Question about Ceiling Fan.

[1Garageman]

I am putting a ceiling fan in my garage finally

Question about mounting it. I originally thought I didn't need a junction box above it, but I asked a friend and he said that I do. Can I just put the junction box below the wood I have up there and mount the fan directly to the junction box?

Here is the picture I sent to my friend when I asked him if this is ok. And you can see where I want to put the junction box.

 

[Gary S]

All the fans I've installed need a junction box to support them. And, it needs to be a box designed to handle the weight of the fan.

 

[1Garageman]

All the fans I've installed need a junction box to support them. And, it needs to be a box designed to handle the weight of the fan.

I have plenty of extra metal square boxes, will those work?

 

[Steevo]

Any metal box that the fan support will screw into will suffice. Screw the box securely to the wood, and the fan support to the box, and properly wire into the box.

 

[Zeke]

Since you're mounting directly into strong wood, you don't need a fan support box. I think in the pic you show a pancake box would work. The real purpose of a box is so that all connections are inside a covered metal or plastic enclosure and that any wire, cable or conduit can attach to the box. The canopy of a light fixture or fan can substitute for a box cover, so you would be allowed to have a box inside that bracket if you can work that. You would have to feed the pancake from above and use a romex or conduit connector.

For the above installation I might be tempted to run wire mold along the beam and bring the wire in from the side. You could probably take a short section of MC cable and use the housing to transition from the end of the WM to the box.

As long as you can suitably attach it.

 

[kbs2244]

My current one is mounted your way.
I spliced a plug in cord to the motor and plugged it into the garage door outlet.
(I have it running 24/7/365)

 

[rlitman]

All the fans I've installed need a junction box to support them. And, it needs to be a box designed to handle the weight of the fan.

No. That's the easy way, but there are other ways.

I have plenty of extra metal square boxes, will those work?

Yes, but I wouldn't be so comfortable screwing that support plate into a plain steel box. A proper fan box has stronger threaded parts to give you something stronger to bolt the fan to.

What you can do however, is send screws through the fan's hanging bracket, through the box, and out holes in the back of the electrical box into the wood.
That way the electrical goes through the box, but the fan is actually hanging from the wood.

 

[1Garageman]

No. That's the easy way, but there are other ways.



Yes, but I wouldn't be so comfortable screwing that support plate into a plain steel box. A proper fan box has stronger threaded parts to give you something stronger to bolt the fan to.

What you can do however, is send screws through the fan's hanging bracket, through the box, and out holes in the back of the electrical box into the wood.
That way the electrical goes through the box, but the fan is actually hanging from the wood.

I like that idea.