Wiring a ceiling fan with remote control

[covert]

Hi all,

Looking for some help here.

I have a room which had a ceiling fan with pull-cord fan attached, which I am trying to change over to a ceiling fan with remote-control fan attached. This unit came from Lowe's and is a "Harbor Breeze" brand.

The remote control has the fan speed settings and a light on/off button on it. Currently it's wired as outlined in the instructions (and in the attached picture). Orange Os are the wire clips to connect the wires. Yellow is actually white (neutral).

What I am trying to do is have it so that the fan can run independently of the light, but have the light controlled by the light switch. Meaning, I don't need the remote to control the light, but don't want to have to have the light on in order for the fan to work.

If anyone more familiar with wiring can assist in setting this up, that would be great.

I know this can be done, because I had this very same setup in my previous home, but cannot, for the life of me, remember how I wired it to make it work.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

Ryan

 

[jonjon1]

Tie l1 into the light and not into the remote switch... but your light will be on for the fan to be on, so unless you are running another wire from the switch for constant power it isn't possible, is there a constant hot in your box or near by?

I have snaked wires to lights, its not that hard snake across the ceiling to the corner over the switch, snake up from the switch, bury it in the corner and repair the corner with plaster...

Is it worth the effort though?

 

[covert]

Hi, thanks for the quick response. Just to be clear, which one are you referring to as "l1"?

Thanks, Ryan

 

[jonjon1]

Hi, thanks for the quick response. Just to be clear, which one are you referring to as "l1"?

Thanks, Ryan

L1 is your black wire, thats your hot.

But what you want to do is just not possible unless you have a constant hot, most light boxes have a switched hot only, somtimes they are used as junction boxes though, or sometimes they use a switch leg, so bring hot to the light box, then a switch leg down to the switch, but if you you have is a single black, white and ground, you would need to run another leg to constant hot..

 

[covert]

Thanks for the help. It is a junction box so I should be good to go. Appreciate the help!

Ryan

 

[jonjon1]

Thanks for the help. It is a junction box so I should be good to go. Appreciate the help!

Ryan

Great, than its just a matter of finding an unswitched hot line, wiring that to the wireless controller, and the switched hot from your light switch to the light and not through the controller..

good luck

 

[jonjon1]

Do away with the switch entirely.
Your remote controls both the light and the fan.
Mount the remote where the switch was, directly over it.
What purpose does the switch have if you have the remote?
If you say so you can control it for more than one place, order more than one remote.

You do not need the switch for controlling the lamp or fan.

I know where he is coming from I have a light and fan in one of my outside porches, its a really high end fanimation unit and it *****, I even tried teh harbor unit and that ***** too.

1 its not natural, you reach of a switch not a push button with all these options you try to navigate in the darm, turning the fan on, etc.
2 they have a good delay to them
3 batteries are going to last much less switching alight on and off vs just using it for the fan...

I prefer a switch...

 

[covert]

Do away with the switch entirely.
Your remote controls both the light and the fan.
Mount the remote where the switch was, directly over it.
What purpose does the switch have if you have the remote?
If you say so you can control it for more than one place, order more than one remote.

You do not need the switch for controlling the lamp or fan.

Like Jonjon said, it's not natural. I also tend to go to bed before my wife as I get up much earlier than her, and I prefer the fan at a faster (colder) speed than she does, so she changes it before bed, in bed. It's also nice sometimes to just turn the fan on while lying in bed, whereas we have lamps on our bedside tables that is a nicer light for reading, whereas when you first enter the room you flip the light switch on.

Anyways, it's personal preference. Also, if the battery dies in the remote, we're only out a fan, and the light will continue to work.

Ryan.

 

[Mustang51js]

You need another switch leg or feed to do what you want,unless you have it I the j box already. You may have issues trying to find the right controller because they are usually wired up with the neutrals separate in the fan. Not sure it would work with the neutrals tied together. You need a constant hot for the fan and need a switched hot for the light.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

U need a 3-conductor wire in the fan j box.

And u cant add conductors to a cable assembly such as NM, so if u want independent control of the fan and light, then u will have to run a new 12/3 or 14/3(dependent on breaker size) NM-b wire from the switch j box to the fan j box...

 

[patrickoneal]

If you don't mind spending some money, or if it's difficult to rewire, Lutron makes fan/light controls that work with existing wiring like you have(you don't even need neutral at the switch):

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017O71MI/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/033103a.pdf

They even make a three way/multi-location setup(different model number for that). I put one in my living room so that I could dim my lights and control my fan speed independently from either location without having to run new wire. I got the setup without the remote, but if it was a bedroom, I would have gotten it.

 

[covert]

Thanks for that. I really like that idea, and that it comes with a remote. Appreciate the tip!

Ryan

 

[CJ7VFR]

Do away with the switch entirely.
Your remote controls both the light and the fan.
Mount the remote where the switch was, directly over it.
What purpose does the switch have if you have the remote?
If you say so you can control it for more than one place, order more than one remote.

You do not need the switch for controlling the lamp or fan.

This is exactly what I did in my main bedroom when I installed my ceiling fan with the remote!

The remote actually came with a little bracket and two longer screws so it could be
mounted right over top of the switch and switch plate.

Then the remote sits in this bracket over top of the light switch. The light switch is
kept in the "ON" position and we just use the remote to either turn on the light, turn on
the fan, or both. The light and fan can be turned on or off independent of each other.
Also, the remote can be taken off the bracket and either my wife or myself can use
it while sitting in bed. What I like best about this setup is that if you remove the
remote, then the light switch can be still be used just like it was before, as it is still
accessible even with the remote bracket installed.

I have had this setup for about 4 years now, and I got used to it pretty quick versus just
having a light switch to flip up and down. I prefer it because now I can just use the
remote to turn off the light and I don't have to get up out of bed because my wife
left the light on, and she says she can't do it because she is "all cozy under the covers"...

Jim