Posted on 05/17/2013 12:44:25 PM PDT by Feline_AIDS
Question for you all, since you're always knowledgeable about these things.
I want to put a ceiling fan in a room. The room is on one of the ends or "wings" of the house, has an HVAC "out" register in the near-middle of the ceiling, and is always always always scorching hot or freezing cold. I know this is caused by a lack of cross ventilation where the cold/hot air would be exchanged for hot/cold.
The attic goes across the top of the main part of the house, then sort of squishes down to a lower roof where you can't go. You can't walk in there because it's barely accessible. You can see into it, and there's white fluffy insulation covering the "floor" of that part that has just been pumped in.
We spend a lot of time in this room because it is where the TV is, and yes, the TV makes it even hotter in the summer.
I want to put a ceiling fan in this room, but I've been told by my father that it is next to impossible. I suspect this has more to do with him not wanting to bother with it than the actual feasibility of the task.
Why not cut a circular hole in the ceiling, stick a long pole of some kind in there that would reach into the regular part of the attic, and pull the wire from there, then hang the fan as usual? My father was an electrician for a few years, so I know he knows how to do it, but he's getting older and can't crawl around in a 120 degree attic for a few hours.
If I were to pay someone to do this for me, what would it cost? Just to run the wire--I can put the fan in myself.
Thanks for the help, and sorry it's so complicated.
FA
um... how tall are you?
Sounds like you’d be better off installing a return vent in that room, new construction now requires a return vent in every room.
If the room has a low ceiling them I would NOT install a Ceoling Fan in it.
I recommend a Solar powered attic fan from Lowe’s (not Home Depot, they are very anticonservative).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c7bzeUmqcc
put some small wall mount fans in the corners
My lighting installer friend put a fan in my living room, where there was no wiring for a ceiling fixture. He ran the wiring from where the switch for the electrical outlet was, and then installed a new switchplate for the fan and the light fixture on it. He put one hole in the ceiling where the fan is, and a second at the corner where he did something with the wires.
I can say what it would cost to have someone do it, because this was an exhange-of-favors, but it took him only a couple of hours, after shopping for the fan with my son, and he also replaced the fixture over the front door!
Sorry, “can’t say” what it would cost.
Which way do the rafters run?
Why not just install a Mitsubishi air conditioner? you can make a return to the outside and I’m telling you they work awesome.
I have a friend who has two homes in Mexico. They installed. In each bedroom after I bitched about how frickin hot “and humid”it was and they work fantastic .
On a 90° day right next to the ocean I can stay in there and it is very comfortable.
If you like ice cubes.
Consider one or two fan/vent setups in upper corners of outside walls? Similar to bathroom vent fans, but quieter and more powerful?
If there is an outlet in the room, you can get a ceiling fan with a cord and hook the cord across the ceiling to the edge of wall/ceiling above the outlet and let the cord drop down to plug into the wall. No need for wiring, just installation of the fan.
Can’t help with the height issue.
Did this in a rental unit. Buy something called a “fish tape.” It’s a spring on a roll. This presumes there’s someplace you can pick up power that’s along the rafter run as opposed to against it. Meaning you have a clear shot to the power. You stuff the fish tape through the ceiling to the power. Then, you attach the new wire you want to run to the fish tape and pull it through. You then hook it to power. The fan must be installed onto a rafter or between two rafters, so bust out the ceiling and just repair it. Forget popcorn, scrape it all off and apply texturing.
Alternatively, just put a fan in the door. Or, you might install one over the door by knocking a hole in the wall. Don’t be afraid of wall board repairs. You can probably youtube anything you want to do. Whatever you do, don’t type in “skanky stewardesses, wiring.”
Assuming it would pass muster with the latter AND assuming your competence in installing and finishing off the junction box and mounting setup for the fan,
flex conduit would be an option to ease the installation, as it could be fished to your ceiling opening and allowed to lay loose across the joists in the attic.
Here’s a thought
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