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kbear_15

Help with wall switch for ceiling fan with light

8 years ago

Any recommendations for a good wall switch for a ceiling fan and light? Would like to turn the light on/off; turn the fan on/off and control the 3 speeds all in one switch (no remote)

Comments (15)

  • 8 years ago

    It would very much depend on the model fan and how it is wired.


    kbear_15 thanked Ron Natalie
  • 8 years ago

    Ron Natalie: here is the fan i'm interested in: https://www.build.com/kichler-339017/s171736?uid=1586281#q-and-a

    Kichler 339017WH

    White 42" Indoor Ceiling Fan with Blades and Pull Chain

  • 8 years ago

    Ah, a Kichler. This I have direct experience with as I have these in my music room.

    The Kichler gives you a number of options. The things are remote controlled. Kichler allows you to use any combination of handheld remotes or their wall remotes. I actually have two of the wall remotes. Amusingly, they don't actually need power (though you can mount them in a box and power them) as they have batteries. That confused the hell out of me when I picked up one that was seemingly "not connected" lying on the table and pushed the button and the fan came on.

    Just google Kichler fan remotes and you'll find them. The wall remote lets you change the fan speed and turn on and off the lights.

  • 8 years ago

    Ron Natalie - I am putting the fan in a small 10x10 bedroom. I am not interested in a remote and just prefer the old fashioned manually turning the wall switch on/off.

    Based on that info - any recommended wall switches?

    Also, any recommended compatible light kits? (looking for regular bulbs (non-candelabra) and preferably >2400 lumens.....I dislike light kits that barely give any light (this is the only ceiling light for the room).


    Thanks!


  • 8 years ago

    > I am not interested in a remote and just prefer the old fashioned manually turning the wall switch on/off.

    Then why not buy a fan that is compatible with an "old fashioned" wall switch rather than one that is controlled by a pull chain?

    kbear_15 thanked dennisgli
  • 8 years ago

    dennisgli: I was unaware that fans with a pull chain can only be controlled with remotes and not an "old fashioned" wall switch. Is this correct?

    If so, what fan would you recommend that uses an "old fashioned" wall switch? I am looking for a 42-44'' hugger with highest CFM ~4000 and 80+ cfm/watts efficiency.

  • 8 years ago

    I don't know the Kichlers as Ron does, so I may be off the mark here.

    Typically there's no problem to control a pull chain ceiling fan from a hard wired wall control (like the ones I linked to above). You just leave the fan set on the chain switch's high speed.

    To get separate light and fan control under this plan, you'll need to have two separate hot wires from the switch box to the fan box. If you don't have that now, either you pull the extra cable, or you deal with using a remote control.

    I don't know about your Kichler, but fans that have remote controls usually have a receiver in the canopy. To use them with a wall switch/control, you just rip out the receiver and wire the fan directly to the incoming power. You can probably sell the remote control and receiver on the big auction website.

    If you decide you need a different fan, maybe a Hunter Duncan would work for you. At 52" it's bigger than you want, but it's really hard to find the cfm you're asking for in a small fan. It clears the ceiling by about 12". It comes with CF bulbs, but you could probably swap them for LEDs. (That's not an endorsement; I have no experience with this particular product.)

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I don't really know anything about ceiling fans. But I looked on the web and it does seem like you can find what you want - at least I came up with this one.

    So I'd shop around. As David says you'll have to wire it according to the instructions.

    kbear_15 thanked dennisgli
  • 8 years ago

    I have had similar problems with ceiling fans. For my first home, I bought cheap fans with pull chains and light kits. I wired them with two separate lines funning from two wall switches. I control the direction and speed with the chains and fan-mounted slide switches, but normally I just use the wall switches. The line going to the light has a dimmer switch; I haven't tried a speed control wall switch because the pull chains work fine for the few times I change the speed.

    So, for my new house, I had the electrician run three wire (black, white, red) plus ground from the wall switch box to the ceiling fan box, with the plan that I was going to get and install the fans later. My first fan was a fairly high end fan with a DC motor and a remote control. The connection in the fan to the light was inaccessible, so I just used one circuit and the remote control - bummer. It turns out that that's not too bad - I turn the fan/light combination on and off with one switch, and use the remote only when I want to change something. I went to Lowes (where I bought the fan) several times and complained, I finally connected with a salesman who knew what he was talking about and he said that if I want to hard-wire the light and fan with two separate circuits, I have to get the cheaper "pull chain" style. A knowledgeable salesman from Home Depot confirmed this. I then installed two fans in two separate bedrooms. One was a fan identical to the one I mentioned above and the other was a sale pull-chain fans. The both work fine, but the pull chain fan is much noisier than the one with the DC motor. The pull chain fan cost about $45 and was on sale for $10, while the one with the DC motor was $179.


  • 8 years ago

    If they ran only one set of wires to the fan, the only way you're getting independent control of the fan or light is to use the remote (wall or handheld) or the pull chains.

    If they ran an aditional hot wire from your switch box, then you can put a switch (or fan controller) on the fan wire and a switch (or dimmer) on the light.

    I'm not sure why you don't like the wall remote. It fits where a standard Decora switch goes and you'd not even realize it isn't hardwired to the fan (I didn't on the first one that was installed that I had for eight years before I picked up the one for the new fan and found it worked without even being wired up).

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Ron - is this what you are recommending for that pull-chain Kinchler fan?

    Looks like it should work fine.

    (And I bet that $10 fan isn't $169 noisier than the other one!)

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Assuming I'd go with the Fanimation studio collection (per dennisgli's recommendation/link above).....What wall switch can I use (I'd prefer to have just one plate/wall switch that controls both the fan and light. For the light, it can just turn on/off (doesn't have to be dimmable though i'm not opposed to dimmable); for the fan, I'd just like it to have 3 speed options.

    I am planning on hiring a professional to install all of this for me, but want the products picked out in advance.

  • 8 years ago

    That wasn't meant to be a recommendation - I said that I don't know anything about ceiling fans - why would you take a recommendation from me!

    That said - what's wrong with the wall switch that comes with that fan? Maybe you should just call them and ask them what other wall switches will work.

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