Easy Sneezy Breezy

The back porch at our home is very nice. But, Nancy decided one more item was needed to make it not only nice, but more functional. A ceiling fan, dropped down a couple of feet from the high ceiling, was needed to provide a nice breeze when you are trying to enjoy the outdoors in the evening. Not only does it feel a bit more comfortable on hot days, but it can also keep mosquitos at bay...

I've installed a number of ceiling fans, but I think this is my first one for an outdoor application. You have to look for one specifically made for outdoor use - the motor housing is sealed a bit better - but the major difference is the paddles are molded plastic rather than wood. Apparently, humidity fluctuation, heat, etc., cause a real problem over the long haul with wooden paddles.

The first step in this process is to open the box and take inventory to ensure all the needed parts are there. Since this was a drop down installation, I also had to buy a 2' extension rod. That also required an adapter since the only drop down rod available was a different diameter than the fan expected to have...

Removal of the existing light fixture was the next step. As you can see, my tall stepladder was required for this high-ceiling application. I was not sure if I had enough wires running to the existing electrical box. Ideally, you would want two different "hot" wires at the box - one to connect to the lights and the other to connect to the fan. I soon discovered, to my good fortune, that a second wire was available in the box already that I could hook the fan to...Some preliminary connections with the wiring and the drop down rod are made on the table prior to climbing the ladder...

The actual hang of the unit and making the final wire connections is quite simple. Then it is simply a matter of connecting up the collar at the top and the paddles on the fan itself...

I had to make a slight change to the switch arrangement inside which (up to this point) controlled the back porch light. Inside this switch box in the house, I just had to move that extra wire which goes up to the electrical box where the fan is connected to the "hot" side of the terminal/switch so that 120 volts would be fed up that wire at all times (the fan is turned on/off via the pull chain out on the fan itself)...

The finished product! Now Nancy can enjoy the back porch on those evenings when it is not too hot!

This project was completed by Tom near the end of May...