How to Install a Wireless Ceiling Fan Controller

Remember the days when you had to get up from your comfortable couch to turn the channel on your television? Or, when you had to turn the volume dial on your stereo to turn it up or down? That was life before the remote control came into the picture—and ever since then, we've been trying to remote control just about every aspect of our lives to the point that we now have cars that can parallel park on their own!



One application that really uses remote control ability to its advantage is the ceiling fan. With a remote controlled ceiling fan, you can easily adjust the comfort level in the room with a touch of a button. And some transmitters even allow you to dim the lights on your fan! Want maximum comfort with minimal effort? Here is how to install a wireless ceiling fan controller.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Screwdrivers
• Wireless remote ceiling fan kit
• Wire connectors
• Electrical tape
• Wire strippers
• Voltage tester (touch-type)

1. Decide whether to purchase a ceiling fan with a built-in wireless transmitter or an individual kit that includes the transmitter and remote. I recommend purchasing a regular fan and going with the kit. The reason is because if the built-in transmitter goes bad, you will have to purchase a brand new fan in most cases. With the kit, you simply switch it out!

2. If you choose to go with the remote kit, then you are going to have to get access to the ceiling fan's wiring. Because of this, you will have to find the circuit breaker that delivers power to the fan. Once you find it, leave it OFF.

3. Lower the ceiling fan's canopy. On most fans there will be a few screws located at the top of the canopy which secure it to the mounting bracket. Remove the screws and let the canopy slide down the downrod.
   
   If you don't see the screws, your fan may have a compression ring in place that hides them. Just twist the ring counter-clockwise and it should detach, revealing the screws.

4. At this point, you will want to use your touch-type voltage tester to check the wires for voltage to ensure that the circuit is in fact, off. Locate the hot wire. It is the black wire coming from the box in the ceiling and it should have two wires from the fan attached to it (one wire if the fan doesn't have a light assembly). Disconnect the wires and then do the same for the white wires.

5. If you look on your remote control transmitter, there will be a number of wires sticking out from it. On one side there will be a black and a white and the other side will have a blue, a red and a white. There should also be a ground wire.

6. Before you make your connections, make sure that both the transmitter and the remote are set to the same frequency.

7. The first connection you will make will be the ground wire. Use a wire connector and secure the ground wire to the other ground wires in the junction box. Next, take the black and white wires from the transmitter and connect them to the black and white wires coming from the ceiling (black to black and white to white).

8. Take the other white wire (from the three-wire side) on the transmitter and connect it to the white wire coming from the ceiling fan. The blue and red wires on the transmitter should be labeled as to what they feed, but in most cases the blue feeds the lights and the red feeds the fan. So, connect the blue transmitter wire to the blue ceiling fan wire and the red transmitter wire to the black ceiling fan wire.

9. Make sure all of the wire connectors are on tight and wrap a strip of electrical tape around each one where the wires enter the connector.

10. Now comes the difficult part--making everything fit! Gently push the wires back up into the junction box and slide the transmitter into a position where it will allow the canopy to be resecured. This part requires patience and it could take a few tries to get it right. Once you find the right spot, screw the canopy back in place and resecure the compression ring if you have one.

11. Install the batteries in your remote, turn the circuit breaker back on and use the pull chain on the ceiling fan to set it in the "high" position. With the fan running, test your remote to ensure that everything works. Leave the fan on its highest setting and turn it off with the remote.

Tips & Warnings

• A ceiling fan remote will control all three fan speeds and the lights on the fan, but it can't change the fan's rotation. If you like to change the fan's direction with the seasons, then you will still have to flip the switch by hand.
• When working on a ceiling fan, be sure to use a ladder that allows you to reach it comfortably. You do not want to be standing on the top two rungs of the ladder.

[bobb01]

on 9/8/2009 I am replacing fan w light controlled by remote with a new fan w/out lite. 2 wire feeds fan with power source jumper at switch box. Test results that fan spins but switch control smokes. Becuase I have not lite on fan I am not using blue wire of fan or green wire of remote control switch. So black hot jumper makes black wire into switch hot and then black wire out of switch to fan. All whites are connected. Smoke?