, in addition to the pull chains, there will still be confusion.

The two wall switches I talked about on opposite ends of the room control the POWER to the fan. If a switch is ON, then the lights/fan both work, but you have to control them AT the fan. Unless the fan and/or light were ON when they were switched off at the wall.

Does this make sense?

This whole THING makes NO sense to me. LOL!

Thanks for the clarification re: 2-way vs 3-way.
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holligator
18 years ago
I have a few fans in my house that are only operated by pull chains, and the rest have both a wall switch and a pull chain (we live in Florida, so there's a ceiling fan in almost every room). I find it much, much simpler to operate the ones that are just on pull chains. That said, none of those with just pull chains have lights on them, so I can't tell you how that factors in.
smilingjudy
18 years ago
No, you don't need to have a wall switch at all. You can have it wired so it's always "ON" (receiving electrical current) and use the pull chains to adjust the fan/lights to off, on, and everywhere in between. It just so happens that pull chains are a pet peeve of mine so I assume everyone wants to get rid of them. :) I know that makes me a weirdo.

If the proper wiring is behind the wall (I'm assuming it's not unless you told your electrician you were installing a fan) you can get a switch that has fan and light control on it. You need a three-wire cable from the switch to the fan to do that. If that's not present, you can buy fans that have remote controls to allow you to control fan and lights from a hand-held remote or a "special" wall switch they include with the fan.

I did a bit of googling for examples:

Fan controls requiring 3-wire cable

Fan with hand-held remote control

Fan with in-wall remote control

HTH
gardenwebber
Original Author
18 years ago
Smilingjudy - thank you for your insight.

I am not sure what is behind the wall. DH and I were discussing this tonight. We did not tell our electrician we were installing a fan.

What we have is recessed lighting (that is on a dimmer switch at one of the doorways) and then the fan/light which is connected to the three-way switch I've talked about.

I suppose there is no easy way to put the fan/light on the switch that the recessed is on (obviously, replace the dimmer with a standard on/off switch) then put the recessed lights on the three-way switch (both dimmable switches)

Does that make sense, and is it possible?

DH and I weren't sure whether that is something you can switcheroo at the switches without messing with the wiring in the walls.

Thanks for your links - going to show DH now.
smilingjudy
18 years ago
You're right, you can't do the switch switcheroo without messing with the wires behind the walls.

Depending on the details of how the electrician wired the fan, you MIGHT be able to add one of the fancy fan/light switches on one and put a blank on the other one. But you won't be able to move the 3-way function to the cans without doing some behind the wall work.

Maybe if you can put the fan control at the entrance opposite from the can switch that would allow you to turn lights on from either entrance, just maybe not the one you want. :) Again, whether or not that's possible depends on how it was wired.

Good luck!