Builder Says Ceiling Fans Can't Be On Switches

[Anonymous]

Anyone ever hear this? He says they are all remote control now and says he cant have the fan on one switch and the light on another.

[Anonymous]

I have some very expensive fans and they were installed last year. I have both a remote and a wall switch. We never use the remote. The wall switch is really neat- we can control speed and dim the lights from it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have some very expensive fans and they were installed last year. I have both a remote and a wall switch. We never use the remote. The wall switch is really neat- we can control speed and dim the lights from it.

This, how are they getting electricity???

[Anonymous]

We installed new ones in 2021 and they are on switches. There are remotes in a drawer somewhere, but we never use them.

[Anonymous]

Power to the entire unit is either on or off. When the power is on, you can use the remote and/or wall switch to turn the light on or off, and separately the fan on or off.

We also have one with a wall switch. There's one "Power to everything" slider, and then buttons to control the fan and light.

[Anonymous]

Ours were replaced in Spring 2024 and are on switches and remotes. As others have said, the remotes are never used.

[Anonymous]

Ours are on switches. The one we have that uses a remote plus switch is annoying and I prefer the ones that operate only on switches.

[Anonymous]

Depends on which ceiling fan you pick. We got a Minka one that came with only a remote, but they also sell a trim piece where you can hardwire the remote into the wall and then trim it out to be the same size as a switch. There was no way we would be able to keep up with a tiny remote, this works well.

[Anonymous]

Some wall fans come with switches, so I don't know how this could be correct.

We just installed fans and they are connected to switches, however the switches just turn them on and off. We do have a remote that controls the light and fan speed.

[Anonymous]

My most recent fan has a switch, but it does not have the chain hanging down to change the fan speed. The switch on the wall has the ability to change the speed, but it takes 2 clicks to move it to “low”, my preferred speed. The switch is plastic (piece of crap) and it broke last year. Had to order a new switch from Hunter (because it was special) and it was $60. Next time, I will choose the remote option.

[Anonymous]

We installed ceiling fans last year and it was ridiculously difficult to find something that could be controlled both by the wall and the pull chains. Like almost non existent. I specifically didn't want to be reliant on a remote controlled one in case it got lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ours were replaced in Spring 2024 and are on switches and remotes. As others have said, the remotes are never used.

Ours have both too but I guess we are the oddballs because we always use the remote. Of course I’m in my 50’s so constantly changing the fan speed overnight and keep the remote on my nightstand.

[Anonymous]

Yes, kind of true. The remote unit is often sized to fit inside a standard size switch box. There is a remote receiver that is installed in the wall cavity above the fan. I didn't have room for that in one case (vaulted ceiling, expensive existing trim), so I wired one of my ceiling fans to two different wall switches: A fan switch and a light switch. That works fine, except you're stuck with maximum fan speed when "on". I therefore tried a dimmer switch for the fan to control speed, but this introduced an electronic hum. They really are only designed to run quietly at the pre-engineered low, medium, and high settings. So I went back to the on/off switch with that fan.

[Anonymous]

Below is a photo of the wall control that came with our fan

I'm not very handy but after spending an hour with the installation instructions, YouTube videos, and a voltage tester, I was able to wire it correctly without injuring myself, even through the wiring was quite different than the old fan.



https://www.kichlerlightingexperts.com/lighting/7-196-826-0-735198/Kichler-Lighting_Accessory---4.5-Inch-65K-Limited-Function-Wall-Transmitter-371062MULTR.htm

[Anonymous]

? Ours are on switches. It's very easy. We have the switch that PP linked to above, and also normal toggle switches that control lights and fan speed.